As election day approaches, three candidates have thrown their hat into the ring for the trustee Area B seat on the Sequoia Union High School (SUHSD) Board: Summit Prep executive director Mary Beth Thompson, former student trustee Jacob Yuryev and PayPal executive Daniel Torunian.
The position, which represents parts of Belmont, San Carlos and Redwood City, is currently held by Carrie Du Bois, who has been on the board for 13 years. Du Bois and the Sequoia District Teachers Association (SDTA) have since endorsed Thompson for the position.
Mary Beth Thompson
After 15 years of experience in education, Thompson is currently vying for a seat on board with a campaign built on the idea of “An Educator for Education”. Thompson hopes to bring the perspective of someone in education to the board, something that Thompson notes is lacking currently.
“I felt like they were missing that piece of the puzzle of an educator just being able to bring it back to why we’re here, which is ultimately helping students find their success, not just in high school, but after high school as well,” Thompson said.
One of Thompson’s main initiatives is to create more direct lines of communication with parents, students and stakeholders. Thompson hopes to implement an 80-20 rule, where 80% of the board’s work is responding to the schools’ needs while 20% responds to crises.
“It is our job as board members to sort of be the accountability holders and make sure that what is said in the Strategic Action Plan that the district put out last year is actually being done, and work is progressing and moving forward on that work,” Thompson said.
In terms of detracking within the school district, Thompson believes there should be open communication with students and parents about the options available to them. However, Thompson hopes to bring concerns of equity, which is often conflated with detracking, into more board discussions. This includes making sure more students are prepared for advanced-level classes and personalized education is happening in the classrooms.
“I think detracting is making sure that every student and family has a firm say in what their education should be,” Thompson said. “I don’t think it is ever the right of a school or a district to limit a student’s options for their future.”
If elected, Thompson hopes to cultivate a sense of belonging for all students to allow them to participate fully in the high school experience. This includes offering mental health support that prepares them both in high school and beyond.
“We must give our young people opportunities to fail, to make mistakes and to learn, to get back up, because that’s what’s more reliable in the real world,” Thompson said. “So when I think about mental health, I think about the whole child.”
Thompson, who started out as a theater major at Loyola University New Orleans, wants to remind students that plans change, and that’s okay.
“I want students to know that it’s okay for things to change in your life,” Thompson said. “What you have to remember is to hold on to the things that you believe in.”
Jacob Yuryev
Yuryev, who was a student trustee for the 2023-2024 school year and recently graduated from Carlmont last year, is the youngest candidate in the race. Yet, this has not deterred him from running.
“As a former student in the district myself, I think that there is a unique perspective that one gets after being a student…and I hope to add and provide that perspective in order to best serve our students, parents, families, teachers and community,” Yuryev said.
As a student trustee, Yuryev was a strong advocate against detracking, and often pointed to data released by the district as his evidence that detracking did not improve enrollment in honors and advanced classes. If elected, Yuryev plans to restore advanced standing and honors classes while prioritizing career readiness pathways.
“I really want to ensure that we create a broad [and] diverse set of course offerings to support every single individual student as much as possible and really make sure that every single student in our district succeeds,” Yuryev said.
Yuryev shared that his beliefs and initiatives are data-driven when it comes to education. He plans to implement these beliefs when tackling detracking and mental health, which he considers a major priority given a rise in mental health concerns.
In terms of approaching the achievement gap within the district, Yuryev hopes to offer more support to all students in choosing to take honors classes, specifically making sure that there is no implicit bias when addressing students of different backgrounds.
“I really think that our levels of encouragement should be blinded to all external factors, such as socioeconomic status and demographics of students,” Yuryev said. “[I want to make sure] all students sign up equally for these classes and once they do that, we provide the academic support resources to ensure that all students are able to succeed in these classes.”
Last year, Yuryev was interviewed in the “Killing America” documentary, which focused specifically on Bay Area schools and argued that detracking has led to the rise of antisemitism. Yuryev has since distanced himself from the film and said that he initially got involved to share his values and perspectives.
“I think that what I value most of all is being able to serve our students and serve our community, and especially at this time where you know there’s a certain loss of trust between the community and the school board,” Yuryev said. “[It was] an opportunity to be able to increase awareness about the school board [and so] I said yes to that opportunity.”
After deciding to run for the board, Yuryev deferred his admission to Stanford University for the fall of 2024. He has since been endorsed by trustee Richard Ginn of Area C and looks forward to better serving the community.
“Something that I really want to focus on, so I want to make sure that as a board, we’re as transparent with our community as possible and really focus on collaborating with our community to create the best possible public high school system for our students,” Yuryev said.
Daniel Torunian
With 44 years of experience in the technology industry, Torunian is looking to apply his knowledge to better the school district and community as a trustee.
“I would like to take those learnings and really apply that to our next generation of students to ensure that they’re prepared for this ever changing and complex world,” Torunian said.
Since retiring from PayPal, Torunian has become increasingly involved in the community, serving as the First Vice Chair of the San Mateo Republican Party and the President for Passion for the Lost, a faith-based charity assisting those incarcerated. Torunian hopes to continue to connect and frequently communicate with community members if elected as a trustee.
One of Torunian’s main initiatives is to increase technology-focused and career-technical education. Torunian hopes to better prepare students for after high school through resume-building classes.
“When I think of us being adjacent to Silicon Valley and the leading global tech companies in the world, I’d like to tap into that and bring some of that into the four walls of our high schools and make sure that our students have exposure to those technologies,” Torunian said.
In terms of detracking, Torunian feels that this masks the underlying problems of the achievement gap. Torunian hopes to offer more honors classes and a curriculum that prepares students for advanced classes.
“[I think it’s important to look at] how do we lean in and really help those students prepare for high school curriculum, and if we need to provide additional coaching, mentoring, tutoring, how do we do that in a way that doesn’t make that student feel disenfranchised, but really helps lift that student up,” Torunian said.
Torunian additionally would like to prioritize student safety by implementing safety resource officers on campus and preparing for more active shooter threats in light of national student safety concerns.
“But I come at this unbiased,” Torunian said. “I’ve come at this with just a pragmatic approach, [and I know] that many of these discussions aren’t necessarily binary or black and white [and] that it takes some level of compromise.”
