Shawneece Stevenson will be moving on from her position as a District Trustee after four years of service. During her time on the Board, Stevenson worked to increase community engagement, support underrepresented students, and promote equity across the District. Stevenson represented Area E, which includes parts of East Palo Alto, Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City.
Stevenson was initially asked to run for the Board after attending a few Board meetings to provide input as a parent. Though she had never previously considered the position, Stevenson ran for the Board because she believed that her ability to advocate for others would be a great asset. “I wanted to have more impact within our school based on some experiences I was having,” she said.
In addition to founding her own private wellness consultation company, working as a family success coach, and being on the Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council, Stevenson is a trained social worker who has managed the Regional Center’s Early Start Program, helping infants and toddlers with developmental disabilities in the San Mateo, San Francisco, and Marin counties.
“My particular skill set as a social worker is dealing with crises and more immediate needs, navigating challenging situations, and really keeping people whole in the end so that everybody’s not wounded by the time we get through. I thought it would be a good skill to have on the Board,” she said.
Stevenson joined the Board during the heat of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It was a really difficult time. Parents were really having a hard time with an environmental issue that the Board had no control over,” she said.
Stevenson was a part of making many decisions regarding District infrastructure improvement, growing the Middle College program, educational equity initiatives, and COVID-19 school policies. “I really liked helping to make decisions, bringing a different perspective to things, and putting faces and names to not just those who show up, but those who don’t show up too,” she said.
“When I first came on the Board, my goal was community engagement. Folks in my community area didn’t strongly connect with our district,” Stevenson said. While on the Board, she advocated strongly for funding and support for special education programs. She has also been specifically recognized for her dedication to M-A’s Foundation for the Future and support for local Black Student Unions.
Stevenson continuously went out of her way to familiarize herself with the perspectives of her community members, especially those who couldn’t share their perspectives at Board meetings, such as students or working parents. “I’m not representing myself, I am representing many types of people who may be impacted in all kinds of ways, and I need to make sure I’m looking at each problem from all perspectives, not just the people who are knocking at my door,” she said.
Since all three of her children graduated from M-A, Stevenson enjoyed getting to know the entire District education system on a deeper level through her position on the Board. “Being able to see, not just hear, what people tell me or what a survey says, to really understand the lay of the land and each uniqueness and niche of each school site and program, was fascinating and it helped me have a better appreciation and understanding beyond M-A,” Stevenson added.
Over the past few years, the Board faced many issues of contention, from detracking––the removal of honors courses––to a controversial history lesson. Stevenson reflected on the difficulty of these discussions, especially because the Board’s ability to talk to the audience is restricted. “I can only really have a conversation if it’s on the agenda and it’s only with my Board members. Everybody else is watching you, giving you input, and telling us what we did well or didn’t do well. That’s not really how you have a conversation,” she said.
While many of the Board’s pivotal decisions elicited pushback, Stevenson has embraced it. “For any of the big decisions that I needed to make, I always talked to the people who were for it and the people who were against it, not the people who were in the meetings,” she said. “I didn’t make decisions in a vacuum.” She also emphasized the importance of explaining her point clearly but not defensively.
Stevenson decided not to run for the Board again so that she could focus on spending more time with her family after experiencing personal losses over the past year. She continues to work with her own wellness consultation business, as well as working on community engagement and parent coaching with the nonprofit The Primary School and the Bay Area Community Health Advisory Council. “I’m still doing the work, I’m just not on the Board,” she said.
“I did the work that I was supposed to, and that was to raise the reputation of SUHSD within Area E so that people feel more connected, more engaged, and that people knew they had someone who was going to listen to them,” Stevenson said. “I felt good leaving, I feel good acknowledging all the hard work that people have been doing, and I feel good providing perspective and feedback to people when they ask.”
Stevenson’s advice to future Board members: “Your ‘why’ is not yourself. It’s not political. It’s not a step above trying to do this and that. It’s the kids. So organize yourself to get how this whole system supports or hinders or provides barriers for our kids. Celebrate where you can and hone down in those areas that we need to work hard in because it’s not having the impact that we want.”
In the future, Stevenson hopes that Board members will continue to prioritize understanding all perspectives and focus on supporting students. “I want our schools and our kids to have all the opportunities that they can have, so they can be our future,” she said. “Our today and future, while honoring everyone’s humanity––and do no harm.”
