Linda Goytia

On my way to deliver my "virtual" graduation address in 2020.   I'm proud of the "distance" graduations and videos we were able to carry out, thanks to our dedicated staff. Our students have had to give up so much.

 I am a past Board  President and current trustee of the MetroEd/ Silicon Valley Career Technical Ed. Board.  I have spent many years advocating with state elected officials and the Department of Finance for increased funding for jobs training programs.

Welcome to my Website!     

We all learned a new COVID skill--ZOOMING!  

One way or another...

Click here to watch:  

CA League of Women Voters Forum

The CUHSD has been on a steady upward path.  We were ranked among the top 20 "Best Bay Area School districts for 2020," and we continue to make exciting gains.

Progress on Priorities indentified in 2020:

• To support and expand supports for student mental health and social/ emotional well-being, including our Cassy Counseling Services and our social worker, now available remotely.  I listed this first because we know that student stress and feelings of isolation have been intensified by distance learning.  We now have social workers at four of our sites, and fully staffed drop-in Wellness Centers at all sites.  Westmont is in the process of becoming a Community School.
• To monitor the quality and outcomes of distance learning, be sure teachers have ongoing training, and make sure that all students are engaged and digitally connected.  For those students and families, who. for a variety of reasons, wanted to continue with remote learning, we now have an exciting Digital Academy and we expect to keep it in operation for the forseeable future.
• To ensure the safety of students and staff when we transition back to in-person instruction.  We continue to employ best practices in hygiene, and we have added a number of features to enhance the phycial safety of each campus:  Security fencing, visitor access prodecures, security cameras, improved lighting and improved access for those with disaabilities.
• To promote a return to in-person learning for small groups of at-risk students mentored by teacher volunteers as soon as possible.  This was done, and we now have a strong credit-recovery program and additional tutoring services in place to assist students who experienced learning loss.
• To ensure that our budget priorities align with our values as stated in our Strategic Plan.  We have four new board members who will be engaged for several months with the process of creating a new Strategic Plan aligned with our Local Control and Accountability Plan.
• To continue to explore creative ways to increase revenue to attract and retain our most valuable asset--our people--especially our dedicated teachers.  Our "For the Kids" Initiative has come to fruition.  We now own the Heritage Village Office Complex and we have a new lease agreement for the Blacford campus with Stratford Academy.  Both of these are bringing us enhanced revenue for people and programs. 
• To support and expand the policies that have enabled us to dramatically increase the college-eligibility rate of our graduates.  Effective for the 2023-24 school year, each campus will have an additional academic counselor.  Also, the Board has embraced the goal of having each student graduate with a clear academic or career pathway plan.
• To continue our push in the area of Restorative Justice that has reduced our suspension rate from 8 to 3% and our expulsions to virtually zero, and continue our work on equity for all students . In 2020, I co-authored a resolution which the Board approved to expand this critical work.  We engaged an outside consultant to conduct an "equity audit" of our processes and programs.  That report will soon be made available to the public and will be used to guide decision-making going forward.
• To continue the legislative effort I am leading in Sacramento to restore direct funding to MetroEd / SVCTE.  This invaluable resource must be preserved for our students and our business community and as part of our equity platform.  Many SVCTE students come from our most under-served student population and 86% are students of color.  I continued this work under the leadership of MetroEd's hard-working and inspirational Superintendent, Alyssa Lynch, and in 2022, we saw CTE funding increased from 150 to 300 million statewide.  Now we are actively promoting SB377 which will enhance CTE programs in a variety of ways and increase funding to 450 million. 
• Continue my engagement in the Facilities Advisory Committee as we move into the exciting next phase of construction, especially the new kitchen, cafeteria and student union complex at Prospect and the new Library and Student Services building at Del Mar.  These facilities are now open and serving our students:  The Del Mar Admin Building, Library and Kitchen, the Prospect Student Union-Kitchen-Classroom Complex, and the Leigh Admin Building and new landscaping.  Branham's kitchen opened in 2023 and is now serving an enthusiastic student body. 
• Oversee the progress of our "For the Kids" Initiative in which we leveraged under-utilized district property into residential housing and the ownership of the Campbell Heritage Office Complex which will provide ongoing lease revenue for student programs and more competitive salaries for teachers. We now own the Heritage Office Building at Campbell and Winchester, and we have a new tenant at the old Blackford site: Stratford Academy.  These are bringing us enhanced revenue for our people and programs.

To those of you who voted in my Trustee Area, THANK YOU for returning me to office.  I love this work, and I am so happy to be able to continue.

 Now, more than ever, it is such an honor to be able to serve our students and families.  

As the only career high school teacher on our 5-member board, I know that my 39 years of teaching in our District schools (from which both my sons graduated) provided me a unique insight into the needs of our students and teachers.

"Linda is a tireless advocate for educational equity with a true passion for closing the opportunity gap."

Representative Eshoo is currently Chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health.

Endorsements

Add Text Here...

Add Text Here...