Shounak Dharap is young (28 years old), doesn’t have kids, and has never run for office. So why is he making a bid for Palo Alto School Board? The answer is simple: He’s a proud alumnus of JLS Middle School and Gunn High School who wants to raise his future family right here, along with wife and fellow Gunn Titan, Laura.
The last young alum of Palo Alto Unified School District without kids to run for school board was back in 1983 when a promising Paly grad named Joe Simitian gained a seat. And like Joe, Shounak is both proud of the Palo Alto schools that helped shape who he is, and convinced that they can be even better.
Unique journey to find passion and motivation in school
Shounak’s parents came to the United States from India for grad school in Pennsylvania and chose to move to Palo Alto due to its reputation for excellent public schools. But while Shounak was an eager student, he often struggled academically when he was young. “My parents were more familiar with a system of rote learning, but it didn’t work for me because I’m better at problem-solving and working with people,” Shounak explained. “When I got to JLS and experienced project-based learning, I began to feel motivated for the first time.”
As he went on to Gunn High School, Shounak built a strong community with his swim and water polo teams, but didn’t always thrive in the traditional classroom environment. After a stint in community college and a try at journalism, Shounak eventually graduated from UC Santa Cruz and went on to law school at University of San Francisco. “It wasn’t until law school that my passion was truly aligned with what I was learning,” he said. “That’s when my intrinsic motivation kicked in and I found success.”
As a result of his unusual journey through school, Shounak said his favorite quote about education, attributed to William Yeats and Plutarch, is: “Education is not the filling of the pail, but the lighting of the fire.”
Shounak and his wife, Laura Jefferson. Photo credit: Shounak Dharap
Bridging support and rigor for all students
Shouak’s experience as the child of immigrants who found his way through PAUSD schools gives him an authentic perspective on how to bring together the changing demographics in the district and forge a vision that can unite the community.
“All parents wants the same thing for their children- to make sure they are happy and successful in the future,” he said. “We need to start with that assumption and frame our ideas for how to improve our schools in a way that doesn’t put anyone on the defensive. Our goal should be to increase high academic achievement while also giving kids more opportunity to spark their passions. It’s not an either/or choice; we can do both.”
Communication is the key
Shounak believes that effective communication is essential for PAUSD, including how the district communicates with external stakeholders (parents and community members) as well as with internal departments.
“There is crucial information, such as the assessor data that could have influenced the budget decision last year, which is not getting to district leaders on a timely basis and that hampers our ability to go in right direction,” he explained. “And when it comes to getting parents and the community on board for potential shifts in policy and program, we need to rebuild trust by starting conversations proactively to gather input and build consensus.”
He sees a role for the School Board in helping lead these external discussions by holding regular coffees and gatherings where people can hear what PAUSD is considering, give feedback and gain understanding.
“We need to treat the job like we treat our campaign process, as a way to meet and inform the community about where PAUSD is headed and why.” To support Board outreach and effective district messaging, Shounak advocates hiring a full-time communications director or facilitating continuous communications training for administrators, saying this is a “critical” function that is currently missing from PAUSD.
A dream for future PAUSD schools
As Shounak thinks about raising his children in Palo Alto some day, he’s hopeful that their school experience will incorporate much of what loved about growing up here, along with areas that can improve. “Everything I’ve done in my life so far can truly be traced back to my time in Palo Alto schools,” he said. “But I think PAUSD has an utapped potential to be a real leader in public education.”
Areas of strength for Palo Alto Unified:
- High caliber, caring teachers
- Inclusive, supportive school spirit
- Strong peer networks that build lifelong friendships
Where Palo Alto schools can improve:
- Offer more opportunities for students to learn spark passions outside of traditional academic classes
- Close the achievement gap and provide an equitable education experience for all children
- Foster innovation by incubating new programs and nuturing ideas that form organically in Palo Alto schools (e.g., BEAM at Gunn, maker space at Barron Park, career pathways at Paly, etc.)
Shounak sees an opportunity to foster sharing across school sites to replicate effective ideas so they can reach more students.
“The key is looking for consistency in terms of access to innovations vs. uniformity across the district. We need to foster new programs and systematically measure their impact so we know what’s working and why.”
Why the Palo Alto School Board race matters
The PAUSD School Board has fiscal oversight for Palo Alto’s annual school budget expenditures of over $220 million, so decisions about the school board matter, whether you are taxpayer, parent, community member, or all three.
- Read this to learn more about why the school board matters.
- Not sure how school funding works in Palo Alto? Check out this helpful overview.
Who else is running?
Voters have a chance to elect two seats on the five person PAUSD school board this November. Incumbent Ken Dauber is up against Shounak and four other candidates: Kathy Jordan, Stacey Ashland, Christopher Boyd and Alex Scharf (also a PAUSD graduate)
Don’t forget to vote!
- For information about where vote, visit this page.
- If you have a mail in ballot, you can fill it out now and put it in the mail before November 6th.
- Learn more at the Palo Alto League of Women Voters
photo credit: Peninsula Press
Good post, Victoria. Dharap was way under my radar until I saw a sign in a neighbor’s yard, followed by this story. Now I am inclined to vote for him.
Thanks for reading and glad you learned something helpful for the election!
Wish I were a PA voter as I would surely vote for him…Excellent column/article