On Tuesday, Nov. 5, five candidates will run in an election for PAUSD’s Board of Education. The board consists of five members elected by Palo Alto residents to serve four-year terms. Elections are held on even-numbered years and designed to be staggered to ensure that two to three seats are open at each election. This year, three positions will
become available as the terms of Board President Jesse Ladomirak and Board Members Todd Collins and Jennifer DiBrienza expire — Board Members Shana Segal and Shounak Dharap will remain on board until 2026.
Rowena Chiu
As the parent of four children in PAUSD, Rowena Chiu is running for a seat on the school board with
a mission that, “every child must grow.” Previously serving as JLS Connections Board President and Parent Teacher Association president at Ohlone Elementary, Chiu is determined to reflect the needs of the communities that PAUSD represents. She has worked and volunteered in Palo Alto classrooms since 2009 and has taught disadvantaged youth across Africa, Asia, and inner-city London, where she taught filmmaking to high school dropouts at
a media center.
“The idea that you would bring diverse voices around the table … (and) actually genuinely try and weave in the concerns of people who are in many different places about an issue and try to find a solution that is best for the greatest good,” she said. “I also think something very basic has been lacking in terms of our consensus building (is) any basic negotiation and bargaining, you come to the table, but you’re not going to walk away from the table with everything you want.”
Chiu aims to prioritize communication, education, and evidence-based problem-solving to enhance safety for students and teachers. Beyondacademic achievement, Chiu prioritizes mental health support, believing that clear mental health is extremely complex and deep rooted because it stems from an individual’s background and experiences.
“We need to equip high school teachers with much more training about identifying depression and mental health at an earlier stage, before suicide, and all sorts of stuff,” she said. “(Depression) is not a person going around openly crying. It could be a person who’s very quiet. It could be a person who’s acting out in anger. It could be a person who’s deeply
anxious, and worried.”
Chiu began her journey in local politics by advocating for the needs of the Special Education community, with a drive to de-stigmatize SpEd and ensuring that students and teachers receive and promote transparency in budget decisions.
As the election approaches, Chiu is focused on creating a small divide of transparency and inclusivity within the district, advocating for a collaborative approach to decision-making that values all voices.
“I would love to look at whether or not we can celebrate diversity, not everybody is going to be good at math and stem, so a broader approach to what one can thrive in would be a healthier approach,” she said.
Nicole Chiu-Wang
Following her previous school board candidacy in 2022, Nicole Chiu-Wang continued her education advocacy work for PAUSD through DreamCatchers — a nonprofit that supports socioeconomically disadvantaged middle school students in Palo Alto. Running for school board again, Chiu-Wang wants to focus on equity for all students and emphasizes
the importance of community engagement. Chiu-Wang began advocating for education while tutoring middle school students at an Asian American community group in Fountain Valley. She continued to work in education by helping graduate students design a curriculum that is used by over 2000 students.
“Seeing the opportunity gap firsthand motivated me to take action,” Chiu-Wang said. “With early childhood education, you can see the inequities there. It galvanized me to think about things like, ‘How can I try to close the gap?’”
As a mother of two young children, Chiu-Wang believes it is critical to invest in early childhood education because it creates pathways for later success in high school. She also aims to improve on the highly stigmatized mental health services in schools. To tackle these goals, Chiu-Wang believes that smaller group discussions will give people more
opportunities to participate and feel comfortable.
“Whenever we roll something out, we need to think about the intended consequences and the unintended consequences. How do we — because we are a public school district — how do we serve all these students?” she said.
Chiu-Wang has often observed a lack of trust and transparent communication between the district and parents. While she acknowledges that effective communication can be challenging due to the district’s size, she believes that equipping
principals with better tools to connect with parents could help address this issue.
“When we improve communication, we can diminish anxiety and foster a stronger community connection,” Chiu-Wang said.
With experience working with students of all ages, Chiu-Wang is advocating for comprehensive solutions that prioritize the well-being and success of every student in the district.
“We have the power to shape the future of our schools, and I want to ensure every voice is heard in that process.”
Chris Colohan
Software engineer Chris Colohan found inspiration to run for school board elections after five years of involvement in the Parent Teacher Association as treasurer and co-president. For many years, the stay-at-home dad also spent a lot of time with students in classrooms. Colohan substituted for various grade levels across all Palo Alto schools, including Gunn.
“It is crazy to run for the board,” he said. “It is a circus. There’s all sorts of politics around it, but that’s okay because it’s incredibly important, and it really matters. It really has a large impact in the long term on all of our kids, and that’s what I really care about.”
