1. The biggest topic of discussion in Board of Education meetings has been the transgender policy. What are your thoughts on the conversation and what do you think the board should do moving forward in terms of the policy, or at least addressing the conversation in meetings?

The board had considered this issue in 2025.   In the past few months, the Board has gone through a process where a legal ruling published on Feb 10 led to the superintendent’s update on the legal status in a committee meeting, and further discussion by members of the board as reported on Feb 25 during the committee report. Public comments started at that meeting and continued for the next few, until the board went through a process of committee review and finally a vote after committee review had taken place. I believe it has been a process where concerned members of the community could voice their opinion about the policy.

Through the process, thanks to our community members’ advocacy and introduction, I attended workshops, talked to families with transgender youth, read books and articles, and learned a lot about gender and transition. I will share a detail I learned. The word “pass” has been frequently mentioned and is on the minds of many transgender individuals, which refers to striving to look like their identified gender that’s not their birth gender, this seems to be associated with varying levels of stress. Individuals often use a type of garment to help to “pass,” called a “binder,” to compress the body to suppress the appearance of their secondary characteristics, such as a chest binder. There are a myriad of health risks associated with binding, such as pain, skin damage, breathing/lung constriction, posture issues, and permanent deformity etc. I understand this is an action that often accompanies social transition to alter their body, either temporarily through binding, or potentially later permanently through surgery. In my opinion social transition is not to be taken lightly, and not to be taken without parents’ informed consent for minor students. Policy 5756 currently stipulates social transition of students without any threshold, based on student’s assertion, without parental consent or notification.

Protection of all students against bullying and discrimination are in existing district policies, available on district website:

•   Policy 5750 – Equal Educational Opportunity.
•   Policy 1140 – Affirmative Action Program.
•   Policy 5700 – Pupil Rights.
•   Policy 5512 – Harassment, Intimidation, or Bullying.

While the above policies provide protection to all students, 5756 is uniquely about affirmative social transitioning. The social and medical side of gender affirming care is a topic of dispute, and its efficacy and ethics are being debated, so are the effects on surrounding students. I am deeply concerned about children’s safety and health. Out of compassion and protection of all children, Policy 5756 should not be a district policy. 

Reviewing policies is a routine part of the board’s responsibilities. Almost every meeting there are some policies being reviewed and updated. But there are also many other important issues the district has engaged in and the board has been overseeing, such as overall student achievement, curriculum development and review, transportation review and optimization, and student overall well-being. The board has been diligently working on all areas, as seen in board meetings with a multitude of business showing student achievements. 

The conversation about 5756 should not be ignored and the board listened and went through a reviewing process, and made a decision at this point. When there is significant new development, we should have consideration for all aspects of all the students the district serves based on science, not emotion.

2. Talk about the budget in the district. So many other districts are dealing with huge tax increases to cover costs without eliminating too many programs. What can the district do to keep costs stable, keep taxes stable, and still provide the services the students need?

I believe in responsible budgeting, we need to make sure any tax dollar spent is necessary, effective and efficient. When we look at the budget, we should look at the revenue and expenses.
Revenues come from the local tax levy, state aid, and federal funding. To maintain a steady source, we need to make sure we follow federal and state laws and requirements to the extent necessary to satisfy all funding requirements. State aid has been difficult to predict with the S2 formula, and we hope there will be a reform to stabilize this portion, which has been the current discussion in the state legislature and executive.
Expenses include salary and benefits, followed by maintenance, operations and utilities, transportation, miscellaneous business expenses, tuition, supplies & texts, equipment & projects, in this order. To stabilize the expenses, each of the categories need to be looked at to ensure proper appropriation. Negotiating fair contracts will ensure that the salaries are predictable and stable. The benefit portion can vary vastly due to the health care premium increase, which might need to be compensated for by other revenue sources. We can also look into competitive contracting with service vendors to further reduce cost without reducing service.

We have a declining enrollment that can reduce overall expenses, and we have a healthy buffer of reserves that we can use to stabilize S2 variation in state aid and health care premiums. We have used this strategy this past budget cycle, and when needed, we can continue this approach. With overall declining enrollment and resulting reduced expenses, we should ensure any reduced expenses pass to taxpayers in the form of less tax increase. I believe we should have taxpayers in mind and aim to 0% tax increase whenever possible, while ensuring services and operations and long term strategic planning of sustainability and success.

3. Transparency

Transparency is very important for any government entity; for a school district, it is even more important. Transparency for a school district includes not only the typical budgetary and operational transparency, but also in terms of curriculum and parental notification. We should continue to improve transparency as technological development has enabled capabilities that weren’t available before. We should continue to evaluate how much more transparent we can be with new technical capabilities that will help us remove barriers. For example, our BOE meetings have been streamed. We should consider having video recordings more available for more meetings and occasions, retain meeting records for longer periods of time with easy searchability. Open access to more records that’s not confidential and will help the convenience to obtain by the public. Create forum and town halls for two way communications. Innovate and use all opportunities to communicate. We can do more as technology advancement enables us.

4. Background

I am a current member of the BRRSD BOE. Professionally, I am an educator and entrepreneur. I earned my PhD degree in Materials Science and a BS in Physics. I have work experience in higher education working with college students and grad students, as well as industry research and project management experience.
I am an active community leader. I serve on the board of the local Chinese American Association and enjoy organizing and sharing cultural experiences with the broader BR community.

5. Message to Residents

We have a very supportive community that aspires to have the best opportunity for the students and supports our schools. Parents’ involvement in their students’ education is essential to the kids’ success. We should continue to keep in mind that our schools should respect and keep parents fully informed, reflect what our residents aspire for the schools to be, as the setup of the public schools was from the beginning. So please reach out with concerns and comments to make sure that your tax dollars are paying for your community’s schools, teaching in ways best suited to your kids, and teaching and reflecting the values of the local families and community.

I have been an unwavering voice of reason for student achievement, educational excellence for all students, responsible spending and oversight, enriching students’ experience and opportunities, to provide a practical and well-rounded education for all students, using a common sense, data-driven, and evidence-based approach, listening to feedback from the students and families.
I am very impressed when I met two other enthusiastic community members and leaders who aspire to serve our community in the BOE role:
Dr. Ketrin Maxwell, a well-regarded scholar, mental health professional, former member of the state licensing board for family and marriage therapy and professional counselors, and active member in community service and volunteer work. I believe she will bring a unique contribution to our board with her background and expertise, particularly in mental health guidance and counseling.
Ms. Deana Nye, who cares so much about students and families, with strong leadership and initiative, founded and tirelessly worked for years to advocate for families, engaging in communication and conversation to impact collective best practices, and support families. I believe she will help our district to better serve every student and all students.
I think these community members and leaders in their fields would be a good addition to the Bridgewater BOE. With a spirit of collaboration, I look forward to a team under the shared vision of looking out for each student and all students. We will ensure respecting and involving parents, transparency and accountability in operation and communication, ensure a safe and nurturing environment, and deliver on educational excellence for all.