Gary C. Howard grew up in the coal-mining region of Southern West Virginia. He earned a PhD in biological sciences from Carnegie Mellon University and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Harvard and Johns Hopkins.  After spending 11 years in two small biotech companies in the Bay Area, he worked 22 years as a science editor and writer for the Gladstone Institutes in San Francisco. He continues to edit and write books. His most recent book The Biology of Death was published by Oxford University Press.

In 2013, he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Education of Castro Valley Unified School District. Since then, he was elected in 2014 and reelected in 2018.  He and his wife Shirley have lived in Castro Valley for over 28 years and their two daughters attended Proctor, Creekside, and Castro Valley High School before going on to college.

He is active in the Rotary Club of Castro Valley and is on the board of directors of the Castro Valley/Eden Area Chamber of Commerce and is a member of the Alameda County Public Health Commission.

I have a deep love for our schools and our community here in Castro Valley.  In the 11 years that my husband and I have had kids in our public schools, we have had great teachers who have given our kids numerous enriching experiences, and I feel confident that our kids are both on solid paths towards success in life.  But even great things can have room for improvement, and that's where I come in.  ​​Please come learn more about me at https://www.saraforcvschools.com

A little more about my priorities:

PRIORITY No. 1: Ensuring All Our Students Have Access to a Great Education

Whether a child is struggling because she has dyslexia, wants to enroll in an upper level course that is not currently being offered, or a family is having trouble communicating with the school due to a language barrier, I want to assist in making sure that all our promising students have the same opportunities. A few of the approaches I will fight for include, improving communication between families and administration, Ensuring that our teachers and staff are adequately supported (both financially and practically), fully staffing our schools so that courses aren't being cut, making our school board meetings more accessible to the community at large.

These are but a few tools that will assist our kids in receiving the best classroom experiences possible.  

PRIORITY No. 2: Expanding Access to Vocational and Career Technical Education
We place a large emphasis on academic success meaning enrolling in a traditional four-year college or university upon completion of High School.  This is a great option for a lot of students and fortunately our schools do a good job of getting them ready to apply to college and move in that direction. However, there will also always be students who do not want or need to pursue that path. We owe it to them to be doing everything we can to make sure that they also have excellent options upon graduation.  To those ends, I am taking steps to build strong partnerships with trade unions and labor organizations so that we can build on what CVUSD currently offers and make those opportunities more robust than ever before.  

PRIORITY No. 3: Keeping Students and Staff Safe, Physically and Emotionally
Our schools have taken several steps towards addressing the national mental health crisis that is impacting kids as we emerge from the pandemic.  We are also in a period in which teachers and school staff are feeling stretched thin and need community support.  On top of all this we continue to hear devastating news, nationwide, of violence on school campuses.  These are all issues that will require our ongoing attention and efforts. I challenge us all to do the following:

• Commit to maintaining and expanding the wellness centers that are opening in our high school and middle schools.  Let's integrate these services in to our elementary classrooms as well. Let's enhance these services as they are currently offered to our teachers and staff.  We want them emotionally supported and empowered as well. 
• Let's partner with our classroom teachers to make sure they have all the equipment and supplies they need, but also commit to providing ongoing training and practical support that will help them thrive in their classrooms.
• Let's commit to fine-tuning our district's safety protocols.  Let's consider a consistent approach across all our school sites, how we communicate with parents about such things as active-shooter drills, and how we involve our children in these exercises. This would cut down on misunderstandings, miscommunication, and stress in the parent community.  Above-all, we must insist that our plans and protocols must be trauma-informed.
• Finally, let's explore a restorative justice approach to discipline in our school communities. Restorative justice models lead to equitable solutions, empower all involved parties, and help our kids develop conflict resolution and communication skills.