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Susanna Ordway, a college admissions counselor and sitting trustee on the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education, was the only candidate to emerge for the district’s Area 4 seat.
With no other candidates coming forward to challenge her as of last Friday’s filing deadline, Ordway is unopposed in her bid for a second full term in office. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the board could just appoint her and save on the costs of an election — as was the case in the 2018 election cycle when an unchallenged Ordway earned her first full term, but that was before SRVUSD converted to district-based elections.
Ordway was first appointed to the board earlier in 2018, when she was selected from among four candidates to replace departing trustee Denise Jennison.
Prior to serving on the board, Ordway began a career shift from finance to education as a volunteer art docent in her children’s classes in the district, then going on to be an instructional aid and ultimately teach her own art classes. She currently works as a college admissions counselor.
“Her passion for helping and supporting kids, teens and young adults to achieve their educational and career goals stems from her life’s experiences,” Ordway’s campaign page said. “As an immigrant to the U.S. from Hong Kong as a child, she saw her parents uprooting their lives in order to have more educational opportunities for their children.”
Ordway went on to be the first in her family to go to college, and is the first Asian American trustee on the SRVUSD board. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in foreign languages and cultures from Pomona College, then a master’s degree from Arizona State University, before a certification from UC Berkeley in college admissions and career planning.
On her campaign page, Ordway’s platform emphasizes a record of keeping the district financially afloat amidst challenges such as enrollment decreases, as well as improved employee relations, additional support opportunities for students, and expanded visual and performing arts offerings.
Ordway lists her priorities as ensuring financial strength, academic and social emotional support for the district’s high-achieving student body, increased student engagement, and additional ways for students to explore careers.
Ordway served as board president in 2021, prior to the appointment of current Board President Ken Mintz, and oversaw the return to in-person classes last year as pandemic restrictions were lifted.
Since Ordway’s start on the board in 2018, SRVUSD has initiated the shift from at-large to by-district elections. This year is the first under district-based elections for Area 4, which consists of the southernmost and westernmost portions of San Ramon, as well as a north-central portion of San Ramon and south-central Danville.
This November, the Area 5 seat is also unchallenged with only incumbent Rachel Hurd qualifying but Area 1 has a competitive race, with three newcomers on the ballot vying to succeed Mintz.
More information on Ordway’s campaign is available at ordwayforsrvusd.com.
More than one person described the reasoning in not running for the contested trustee spots was the threats from SRVUSD union leaders to make things more difficult for their young children in the district if they were to run against the incumbents. When a parent is faced with a choice of protecting your own children from discrimination or volunteering to be a civil servant, there is no choice. We’ve seen this now in reality with Union President Laura Finco’s public low class attacks against Mr. vanZee and his children. I’m curious at what point this becomes a Human Resources issue for Ms. Finco who is a full SRVUSD employee that seemingly violated privacy laws and ethical best practices for a political advertisement? Without the threats and intimidation, there would probably be a far more diverse field running that better represented the community.
I disagree with the first comment. In recent years, it’s the community that have come out swinging at the trustees. The level of harassment for things that are beyond their control (during the pandemic) was crazy. The fact that these trustees are still willing to stand up for our kids is commendable considering the abuse they’ve incurred. There are parents that have had restraining slapped on them, teachers have had to get restraining orders against parents, parents following other parents as a form of intimidation. Come on, we want our kids to stop bullying, it has to start in the home. We can do better.
M – It is a fact that Ms. Finco publicly posted about the enrollment status of a candidate’s child and used that information to construct a political attack. There is nothing for you to agree with or disagree with here give that Ms. Finco’s harassment is an objective fact. It is also an objective fact that Ms. Finco is a school employee and there are privacy and ethical standards that Ms. Finco did not adhere. Again, all objective fact. I am not sure how you can disagree with basic facts …