Gee Wah Mok, a lawyer, is running for re-election to the Del Mar Union School District board of trustees. The San Diego Union-Tribune asked all the candidates running for school board in districts around San Diego County about their policies, plans and priorities. Here’s what Mok told us about his. Why are you running for school board? What makes you a good candidate? Del Mar Union schools are among the best in the country, attracting the best and brightest families who form the heart of our community. It is a privilege to raise my family here, and as a parent with a child in the district, I am dedicated to ensuring every student receives an exceptional education. Gee Wah Mok (Courtesy Gee Wah Mok) Delivering excellence requires strong leadership, thoughtful decision-making and experience. I am proudly serving in my sixth year on the school board, the last two as board president. I helped navigate the district through the pandemic uncertainty and secured funding to modernize and build award-winning facilities. I support a fiscally responsible budget that prioritizes top-tier educators, small classes and innovative instructional programs. Born and raised in San Diego as the son of immigrants, I understand the transformative power of a quality education, and I am passionate about providing the best learning environment for our children. What is the most important issue currently facing your school district? An important issue facing our school district is student mental health and social and emotional learning. For many of our students, early childhood development was significantly affected by the pandemic. They were isolated with few opportunities to speak and socialize with peers. This meant that they were not able to develop relationships and patterns fundamental to a child’s development, such as sharing, problem-solving and taking turns. Now, teachers observe that students more commonly struggle with behavioral challenges and find that students have more difficulty engaging in class. Students have difficulty building relationships, and they lack the ability to self-regulate.  In response, we have added counselors to nearly all of our schools who help provide additional direct support for our students’ social and emotional learning. Counselors have the opportunity to intervene earlier and help advocate for their students’ success. Students are better equipped and more prepared to focus on learning. What are the top three specific things you would seek to accomplish on the school board? My priorities are: Maintain small classes. Fewer students allow the teacher to better engage the class and for the students to have more individualized attention. Fiscal responsibility. Good financial practices provide for district-wide stability Thoughtful decision-making. I work to build consensus, aiming to make decisions that provide the largest benefit to our students and community. What would your approach be to district budget planning and spending? What would you do if your district had a budget shortfall? My philosophy regarding budgeting is plain and simple: We should not spend more than we receive. I take great pride that through my years on the school board, the district has always had a balanced budget and has never operated at a budget deficit. Instead, we have steadily increased our reserves in the event of economic challenges. In fact, due to the board’s foresight, we were properly positioned to financially support the district through the COVID-19 pandemic, where we needed to hire additional staff, offer both in-person and online programming and purchase safety equipment. Prudent financial planning allows the board to successfully implement educational programming priorities that are responsible and sustainable. This district is rated by Moody’s Investors Services as AAA, the highest possible rating, which is a reflection of the district’s strong financial position and fiscal practices. How should your school district raise student academic achievement, and what would you do as a school board member to accomplish that? Del Mar Union is one of the premier academic districts in the state, ranking in the top 1 percent.  We have incredible teachers and staff, highly engaged parents and leadership that puts the needs of children at the forefront of their decisions. The district offers exceptional educational programming that focuses on problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that well prepares our students for secondary education and beyond. As a board, we foster an educational environment geared toward success. We primarily devote our resources to hiring and developing exceptional teachers and staff which keeps our student to teacher ratio low and allows our students to thrive. We invest heavily in the professional learning of our teachers so they are equipped with the necessary tools and methodologies to guide our students. We also devote our resources to updating our facilities so that they inspire our students’ creativity and capacity to learn. Do you think anything currently offered in school curricula or libraries should be removed? If yes, what, and why? If no, why not? We are an elementary (K-6) district and have a highly competent instructional services department that works diligently to ensure our curriculum is compliant with all educational codes and regulations. I believe all materials should be age-appropriate for the level of comprehension and maturity of our children, and also that our children are able to learn about the different cultures and experiences of their fellow schoolmates and the people in their community and see their own experiences reflected. What do you think is driving student absenteeism in your district, and what would you as a school board member do to reduce it? Student absenteeism in Del Mar Union is fairly low, although it can potentially cause disruption to teaching and student learning. It would be helpful to gather additional data as to the common causes in our specific area and determine if there are any particular demographics of students who may have additional needs that contribute to their absenteeism. For those that have hardships, we offer a number of programs and provide additional resources to make educational opportunities more accessible. Our district staff work closely with those families to offer the needed supports. Some additional contributing factors to absenteeism may include a large number of families who are positioned here temporarily for work, extended travel to visit family abroad and other voluntary reasons. Do you think schools should notify parents if their child’s gender identity or presentation at school changes? Why or why not? Our strategic plan was developed in collaboration with our community, and one of the main priorities is to foster a positive school environment with a “responsive and caring culture.” We believe that “individuals are respected and valued for their unique contributions and diverse perspectives. There exists a shared commitment to a culture of excellence grounded in empathy, compassion, and common purpose.” All students should feel safe, supported and a sense that they belong. This includes having supportive school personnel and administrators, inclusive school policies and programs to address bullying and teach conflict resolution. We work in partnership with our parents to reinforce these values.