BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Parent Nicole Chiu-Wang announced today (April 29) that she is running for Palo Alto school board for a second time, guaranteeing a competitive race for three seats in the fall.
Chiu-Wang finished third in 2022 behind teacher Shana Segal and lawyer Shounak Dharap, who was the incumbent.
Since then, Chiu-Wang’s oldest son entered kindergarten, and she left Google to lead a nonprofit called DreamCatchers that helps middle school students with their schoolwork.
“I am proud to be an Asian-American woman running for a seat on a board that hasn’t had an Asian-American woman board member in over a decade,” Chiu-Wang said in her announcement, pointing out that about 40% of the district is Asian.
Chiu-Wang said she wants to improve mental health and wellness and to change how student progress is measured.
“I am more committed than ever to promoting equity in education and closing the opportunity gap for our students,” Chiu-Wang said.
Chiu-Wang is running for one of three seats along with three other parents.
Josh Salcman, 48, of Los Altos Hills, filed papers to run on April 22, followed by Alison Kamhi, 42, of Stanford.
Salcman is a father of three and volunteers on the Nixon Elementary School PTA. He founded a company called Virtual Nerd that gives video lessons on math, according to his social media.
Alison Kamhi, 42, of Stanford, works as the legal program director for the Immigrant Legal Resource Center in San Francisco. Kamhi has a bachelor’s degree from Stanford and a law degree from Harvard, and she speaks German and Spanish, her online bio says.
Kamhi is the co-chair of gun violence prevention for the Palo Alto Council of PTAs. She lives on Olmsted Road next to the Escondido Village Graduate Residences.
Christopher Colohan, 50, of Palo Alto, announced he was running in March.
Colohan worked as a Google software engineer and manager for 10 years. He is a PTA volunteer, a father of two and a substitute teacher.
Candidates have until August 14 to file papers to run.
In 2022, Chiu-Wang launched her campaign with the endorsements of the teacher’s union and four out of the five board members. That was before Segal entered the race.
“Chiu-Wang is running for one of three seats along with three other parents: Josh Salcman, 48, of Los Altos Hills; Alison Kamhi, 42, of Stanford; and Christopher Colohan, 50, of Palo Alto.”
I’m confused. How can a Los Altos Hills resident run for a seat on the Palo Alto school board?
Los Altos Hills is part of PAUSD. School districts can have different boundaries than cities. (How long have you lived here?)
Thanks. I don’t have kids in the school system although I’ve lived here for decades.
Earlier I asked a LIFELONG PA resident and she didn’t know either if LAH kids went to Gunn or not.
The eyes give it away every time with the social justice warriors on the left.
What is that suppose to mean, Alvin? Also are you against social justice?
Wow, a giant, polished pic of NCW- where are the pics of the other candidates? I will vote for the people who don’t aspire to climb political ladders
There is no indication that she wants to climb political ladders. And I’m guessing you never voted for Joe Simitian – who literally climbed the political ladder and was a “career politician”.