Meet School Board Candidate Vivien Talghader, an Electrical Engineer

In just a few short months, Edina voters will be able to weigh in on four open seats on the school board.

The election will be held Nov. 5. All school board seats are at-large, meaning the entire school district will be able to vote for each seat.

Nine people—seven newcomers and two current board members—are vying for the seats.

Early each week, Patch is running a profile of one of the candidates. Today, meet Vivien Talghader, an engineer with four students in the Edina schools.

Occupation: Engineer

Which neighborhood do you live in? Edina - Dewey Hill 

Website, Facebook page or other contact information: TalghaderForEdinaSchoolBoard.org (which will hopefully be up by next week :) )

What unique perspective, experience or expertise would you bring to the school board?

There are two main benefits I would bring to the School Board. First, I have had a chance to the see the Edina school system in action at various levels. I have four children: one at Edina High School, two at Valley View Middle School and one at Creek Valley Elementary. In the nine years that we have lived in Edina, I have been active at both the school level (serving as Creek Valley PTA co-President and as Valley View Site Council President) and at the district level (co-chairing the Edina Public Schools Parent Leadership Council and sitting on the District Gifted Advisory Council). Second, I have a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and have been working in the technology industry for many years. This background will enable me to provide insight to the Board as it updates the district’s strategic plan and looks to incorporate more technology in schools, promote STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math), and further personalize learning based on data generated through student testing. 

What are the top challenges facing the Edina School Board?

The district’s “All for All” mission is commendable. The challenge for the School Board lies in how to set the policies and manage the budget in a resource-constrained world that will still allow the job to get done.

What role does a school board member play in helping raise academic achievement for all students and close the achievement gap?

Among the purposes of any school board are to establish the policies, mission and goals of the school system for which it is responsible. However, it is not enough to simply have goals to raise academic achievement; the goals that a school board lays out must be results-oriented and include accountability in order to truly have an impact. Each board member plays a critical role in crafting those goals.