Dispatches from the Road

and getting ready for the coming year

Author

Charles DiFazio
December 17, 2025

This will likely be my last newsletter of 2025, and I want to thank you all for following me on this journey. I’m approaching the end of my first full year in office as a member of the Mountain View Whisman School Board.

During this time, I’ve sent out twenty-one posts (including this one), answered many emails from constituents, met in person with many of you, and hosted twenty-eight office hours meetings. Your feedback, thoughts, and questions have helped me perform my duties and fulfill my responsibilities to the district and the community. I hope you continue to engage with me, as we still have much work to do together.

If you ever have questions, comments, or feedback, don’t hesitate to send me an email at my official district address, [email protected] or click the button below to schedule office hours with me.

CSBA AEC

As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, I attended the California School Boards Association’s Annual Education Conference. It was a wonderful experience, part of my continuing education and professional development in this relatively new role. During this week’s board meeting, we will all be discussing our time at the conference, as per our bylaws and general good governance.

As a reader of my newsletter, here’s an early and more in-depth description of my time at the conference. Aside from the Board Presidents Workshop, I deliberated over the scheduled sessions and tried to aim for a variety of sessions that touched on different, important areas of work that I anticipate ahead of us.

Tuesday

Board Presidents Workshop

On my first day at the conference, I attended the Board Presidents Workshop. This was an all-day session covering the wide range of responsibilities associated with being the Board President. At its core, the Board President is the presiding officer and facilitator of the governance team. The President has limited authority in the role, but must ensure that the board works effectively as a deliberative body to fulfill its vision and keep students at the forefront.

Many of the tasks are immediately visible, from meeting management to acting as the point of contact and spokesperson for the Board. Behind the scenes, they are responsible for agenda preparation and building the capacity of the governance team. The workshop went through many examples and discussions around how to perform these effectively, and I left feeling prepared to serve if I am elected by my colleagues to that position.

Wednesday

Support for Building High Quality Mathematics Programs

My first session after the Board Presidents Workshop was Support for Building High Quality Mathematics Programs by presenters Ellen Barger, Vanessa Cerrahoglu, and Jody Guarino. I was drawn to this as we approach our new math curriculum adoption, and it challenged a traditional view of curriculum adoption. They argued that while high-quality instructional materials are a necessary foundation, they’re not sufficient on their own to drive meaningful change. To improve mathematics learning at scale, districts must focus on the instructional core. This includes the dynamic relationship between teacher knowledge and skill, the level of content complexity, and the active role of the student. Because these three elements are interdependent, shifting the quality of one requires a deliberate adjustment of the others to deliver improved results.

The presenters emphasized that a successful transition from exploration to sustainability requires systemic support beyond the classroom, urging districts to leverage partners like County Offices of Education (COEs). Grounding their approach in the California Mathematics Framework, they advocated for a culture where students experience math as a "vibrant, interconnected, beautiful, relevant, and creative" discipline. Having studied Computer Science and related Math fields as an undergrad, allowing students to see the joy and wonder of math resonated with me. Building those firm foundations and connections will allow children to make the leap into algebra, calculus, and beyond in higher grades.

Since new results can’t emerge from the same system that created the current outcomes, the session concluded that true transformation happens by addressing the cycle of experiences, beliefs, and actions. Districts can use the adoption process as an opportunity for more significant change rather than a simple book purchase, taking this once-a-decade requirement as a deeper investment in lasting student success.

Advancing School Finance Skills for Board Members

Next, I chose to attend Advancing School Finance Skills for Board Members, with presenters Tatia Davenport (CASBO), Richard De Nava (San Bernardino COE), Eric Dill (Poway USD), and Tina Douglas (La Mesa-Spring Valley Schools). With our ongoing discussions of budget, revenue, and program alignment, this felt like a timely session to attend. In discussing how to fund programs, the presenters recommended both strategic planning and strategic abandonment. Briefly, we should be deliberate in choosing which programs to fund, and at the same time regularly identify things to stop doing. It’s much easier to accumulate new programs than it is to sunset them. They recommended staying focused on our vision and program outcomes. To do so, we should provide staff with clear priorities, delegate the execution to the professionals, and then hold them accountable for the results.

When it comes to financial insolvency, they mentioned that one of the primary reasons districts end up seeing the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team is a refusal to make tough decisions, delaying those choices rather than addressing the deficits. While healthy reserves buy a district some time, those dollars are one-time use and can’t resolve structural budget issues. Whether a district is funded through LCFF or is a Basic Aid district like ours, they reiterated that the Board's role remains the same. The Board is there to constructively challenge recommendations, ensure equitable resource allocation, and target financial decisions at our goals and the best interests of students.

The Board’s Role in Implementing the English Learner Roadmap

In this session, the discussion centered on the California English Learner (EL) Roadmap, a policy adopted in 2017 addressing how schools serve multilingual learners. As we have a significant multilingual learner student population, I was eager to hear ideas on how to serve this community better. A statewide implementation plan is due to the legislature by November 2026, so the session emphasized that boards should understand and prepare for the roadmap’s four main principles. These principles are: Assets-Oriented and Needs-Responsive Schools, Intellectual Quality of Instruction and Meaningful Access, System Conditions that Support Effectiveness, and Alignment and Articulation Within and Across Schools.

I won’t go into the details here, but some important, specific components of these principles were recognizing a student’s primary language and culture as strengths and serving English Language Development (ELD) within a rich, standards-based curriculum that provides rigorous education. For a board, the task is then to provide vision, resource alignment, and accountability. They encouraged us to ask critical questions about aligning district goals with the Roadmap’s principles and how resources are being prioritized. By monitoring progress and fostering partnerships with families, we can demonstrate a long-term commitment to multilingual excellence.

Thursday

Given that I’ve already written many words and haven’t yet reached this week’s board meeting, I will leave you with a cliffhanger for my remaining sessions. As a teaser, these included Strategic Plan Input: How to Do It, Why It Matters and Investing in People - How District Partnerships Foster Employee Growth and Student Success.

Now, on to this week’s agenda, but I will keep this portion lighter than usual.

Board Meeting

The Thursday, December 18, 2025 meeting begins at 6:00 PM with a school showcase by the Preschool Program, followed by closed session. Here are some items on the agenda once we return to open session:

Organizational Meeting

As noted in our bylaws, every year we hold our organizational meeting. During this portion, we will elect a president, vice president and clerk, appoint the Superintendent as secretary to the Board, authorize signatures, develop a schedule of regular meetings for the year, develop a Board Governance Calendar for the year, and designate Board representatives. This is an important start to the new year, and it will kick off much important work that we have ahead of us.

Budget Reduction Update

Superintendent Baier will provide an update on the process for budget reductions and next steps.

Setting a budget to execute on our priorities is one of the key roles of the board, so we will continue our ongoing discussions on how to adjust our budget to the apparent realities of our anticipated revenue in the coming years. Thankfully, our reserves allow us time to be thoughtful and deliberate on priorities rather than take drastic, immediate actions.

Board Governance Handbook

The Trustees will review the Board Governance Handbook, which outlines Trustees' roles and responsibilities, as well as the policies and procedures for board members. The handbook guides topics such as conduct, board protocols, and meeting procedures.

The main purpose of our governance handbook is to connect our high-level policy and our actual practice as a governance team. By working together to draft it and internalize its recommendations, we’re memorializing our working agreement so we can operate with consistency, transparency, and trust. It will also set the stage for future board members, as we aim to keep a living document of what works well.