Today we’d like to introduce you to Lily Higman.
Hi Lily, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m an immigrant who arrived in the U.S. at the age of 9. I am ethnically Chinese, born and raised in South Korea. I have three children currently in San Diego Unified, ages 14, 16, and 18. My senior will be graduating this Spring and will attend USC this fall.
I have been a very involved parent from day one eleven years ago when we stepped foot into this district.I was a classroom helper, a lunch/recess monitor,field trip chaperone, PTA President, school site committee member, cluster chair, and sat on many district-level advisory committees, including the District Advisory Council (DAC) for Compensatory Education for low-income students, and the Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) district advisory council. I was even on the inaugural Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) committee.
When we moved to San Diego in 2011, our district was reeling from the recent recession. Our school budgets were cut, and the district was selling property around San Diego to fill in the budget shortfall. The issue that got me really involved was that they the district wanted to close the school my kids were attending – Barnard Elementary School ( located in Point Loma at that time). I met with our board member, had many meetings with our families, and even attended several board meetings to speak up so that we could save our school. Barnard is one of the reasons why we moved to San Diego so I wanted to make sure it would be around for a long time.
We not only saved Barnard, but the school moved to Pacific Beach and became a thriving Mandarin immersion program.
Over the years, I’ve watched the school district continue to eliminate school site-level positions and decrease funding, forcing our parents to raise more and more money every year to sustain the level of offerings at our schools. But the district continually put restrictions on how we can spend the funds we raise privately. This is wrong!
On the DAC, our group tried to change the funding formula for how the federal funds for low-income students are allocated. We worked for months on this, was voted on and passed by the members (representing every school in the district), but the board opted not to accept our recommendations. This was frustrating.
Our Gifted and Talented program has been gutted. Though we test for the GATE designation, we provide very little support for these students who really need help. The parents have always advocated for at least a year’s worth of growth for every student, no matter at what level.
I have many friends whose children receive special education services and they are so frustrated because it takes months to get a meeting for their Individualized Educational Program (IEP). Currently, the district is very behind on assessments for the very young kids in our district. If they are not assessed, they don’t get services.
The pandemic just exacerbated many of the issues we already had in the district – issues we’ve had for years. For example: not putting enough emphasis on the education of our children, the need for more counselors, decreasing class sizes, budget management, communications and transparency, and more.
My background in the telecommunications industry has also prepared for the board seat. The SDUSD board is responsible for a $1 billion+ budget. One of my opponents has said that the district’s budget is too big so we cannot see where all the money goes in detail. This is what someone who doesn’t have experience managing large budgets would say. I can absolutely dig in and see where all the dollars are going. More importantly, I will be diligent about holding the district accountable for every dollar they spend.
Prior to moving to San Diego, I started a baby clothing company and was a founding board member of the LaunchPad Children’s Museum in Sioux City, Iowa. I secured the initial funding for the feasibility study and the building for the project just before our family’s move.
I have been entrenched in the schools fighting for our students at every level for the last eleven years. I feel that I have done all I can from the outside as a volunteer. Now, it’s time to go inside and make some real change to serve all of our students.
As a board member, I will be the voice of the parents, students, and teachers. I will visit at least three schools a week and hold office hours so that anyone can speak with me directly about any issue.
I will bring transparency and meaningful parent involvement to the district.
I will bring my firsthand experience of being an immigrant, English learner, and low-income student to help all students in our district.
I will use my experience managing multimillion-dollar budgets to increase classroom funding.
I will fight for full funding of our special education program, which currently is an underfunded mandate.
I will challenge the status quo to do what is best for our students.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Advocating for our schools and our students for the last eleven years has not been easy. As I mentioned, we tried to change the funding formula used to allocate funding for our low-income students, the board turned us down.
On the Calendar Committee, the board chose, again, not to take our recommendations.
The parents are not able to provide meaningful input – we feel like they talk to us to check off a box.
I battled breast cancer in 2013. During this difficult time, I still made sure that I took the kids to and picked them up from school every single day. I was also the Barnard Elementary School PTA president during this time. I wanted to show my kids that I was strong so that they knew I was OK.
What do you think about happiness?
During this campaign season, what has made me happy is when I knock on doors what I’m saying is really resonating with them, whether they have kids or not. It makes me happy to know that I’m on the right track.
Seeing my kids become responsible human beings is always great. They make me laugh every single day and I love that!
Contact Info:
- Email: lilyforschoolboard@gmail.com
- Website: www.lilyforschoolboard.com
- Instagram: @lilyforschoolboard
- Facebook: facebook.com/lilyforschoolboard
