BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Daily Post Staff Writer Facing a potential recall, Palo Alto school board member Shounak Dharap is defending his approach to governing, which was informed by his own experience as a stressed-out student at Gunn High School. Proponents of the recall have accused Dharap of weakening academics in the Palo Alto Unified School District. For example, they point to Dharap’s vote to eliminate Honors Biology for freshmen and his suggestion that students who aren’t being challenged should go to private school. Dharap, 34, said on Friday (Feb. 21) that he prioritizes struggling students over advanced students when he is faced with limited funding, resources or bandwidth. “My philosophy has always been, ‘Let’s try to do it all.’ But if it comes down to having to choose, we’ve got to put the fire out first,” Dharap said. The “fire,” as Dharap put it, is students from lower-income families who aren’t prepared for college or a career after high school. Dharap graduated in 2008 when Gunn had a cluster of student and alumni suicides, including one of his water polo teammates. Another cluster happened around the time his sister graduated in 2015. “It was seared into our everyday existence,” Dharap said in an interview. When the national media attributed suicides to academic stress, Dharap said that resonated with him and his peers. “It was crushing,” he said. Dharap’s parents immigrated from India to get doctorates in computer science, and he spent the first three years of his life in the halls at Penn State. He went to the private Challenger School in Palo Alto and then JLS Middle School. Felt pressure in high school Dharap said he was a C-student at Gunn High School but felt pressure to take more AP classes and apply to the best colleges. The pressure comes from being in Silicon Valley, in a place “where innovation and genius grows” and where families move because of the quality schools, Dharap said. Dharap said he started getting A’s in law school. “I was able to access this other part of my brain when I was really passionate about what I was doing,” he said. Dharap ran for school board in 2018. He said he wanted students to have a chance to find their passions earlier than he did, which means allowing them to make mistakes and fail. Dharap said he initially wanted to get rid of weighted GPAs (when more GPA points are given for grades in accelerated courses) and to “de-lane” classes by grouping all students together. Since then, Dharap said he’s learned these decisions are more nuanced. Now he said he defers to teachers on decisions around de-laning. For example, Dharap sided with teachers on a 3-2 vote on Jan. 21 to eliminate Honors Biology for freshmen starting in the fall. Supporters of the recall say that Dharap has focused on superficial remedies and not root causes for those who are struggling. They say his equity efforts have been unsuccessful for all students, especially Asian students who are 40% of the enrollment. Question of racial equity “In taking away advanced classes, the anti-academic efforts that Shounak has led is quite explicitly racist against Asians,” parent Avery Wang said in an email. “Somehow all this is supposed to bring racial equity. Previously, the Asian community has hesitated to attribute this contemptuous treatment as racism, but are now starting to call it out explicitly.” In response, Dharap said there are parents in the community, many Asian, who don’t feel like their values are reflected in board decisions around academic acceleration. “Those are values that people have, values to respect — but not Asian values,” Dharap said. “Saying that their Asian values devalues the values of other Asians who don’t believe those things. So it creates this divide in the community — a racial divide that’s unnecessary.” Rowena Chiu Supporters of the recall have pointed to Dharap’s treatment of board member Rowena Chiu, who was elected in November alongside Josh Salcman and Alison Kamhi on platforms of change. Dharap introduced a resolution on Feb. 11 that condemned Chiu for reposting an account, Asians Against Wokeness, that called out a district administrator by name following a 3-2 vote on Ethnic Studies. Chiu, Salcman and Kamhi were against the resolution. Chiu agreed to step down from committees working directly with district employees. Chiu isn’t involved with the recall, but many of her supporters signed the initial petition. Dharap said he enjoys a professional relationship with everyone on the board, including Chiu. Salcman and Kamhi are against the recall, and Chiu has declined to comment. Dharap called the recall a distraction and a waste of taxpayer money. He said he would meet with the recall campaign, and anyone who disagrees with him should run for his seat when he reaches his two-term limit next year. “There’s a lot of anger right now among community members, and I think everyone has had a role to play in turning up the heat. And I’m included in that,” Dharap said. “And my goal is really to try to turn the heat back down, because this is not helpful for anybody. I’m on the board because this is my community. It always has been.” Private school comment Dharap’s opponents have seized on a comment Dharap made at a meeting on Feb. 28, 2023, when discussing equity. “If folks want higher ceilings at the expense of the floors, then maybe there are private schools out there that could do that. That’s not us. We’re a public school district,” Dharap said at the meeting. Dharap said he shouldn’t have made the comment, but he does believe that private schools can sometimes provide a level of tailored education that public schools cannot. The recall effort suffered a setback on Friday when the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters said the campaign didn’t provide verifiable addresses on its recall notice that needs 30 signatures. The campaign will need to re-file its paperwork and restart the process, Registrar of Voters spokesman Steve Goltiao said in an email. Wang said on Friday that the campaign will continue its efforts, and recall campaigns often face setbacks like this one. He called it “a little technicality.” If a notice is accepted, then the campaign would have 160 days to get 7,635 signatures to put a recall on the ballot.
