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Tri-Valley educator Kristin Pelham is running to fill the open seat for Dublin Unified School District Board of Trustees Area 1 in the Nov. 3 general election.
With more than 20 years working for San Ramon Valley Unified School District and 18 years living in Dublin with her family, Pelham knows a thing or two about bringing communities together and told the Weekly it’s one of her top priorities, if elected.
“A big thing in Dublin right now is bringing the district together,” Pelham said. “We really need to work on bringing the east-west divide and representing the whole district. We need stability; the current superintendent has been extended for a year but there’s been a lot of turnover.”
Pelham, who works as a special education teacher and resource specialist for SRVUSD, said she was motivated to run for the Area 1 seat when current Trustee Amy Miller opted to not seek re-election this year after serving a decade on the DUSD Board of Trustees.
“Part of it was a lot of the decisions I was watching on my own board, what plans were happening,” Pelham said about her reason for campaigning. “I felt we needed a voice of someone who’s been in the classroom, understands how schools work, understands what we need, what are our strengths.”
With experience on the district’s LCAP, Boundary and High School Naming committees, Pelham said a school board campaign “seemed like the next step when I heard (Miller) wasn’t running, and she’s in my area, so I thought, ‘Time to jump in.'”
“The board’s changed quite a bit the last few years. I felt like schools and education is what I know — it’s what I’ve done for a long time and so I feel like I bring that experience of understanding the challenges, and there’s definitely challenges right now,” added Pelham, who recently received Miller’s endorsement.
The board could use a bird’s eye view of “focusing on all of the programs in the district, not just one school or the new high school,” according to Pelham.
“It’s looking at the district as a whole, making sure we’re putting students at the forefront of decisions,” Pelham said.
As someone currently engaged in online instruction, Pelham said her familiarity with the model and time spent on a reopening committee in SRVUSD would also benefit the Dublin community when local campuses are eventually allowed to reopen for in-person learning.
Pelham has served as a parent leader on the DUSD Museum of Tolerance and Parent Faculty Club volunteer. She and husband Mark have two daughters enrolled in DUSD, at Dublin High and Wells Middle schools, respectively.
She earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from Gonzaga University and a master’s in educational leadership from Cal State East Bay, and holds credentials in multiple subject teaching, educational specialist instruction, cross cultural, language, and academic development, and administrative service.
Pelham is running against Dublin physician Dawn Nwamuo for the Area 1 seat in the Nov. 3 general election.
To learn more about Pelham, visit www.kristin4dublin.org.
