WCSD Board Member Linda Small has served 21 years during which great progress has been made and recent challenges overcome. We have exciting new work to do for our students and I would like to earn your vote for this last term to provide continuity, experience, and leadership to finish the work that is so important to me and our community.

I grew up surrounded by educators. My dad was a 33-year teacher, reading specialist, and principal who shared not only his love of learning in the classroom but extended his love of the outdoors with many generations of kids through teaching hunting, fishing, canoeing, and an appreciation of the environment. My mother loved art and encouraged it from an early age with me, my brothers, and our friends. My friends' parents were teachers, principals, coaches, or administrative support professionals in public education. As a WCSD Board Member, I have been fortunate to be influenced by the many wonderful educators we have in our area. As a 35-year Risk Consultant, I have helped hundreds of companies improve their organizations largely through education, analysis, legal expertise and relationship building. Quite simply, education has framed the lens by which I see the world.

My husband and I committed our own children's care to a public education and engaged to be sure our schools were supported. Von Humboldt's quote outside Hoover Elementary, "What you would have in the life of a nation, you must first put into its schools" reflects our beliefs as Whittier citizens.

Over the last 21 years, I have

  • Supported strong academic curriculum and practices to ensure our students are prepared for the future as well as are supported to be good human beings.
  • Supported the Arts and Physical Education to ensure the well-rounded development of the body, mind, and spirit and their importance in our lives.
  • Provided proper resources to ensure the life safety of our students and staff through COVID as well as in the passage and oversight of our last $55 million and current $99 million bond for structural improvements on all of our campuses.
  • Protected our students and staff from the political noise that can distract us from our core responsibilities.
  • Developed strong, positive relationships with our city officials and others in our community to ensure the needs of our kids are met.
  • Collaborated with my fellow Board Members and our WCSD community on four (4) occasions to navigate and make critical decisions on the recruitment and hiring of new leadership and supporting staff to ensure positive work culture and responsible progress develops in our WCSD environment.

As we have emerged from the impact of COVID remote learning, we have worked hard to innovate new approaches to our WCSD curriculum, to identify where learning needs are and to provide students what is needed to help them overcome barriers to successful learning, and to insure our staff gets the professional development and resources needed to continue our important work.