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Published on 10/30/1995 All articles from this issue

LASD board members await new terms with optimism

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By Chris McCrellis-Mitchell / Town Crier Staff Writer

Phil Faillace and Terri Sachs can rest assured the results of November's elections won't determine whether or not they keep their jobs. Faillace, the Los Altos Elementary School District board of trustees president, and fellow board member Sachs are running uncontested for their own seats which are up.

This will be Faillace's fourth term and Sachs' second, so neither is a stranger to the district's problems or to Los Altos.

Faillace, 51, who graduated from Los Altos High School in 1968, received a degree in mathematics from Princeton, a master's in mathematics at Stanford, and was a Fulbright scholar at Oxford. He then returned home to open his own computer science consulting firm, Preferred Software Incorporation in 1978.

In 1983, he joined the board, while his two daughters were in their early years of public education. After 12 years of watching budget cut after budget cut, Faillace still enjoys his second job.

"I think the people I work with - the teachers, the parents - are really something," said Faillace, who said he may one day consider running for a position at the high school level. "This is a district of caring paople. It's a nice place to be a public servant."

Although he sees overcrowded classrooms as not being conducive for children, he said he feels the biggest problem is money, something that could help alleviate the pressure of rising enrollment.

"The most important issue is 'Where are we going to go for stable long-term funding?' We run that program on a shoestring compared to other school districts," he said. "We are very fortunate the voters approved Measure A. We can't tackle all things at once, but we can stay ahead of the deterioration."

Sachs, an East Coast native, moved to San Jose in 1979, after receiving a degree in physical therapy from Boston University. Together, with her husband and two children, she has lived in Los Altos for 10 1/2 years. She currently works at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Redwood City in home care therapy.

She knows what volunteering time means. On top of her hospice work, she has been a PTA member and a president at Oak elementary, where she won a continuing service award. She won the Golden Oak Award, also a service award for her work with Blach school, and has spent 10 years as a service unit manager for the Girl Scouts. She worked for the Measure A tax and the school fields improvement. Sachs was the board president in 1993-94.

She said she loves to volunteer because, like Faillace, she loves the people she works with.

"These are highly educated, motivated people. We have cutting-edge curiculum, exciting programs, high-energy teachers," she said. "It's also a community where we have parent volunteers that drive the school."

Sachs agrees with Faillace about the district's main concerns. as co-chair of the Measure A committee, she has taken several trips to Sacramento to lobby, and donates money herself to the Foundation.

"I feel like I make a difference. My energy is going to something positive," she said. " I really enjoy providing service to my community. I believe strongly in education, and I can't think of a better way to spend my time."

The remaining board members are Jay Thomas, Gerri Carlton, and John Moss.