Jacquie Tanner is running for the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District Board of Trustees.

Tanner has served as a frequent volunteer in the Mountain View Whisman School District, where her daughter was a student. She recently retired from her role as senior production materials planner at Tesla.

When Tanner herself attended MVLA schools, her mother volunteered as a bus driver and union leader in the district, propelling Tanner’s interest in parent engagement. Tanner has lived in Mountain View for almost her entire life.

“During my time [at Tesla], … I couldn’t be as involved as I wanted to be with the school and the city and what was going on.” Tanner said. “So I just retired in June. And now, I can spend all my time serving the community.”

Mental health and wellness

Tanner praised the board’s treatment of mental health issues during the pandemic. She said that she had not yet heard of any mental health issues from researching and talking to fellow parents.

“I’ve been studying diligently on previous board meetings and reading the Mountain View Voice and trying to get other people’s opinions about the school’s progress,” Tanner said. “I’m sure there are issues that we haven’t seen yet.”

Equity

Tanner said she believes that the district needs to provide better support for incoming freshmen. She cited her own daughter’s experience transferring from Blach Junior High School to Los Altos High School as what made her realize this issue.

“That’s when the need is the greatest,” Tanner said. “The kids are new. They’re not mentally ready for high school. I think that’s where we can capture their weaknesses and bring them up to the next level.”

Communication

Tanner discussed the upcoming influx of students the district will have and pointed to communication as a key factor when expanding to a third high school.

“I’m going to be very focused on the future growth readiness of the whole system,” she said.

Tanner also suggested that the district collaborate with middle and elementary school boards in order to facilitate the larger number of students.

“The school boards don’t talk to each other,” she said. “Because Mountain View Whisman is our feeder school [district], they need to be able to bring in people first. So we need to work together to make sure that we have the land and the processes … handled.”

To learn more about Tanner, visit her website here.