Races are starting to heat up as the filing period began to formally place yourself on the November ballot for a chance to gain a seat on the Woodland School Board.
One race, in particular, will likely bring forth a new board member come November as Bibiana Garcia has announced her bid to run for the District Area 3 seat, currently held by Karen Rosenkilde-Bayne.
“I am passionate about education,” Garcia said. “I want to be the voice for all disadvantaged students and families. They need a voice. They don’t know the system so they don’t know where they can go to find the resources so that they can be helped.”
Garcia, 40, is no stranger to working with others and the district, volunteering for school committees, and being an advocate for English learning families.
She has been working with various school organizations for 10 years now.
When her oldest son started kindergarten at Beamer Elementary School in 2010, Garcia began her volunteering journey on the school’s English Learner Advisory Committee before becoming president a year later.
After working with ELAC for two years, Garcia became the Beamer representative for the District’s English Learner Advisory Committee, and in 2018 she became the president of DELAC, a position she still holds today.
She has also served on the PTA executive board from 2017-2019 and as vice president of the California Association for Bilingual Education Chapter 76. She became the chapter’s president earlier this year.
In 2018, she worked her first job directly for the district when she was asked to help as a substitute Paraprofessional due to her extensive volunteering roles. She worked on-site for both Douglass and then Lee Middle School the following semester supporting migrant children from Honduras, Nicaragua, India, Pakistan, Guatemala, and Mexico who had been in the country for less than two years. She left the position in September of 2019.
Garcia and her husband immigrated from Mexico 15 years ago.
“Woodland welcomed us with open arms,” Garcia said. “We started from nothing, not knowing anyone, so we opened up our own business, Deluxe Air.”
Currently, Garcia works as the administrator for her business while taking care of her three kids at home. She has two sons, one a sophomore at Pioneer High School and another in 6th grade attending Beamer. Her three-year-old daughter will be ready to attend preschool in a year.
Garcia feels that her background in working for the district and being immigrant sets her apart from other candidates and board members. That perspective could resonate with all voters and help her out come November.
“There are many challenges families have to overcome when they come from other parts of the world,” Garcia said. “My family taught me to fight for what is right and work hard, and that’s what I would do as a board member. There has not been someone on the school board like me, and I feel that is a positive. That does not make me less qualified.”
Garcia wants all parents at a disadvantage, not just the English learners, to feel as if their voices are heard. But if they cannot understand or speak the language, that becomes quite the obstacle. Luckily she’s been passionate about helping them for the better part of a decade.
“Parents of English learners need to feel more welcome and feel like they can ask the board whatever they need without limits for their kids,” Garcia said. “English learning students always need more resources. They need more education, and sometimes parents don’t even know that their kids are classified as English learners.
“I have seen a lot of voices from parents and alumnus whose voice is not heard from,” Garcia continued. “I can be the way these voices are heard.”
Helping out disadvantaged parents would be one of Garcia’s primary commitments. Still, like many others on the school board, Garcia has other ancillary ideas and goals she would like to see happen in hopes of making the district a more inclusive and better place.
“I would like to see more counselors,” Garcia said. “I think the district and I would also like to invest more in the psychological and emotional support of students and employees. We also need to have nurses eat each school, especially during these times.”
“Another thing is we need to have a better breakfast for our students,” Garcia continued. “Parents have been asking for that, and it’s a hot topic.”
With schools heading toward online learning — at least to start the academic year as a part of phase one of the district’s reopening plan — having parents understand how to navigate the platform is more important than ever.
“I think if kids are going to school, then it’s going to be an online experience,” Garcia said. “Some parents don’t know how to support their kids with it. Teachers have the training for online learning, but the parents do not so they can’t help their kids. We need to offer training to parents as well.”
Garcia has been watching and keeping up with board meetings since 2015. She has also been an active participant during public comment to share any problems she feels are persistent in the district.
She is grateful the district will be offering an opt-out of instruction and will run a concurrent virtual academy separate from the first phase of the plan to reopen. Garcia would have kept her kids all at home regardless.
“I’d prefer to have them at the house for right now,” Garcia said. “We don’t know how this will all play out. I’d want to have my kids safe in the home, and I know it’s not easy for everyone.”
She does not envy the decisions the board of trustees have had to make during these past four months of the pandemic. She doesn’t know how she would have voted for a school reopening if she was currently serving on the board.
“Everything is likely to change before the date school starts,” Garcia said. “I would just follow the recommendations from the governor and county. As of right now, it’s not very safe to stay in-person classes. We need to follow the recommendations.”
She does however, appreciate what the district has been going through in what sometimes is a thankless job.
“I know this has been challenging for the district,” Garcia said. “I think they have done a good job. These times are difficult for everyone.”
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