Three seats on the Shoreline Unified School District’s board of trustees are up for election this November, and the district is beginning to host informational nights to encourage community members to put their name into the hat.
The sprawling district designates board seats to three different geographic areas. Two seats are up for the region encompassing Point Reyes, Inverness and Point Reyes Station, and one seat is up for Tomales and the East Shore. The application period runs from July 16 to Aug. 10.
Last week at West Marin School, four people attended the first informational night, where they spoke with Superintendent Bob Raines about the position’s requirements, timelines, duties and expectations. “I got the impression these four folks wanted to step up and do something good for their community,” Mr. Raines said. “I’ve worked with other communities where you’re looking for anyone to run.”
Two of the three trustees whose terms are up say they are considering whether to run again. “I think I probably will,” said Tim Kehoe, an Inverness resident who has held his seat since 2001. “We might be going out for a bond [for facilities improvements] and I really want to support that.” Mr. Kehoe is a third-generation trustee, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Also a dairy rancher, he said he is interested in bolstering the high school’s agriculture program and farm established a few years ago.
Jane Healy, a Tomales resident, has been on the board for 13 years and said she’ll wait to see who else runs. “I really love serving Shoreline—it’s the greatest privilege in the world to serve.” Jim Lino has been on the board since the late ‘90s and said he does not plan to run again. Looking back on his multi-decade tenure, he said he was proud of the board’s ability to attract strong teachers and he offered advice for interested candidates. “I think it’s really important that an incoming trustee be willing to work pretty hard,” he said. “You have to get up to speed to be effective. Any decision has to go through the test: is this the best thing for our students?”
The next candidate information night will be held at Tomales High School on March 12 at 7 p.m. More information is available at marincounty.org/depts/rv.