Sept. 28, 2022
BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer
Two current colleagues on the Belmont Redwood Shores School Board are running against each other for a seat on the Sequoia Union High School District while a recent Menlo-Atherton graduate is running against a long-time schools volunteer for another seat on the five-member board.
The two contested races come after two long-time board members, Chris Thomsen and Alan Sarver, are retiring from the board after 13 years under their belts.
The district’s board is divided up into five geographical areas where residents of each area elect a board member. The school board oversees four comprehensive high schools — Woodside, Sequoia, Menlo-Atherton and Carlmont — and four smaller specialty campuses, Redwood School, Sequoia Adult School, TIDE Academy and East Palo Alto Academy.
Suvarna Bhopale and Amy Koo are both current Belmont Redwood Shores School Board members running against each other to replace Sarver in Area A, which runs along the bay from Belmont to Redwood City, including a portion of San Carlos.
Both have been on the elementary school board for two terms, and boast similar accomplishments that the board has voted on over the past nine years, such as expanding schools to account for anticipated growth and picking a new superintendent.
Koo works for Gilead Sciences and lives with her children and husband in Redwood Shores. Her children attend Sandpiper School in Redwood Shores and Everest Public High School, a charter school in Redwood City.
She has an engineering degree from MIT and an MBA from Stanford. Koo says with her background in STEM, she will add diversity to the board as the district looks at ways to increase students interests in STEM.
Koo is endorsed by the entire county board of education and current Sequoia trustees Carrie DuBois and Rich Ginn.
Bhopale also lives in Redwood Shores with her husband and two children, both attending Carlmont High School. She’s an attorney, who has coached mock trials at Carlmont and at Belmont Redwood Shores schools.
Bhopale’s goals include making sure students of all backgrounds can get high-quality, engaging education, making sure the district provides “physical, mental and emotional safety.”
Bhopale is endorsed by the district’s teachers association and AFSCME, which represents the district’s non-teaching employees. She’s also endorsed by outgoing trustee Sarver, along with Thomsen, Ginn and DuBois. She also has endorsements from state Sen. Josh Becker and Assemblyman Kevin Mullin.
Atherton resident Jo-Ann Byrne Sockolov and recent M-A grad Sathvik Nori are seeking to replace Thomsen in Area D, which covers North Fair Oaks from 5th Avenue, a small sliver of Redwood City, Atherton until Elena Avenue and Menlo Park between San Mateo Drive and Highway 101.
Byrne Sockolov has one daughter who graduated from M-A and her other daughter graduated from Sequoia High School.
She runs a nonprofit organizational and leadership development consultant company called Transform Collaborative. Byrne Sockolov says what sets her apart is her 20+ years in “making public education better for all students.”
She was the first executive director of the Redwood City Education Foundation, a nonprofit that fundraises for the Redwood City elementary school district, which was launched shortly after the 2008 recession. She’s served multiple volunteer roles over the years, including as a PTO president, parent volunteer, school site council member, participated in parcel tax campaigns and has been a substitute teacher.
Byrne Sockolov is endorsed by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin and current board members Sarver and Thomsen.
Nori, 19, was the student trustee on the school board during the 2020-2021 school year.
He graduated from M-A in June 2021 and currently attends Stanford. His younger brother attends M-A. Nori is also on the county’s Juvenile Justice Commission, which seeks to advocate for programs and services that can help incarcerated youth re-enter society and not reoffend.
Nori says what the current school board is lacking in knowing what’s happening on the ground at each school site.
He wants to make sure everyone can enjoy their learning experience, and wants to do so by increasing the types of electives offered in the district, pointing out other nearby districts have electives such as Introduction to Legal Studies or robotics.
Nori is endorsed by State Sen. Josh Becker and Sequoia Trustees Carrie DuBois and Rich Ginn.
Doggie Howser for school board.
I’m with Ryan. Vote Sathvik Nori for School Board.
Atherton millionaires have failed to solve our problems for decades.
Give the kids a shot.