By Aliyah Mohammed
Fremont Bulletin
Posted: 01/22/2015 11:28:21 AM PST
San Jose Mercury News
[JDCC Editor’s Note: Michele Berke is a CODA (child of deaf adults) and works at California School for the Deaf, Fremont (CSDF).]
Photo: Michele Berke. Fremont Unified School District Board election. January 21, 2015. Photographer: James Sakane.
Fremont Unified School District’s Board of Education appointed Michele Berke, a student outcomes specialist for the California School for the Deaf in Fremont, to fill the two-year vacancy on the board after more than four hours of deliberation at a special meeting Wednesday night.
Berke was one of nine candidates who applied to fill the vacancy on the board after longtime boardmember Lily Mei was voted onto Fremont City Council in November’s general election.
The five-member board retained Larry Sweeney, the incumbent who finished with 34.72 percent of the vote. He was joined by scientist Yang Shao, who finished with 19.03 percent of 38,120 ballots cast in this election.
Former board president Lara Calvert-York and Sweeney’s current terms ended in November, with now President Desrie Campbell, Vice President Ann Crosbie and Mei’s terms lasting until 2016.
Berke and the other eight candidates were asked five questions rotationally by the board. They were then given two minutes to tell the board and almost 50 people seated in the board chambers about their qualifications for the position.
Photo: Michele Berke. a California School for the Deaf employee, was appointed to the Fremont Unified School District Board Wednesday night. Berke, an 11-year resident, will fill the seat for two years. (James Sakane)
The other applicants were Steve Cho, former Fremont city council member; Dax Choksi, a candidate who had run in November and took 15.3 percent of the total votes; Dharminder Dewan, a member of the city’s human relations commission whose term expired in December; Norman Lee Howell, a retired Fremont teacher, who taught in the district for 34 years; Kristin MacDonald, a human resource analyst for City of Fremont; Hiu Ng, a candidate who ran in November and took 13.7 percent of the final votes; Moina Shaiq, a candidate who ran in November and took 16.95 percent of the final vote; and Vinita Verma, who serves as the service learning chair for “The Gifted in Fremont.”
After the initial interviews and introductions, the board held the first round of voting where each boardmember voted for three candidates in no order. Any candidate who received one vote would advance to the next round of voting.
Berke, Cho, Choksi, Howell, MacDonald and Shaiq moved onto the second round, where trustees voted for two candidates in no particular order. The trustees said this was a difficult decision with so many qualified candidates.
Berke, Cho, Choksi and Shaiq were elected to the third round. They stayed until the sixth round of voting, as a three-person consensus needed to appoint a candidate eluded the trustees as they clung to their selections without an explanation.
Photo: Nine candidates. Fremont Unified School District Board election. January 21, 2015. Photographer: James Sakane.
Sweeney and Shao cast their votes twice for Cho and Campbell cast hers for Choksi, with Crosby favoring Shaiq for two consecutive rounds of voting with no elimination.
The trustees eventually discussed what they were looking for in choosing their candidate and seeing no change in their initial selection, all said they admired the work Berke was doing. In the sixth and final round of voting, all voted for Berke.
Berke, a Fremont resident for 11 years, coordinates and administers state-mandated testing such as the new Smarter Balance Assessments that will be implemented this spring.
Photo: Fremont Unified School District Board. Fremont Unified School District Board election. January 21, 2015. Photographer: James Sakane.
“I am excited and happy,” to serve on the board, Berke said after being appointed. “It’s a little overwhelming.”
Berke will be joining the other school trustees on the dais next week at their Jan. 28 meeting.
Source: www.mercurynews.com/ci_27372148/fusd-board-trustees-appoints-michele-berke-fill-fifth
