A Message from our President

In the state of California, there are over 750,000 Asian Pacific, Filipino and AP Islander students who attend K-12 public schools which represents 12% of all students.  The needs of  the API students are diverse and quite often overlooked.  The Asian Pacific Islander School Board Members Association was formed to address those needs and ensure representation on school boards across California.

The APISBMA Board of Directors recently met for a full day retreat on February 2, 2020. (Yes, it was Super Bowl Sunday and six of us traveled from northern California to southern California and sacrificed all Super Bowl festivities.)  I would like to thank them for their time and commitment!

During the retreat, some of the topics we discuss include: 

• Leadership training programs for board members
• Reviewing bylaws and our mission
• Collaboration and partnership with other organizations 
• Membership development
• Programs that relate to API student and/or education
• "Meet and Greet" socials in both Northern and Southern California
• Involvement with API Elected Officials
• Redistricting and Voter Registration
• Ethnic Studies - Inclusive histories and Global Citizenship

APISBMA is committed to working closely with the California School Board Association (CSBA) to give school board members an opportunity to discuss challenges and advocacy for the API students.  On December 6, 2019, APISBMA's annual breakfast meeting was held during the CSBA’s Annual Education Conference. The topic of our meeting was “Ethnic Studies,” a subject near and dear to our hearts and has generated many discussions over the previous years.  We conducted panel discussions with three APISBMA board members, sharing their knowledge and experiences of implementation of Ethnic Studies in their local districts, followed by table discussions among all the participants of the meeting.  We are pleased with the participants’ positive feedback provided by CSBA. If you are interested in the summary of each panelist, please click here.

Stated as one of the goals of APISBMA: “Promote and develop an educational curriculum which more adequately represents the contributions and viewpoint of Asian Pacific Islanders,” we will continue to work with other organizations and districts to accomplish this goal.

I am also pleased to announce that last December, delegates of CSBA elected Suzanne Kitchens as President Elect - the first API to serve in this capacity. This aligns with our goal of encouraging API representation and involvement on school boards and with the California School Board Association.

We are looking forward to a fruitful and exciting year.   I invite you to get involved by becoming a member, join us at the Annual Members Meeting and Breakfast and attend APISBMA events.  We welcome your input.  To become a member,  click here.

Cynthia Chang

President, APISBMA

2018-2019

Sophia Tse

ABC Unified School District

2014-2017

Anjali Kausar

Cupertino Union School District

2013-2014

Lily Mei 

Fremont Unified School District  

2012-2013 

Jay Chen

Hacienda La Puente Unified School District   

2010-2011

Dana Tom

Palo Alto Unified School District Board 

2008-2009

Bob Gin

Alhambra Unified School District Board

2006-2007

Margie Mitchell 

Campbell High School District Board  

2004-2005 

Cynthia Chang

Los Gatos-Saratoga Union High School District Board   

1998-1999 

Melodie Lew

San Mateo - Foster City School District

1993-1995 

Jean Quan

Oakland Union School District Board