SAN JOSE, CA – On Friday, December 7, newly elected Trustee Peter Ortiz took his oath of office as a member of the County Board of Education. Ortiz will replace former Trustee, Darcie Green, and represent Area 6 which includes: Alum Rock, Mt. Pleasant, and Franklin-McKinley and the corresponding portion of East Side Union High school districts and a small portion of San Jose Unified. Green did not run for re-election. He will serve a term of office until 2022.
Returning members Kathleen King, Area 2, and Claudia Rossi, Area 7 took their oath of office on Wednesday, December 12. Both King and Rossi will serve their term of office until 2022.
That evening, º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Board of Education (SCCBOE) also held the annual organizational meeting the 2019 year.
President Rosemary Kamei was elected president for the coming year. "I am extremely honored," stated President Kamei.
County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Mary Ann Dewan presented President Kamei with a gavel honoring her term of service as president for 2018.
Rosemary Kamei was first appointed to the SCCBOE in May 2015 to fill the vacant Area 3 seat and elected to a four-year term in November 2016. Kamei is currently the chief operating officer for Silicon Valley Education Foundation. Her previous experience includes serving as executive director of Building Futures Now, an after-school and summer school program serving students from fourth grade through college in East Palo. Kamei spent 17 years as a director for the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Valley Water District and also taught for two years at San José State University as an adjunct professor.
During the organizational meeting, Vice-President Anna Song, Area 5, was elected to serve a second term as Vice-President.
Anna Song was initially elected to the Board of Education in 2000 and re-elected strongly in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Song brings many years of nonprofit work experience in counseling, youth education, domestic violence intervention and fair housing enforcement to her role on the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Board of Education. Anna has worked with a wide range of youth, including those from South Central Los Angeles, Los Altos and º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø's Juvenile Hall. She was the first Korean-American to be elected in º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø, the first Korean-born female to be elected in California's history, and is the longest-serving Korean-American elected official in the United States.
During this meeting, the SCCBOE adopted the calendar of meetings for 2019. The monthly meetings are generally held at the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Office of Education at 5 p.m. on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, with only one meeting in January, July, August, and December in 2019.
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About the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Office of Education
Working collaboratively with school and community partners, the º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Office of Education (SCCOE) is a regional service agency that provides instructional, business, and technology services to the 31 school districts of º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø. The County Office of Education directly serves students through special education programs, alternative schools, Head Start and State Preschool programs, migrant education, and Opportunity Youth Academy. The SCCOE also provides academic and fiscal oversight and monitoring to districts in addition to the 22 º¬Ðß²ÝÉçÇø Board of Education authorized charter schools.
