Candidate for
Board Member; La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District

MARK G. GRAFF Age: 50

Occupation: Computer Security Engineer

Education and Qualifications:

I am the father of two boys just starting out at La Honda Elementary. This year, when the school board decided to "reassign" our school's principal and said we might have to do without one indefinitely, I helped lead the successful fight to reverse the decision. Now, I see serving on the board myself as the best way to ensure the district's schools are good enough for my kids in the future.

Declining enrollment worries me most. Did you know that the number of students at Pescadero High has dropped in a few years from over a hundred to 59? That today about one-fourth of local parents with young children send them to private schools? That over half the students who attend our elementary schools never graduate from our high school? With your support, I'll address these issues.

My priorities? First, the board must reach out to every parent in the district for advice and help. Second, working with the parents and our new superintendent, the board must halt the enrollment decline. Third, we all together must make a long-term plan, a strategy to retain students and deliver the education our children deserve.

Please see http://www.markgraff.com/ for more information.

/s/ Mark G. Graff