Thank you, Mr. Dharap for being clear-eyed about the role of a board trustee. The law requires the district serve and prepare all students. We are lucky this district can do a LOT to support all students, but the core responsibility is to make sure ALL students are college and career ready. Stay the course, Shounak. We stand with you!
Dear PA Daily Post, thanks for providing Shounak Dharap’s side of the story. When all your news coverage centered only on Rowena Chiu and her supporters, you lose your credibility as a newspaper. I am grateful to Shounak for acknowledging the error of his comment on private schools for academic excellence. That’s the kind of leaders we need: Those who can acknowledge their mistakes and take steps to heal wounds their actions have caused in our community. I haven’t seen such magnanimity from anyone else on the board. The sole purpose of the school district is to educate our children. And through them, educate adults that did not go to school in PA. For instance, by educating children on climate change, we noticed that parents became aware of habits that harmed our ecosystem. Similarly, not knowing the colonial history of CA is very harmful for our state and the career success our young ones. Most of these children will go on to have high level jobs where you interact with people from around the world, especially the Global South. If you are ignorant of colonial histories, you will be disparaged. Because people in the Global South have become alert to colonization. You can’t put this genie back in the bottle. So rather than hide from our colonial pasts, and risk looking really ignorant, its best to know the history and then have the choice to use it as one wishes. Parents who are opposed to ES, can counter the classes in their homes. I presume that their children love and respect them and will listen to them. So, why the inordinate fear of one semester of one hour a day classes? Indoctrination doesn’t work that way. Indoctrination requires full immersion. Trust your kids and trust yourself as a parent to teach your kids the values you hold important. That being said, I am a utter, absolute, and uncompromising supporter of Ethnic Studies, and will defend to the end. Colonization is a fact. You cannot put this genie back in the bottle.
This recall effort is just a way to punish Dharap for standing up for the dignity and privacy of a district employee. Let’s call it what it is: Trump-style retribution from Avery Wang and his group of rabid Moms4Liberty. The racist and classist undertones are just a bonus for some of our neighbors. Count me disappointed.
Thank you, Trustee Dharap, for your continued professionalism, thoughtfulness, and kind heart. I am deeply grateful for the 6 years you have donated your time, efforts, and wisdom so far to help guide and lead our wonderful school district. You are truly a class act and an inspiration, you have consistently demonstrated
a deep understanding of your role as a board trustee, you are confident yet humble, a true and effective leader who deserves so much better than being threatened with this bogus recall threat. Please keep doing what you are doing. You are a voice of reason and a bright light in our community, and I just pray this does not impact your young family too negatively. Shame on Rowena Chiu who has emboldened this right-wing, transphobic, racist and arrogant math-obsessed recall group. And shame on Kamhi and Salcman for not taking a stronger stand in uniting with Dharap and Segal against this toxic nonsense, and against Trustee Chiu’s disgusting and dishonest behaviours.
Trustee Dharap has my support. Thank you to the other 3 board members for supporting him too. I can clearly see that his approach to governance is balanced, rational and he keeps all students in mind. In fact, he considers advanced students, struggling students and everyone in the middle. As a big public school, I do see opportunities offered at various levels —even more so than smaller schools can provide. No one is claiming that PAUSD is run perfectly, no school is, public or private. Of course, there will always be areas of improvement. However, he has contributed to this district in so many significant ways. Also, I appreciate his ability to stay in his lane and acknowledge that the teachers have a level of expertise that he does not. He demonstrates a solid level of curiosity about the curriculum while keeping student output prioritized. I don’t believe Trustee Dharap wants to take away opportunities for advanced students, however sometimes there are limitations or constraints that keep the board members from meeting everyones specifics needs. I appreciate his professionalism and clear communication. Looking forward to this community moving forward with less division, more listening, respectful communication and creative problem solving.