Colohan was alarmed to see that 19% of fifth grade students did not meet the California Assessment of Student Performance standard, shown on the CAASPP. Colohan empathizes with the many students who may struggle with the subject and plans to mitigate these concerns by designing a math plan similar to the Every Student Reads Initiative, developed by Superintendent Don Austin and Danae Reynolds, the Palo Alto Unified School District’s first literacy instruction director, in 2021.
“We want to inspire all our students to love learning and to enjoy it, not to have it be a burden (or) something which they feel like they’re pressured to do,” he said. “We need to make sure that we make opportunities for
learning available, while also being careful not to build an incentive system that incentivizes hard work for the sake
of showing that you can work harder than everyone else.”
During his years of substituting in math classes at Gunn, Colohan attributes parent feedback as a key to his understanding of how the pressures of rigorous courses can impact students’ mental health. To alleviate these stressors, he plans to improve parent-teacher communication regarding the advanced and alternate
math lane options.
“One of the things I really want to focus on is improving trust all around, ” Colohan said. “Trust of parents (and) students (for their teachers and administration) and trust of the administration for everyone, because with trust,
good things happen.”
The former treasurer also prioritizes transparency of school budget decisions to the community. According
to Colohan’s endorsement website, “(Colohan) strongly believes that everyone in the community with an interest
in the school district should be able to understand what is happening and why.”
Allison Kamhi
As a candidate for the school board with experience as an attorney and immigrant rights activist, Allison Kamhi has taken direct steps in advocacy and community building through being the legal program director at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a nonprofit whose mission is to build a democratic society that values diversity and the rights of all people. With her children in PAUSD elementary and middle schools, Kamhi’s commitment to education is compounded by both personal and professional motives.
“I believe that all change starts at the local level,” Kamhi said. “As a parent, I want to ensure that our schools are
safe and inclusive spaces where every child can thrive.”
Kamhi wants to ensure that schools emphasize the importance of safety for all children through investments
in mental health, special needs services, and strong protocols against bullying and hate speech. She also
values trust and community, recognizing that meaningful relationships with parents, teachers, students and
community members are essential. With collaboration and transparency, Kamhi aims to build a community that
supports children’s growth and success.
Her campaign is built on three core pillars: enhancing student safety, trust within the community and expanding
academic opportunities. Kamhi’s past work in education includes serving on the School Board’s Ad Hoc Child Care
Committee, where she helped grow aftercare options for marginalized students.
“We need to address safety not just in terms of physical security, but also through mental health resources and support for special needs services,” she said. “Every student deserves to feel safe and supported in their learning environment.”
Kamhi also believes in increasing communication between the school board and the community.
“It’s crucial that we listen to students and parents,” she said. “Their voices need to be heard in decision-making
processes.”
With her extensive legal background from teaching Stanford Law to doing policy work and advocacy experience, Kamhi aims to bridge the gap between policy and community needs. “I’m running because I care deeply about our children’s
futures,” she said. “Together, we can create opportunities for all students to succeed.”
Josh Salcman
After Josh Salcman moved with his family from Missouri to Palo Alto, he served on the PTA as fundraising Vice President and on Greendell’s Site Council Board. Inspired by the wide-range of his children’s learning capabilities, it prompted him to immerse himself in the educational realm through volunteering at classrooms and playgrounds.
“I think what we need to do as a school district is help all students be successful,” Salcman said. “I think that’s a
really valuable and rare lens that I can bring because of the fact that I’ve got kids that span elementary through
high school and also a child with special needs, so I understand what parents go through when they have a
kid who needs extra support.”
Salcman prioritizes trust and transparency in PAUSD, educating the community on using their voice and supporting parents in navigating the education process for the district’s diverse student population.
“We have such a broad range of needs in terms of students in the district, from students who are struggling to reach grade level standards, to students that are sort of accelerating beyond what we typically expect,” Salcman
said. “We need to recognize that all students have different needs, and make sure that we are doing everything we
can so that every student can thrive and make as much progress as possible.”
Salcman values early childhood mental health to show students diverse opportunities, like Middle College and
the Pathways Program.
“My sense is that a lot of stress and anxiety comes from is a mismatch between expectations and (personal
capability),” Salcman said. “So I think if we can change things on the expectation side, and we can also change
things on the side of the acceptance of oneself.”
Running for school board, Salcman has identified what it means to serve the community as a board member.
“The most important role of a board member as an elected representative of the community is to be available,
accessible and accountable to the community,” Salcman said. “That’s something that I take really seriously, and
invest significant time into.”
