The field of candidates vying for three seats on the Beverly Hills Unified School District board has grown after Board President Dr. Amanda Stern and businessman Russell Stuart filed nomination forms with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk this week. Attorney Dela Peykar Ronen, who kicked off the race by announcing her candidacy last week, has also filed with the county.
After being elected in December 2020, Stern is the only incumbent currently in the race, and as the current board president, she hopes to build upon the experience she gained over her term to help the board tackle the district’s looming challenges.
“There’s more work to be done with our students, our families, as well as the larger economic landscape of our district,” Stern said.
A native of New Mexico, Stern pursued her education in the Boston area, earning a master’s degree in human development from Harvard and a doctorate in school development from the University of New England before moving to Beverly Hills in 2004.
An author and school psychologist, Stern also runs a private practice administering student disability assessments, and she said that interacting with students across the Los Angeles area has allowed her to see “the larger picture” of how policies, finances and district resources all impact classroom learning.
“I am very much aware of how the guiding philosophies behind an educational environment or school district … reach our students, and it’s very important to set the standards high and to continue to understand how different problems of modern living are always … impacting our learners and our families,” Stern said.
If elected to a second term, Stern said she would continue to take a “30,000-foot view” of how the district operates.
“We are moving [toward] a great place, but we still need to continue to look at the whole environment in its totality,” Stern said. “Every single part plays a role in our ultimate vision, and that is educational excellence.”
For most of her first term, Stern worked with her board colleagues to navigate the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and oversee the ongoing construction projects. And while the district continues to recover from the pandemic and the board provides construction oversight, Stern wants to take a closer look at other initiatives, including boosting math achievement, she said.
Stern wants to foster professional development opportunities around math, and work with parents and students to drive home how important basic math concepts are to STEM careers, she said. She also wants to keep a close eye on the district’s mental health resources, and make sure “they are being used in the most efficient and efficacious manner,” she said.
Many of the problems facing BHUSD are affecting school districts nationwide, including declining enrollment, Stern said. Enrollment stabilized in 2023/24 after years of decline, and though Stern expects the trend to continue next year, she hopes to see the numbers rise.
Housing affordability continues to prevent new families from moving into the district, and the city’s private schools attract families who would otherwise enroll in BHUSD, she said. In light of these challenges, it is crucial to highlight the district’s strengths, she said.
“We have so much to offer, and we just have to continue to analyze how we can make our school district visible to everyone, so that they understand that even though it’s difficult to perhaps secure housing in this district … the benefits outweigh some of those difficulties,” Stern said.
Chronic absenteeism is another nationwide problem that Stern wants to tackle, she said. Though it’s hard to pinpoint what exactly caused this problem, it accelerated during the pandemic, and schools can combat it by being more imaginative with how students learn, Stern said.
“We’re going to look at flexible ways to really keep children engaged and learning and motivated, to guide themselves and be organized and succeed in ways that they want to succeed,” Stern said.
Just as the pandemic largely defined Stern’s first term, it also defined her campaign, forcing her to get out the vote online. This time around, Stern is eager to meet the community in person, and she is excited to launch her campaign.
“I just have been speaking to my supporters, and soon we’ll get some information out about some exciting events,” she said.
