Las Lomitas Elementary School DistrictCandidate for Board Member

Dr. Jody Leng is a practicing physician anesthesiologist and a proud parent of two 4th and 5th grade daughters in the Las Lomitas Elementary School District. She plans to utilize her medical background to help the school with pandemic related issues, and develop a new strategic plan for the coming years. 

She completed medical school at the University of Miami, and her Anesthesiology residency and Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine (RAAPM) fellowship at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. She is currently a staff anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Veterans Affairs (VA) in Palo Alto, and a Clinical Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology (affiliated) at Stanford Hospital and Clinics. She holds leadership roles as the Director of Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine at the Palo Alto VA, Co-Director of Anesthesiology Resident Wellness at Stanford, and Associate Program Director of the Stanford RAAPM Fellowship. Prior to medical school, she earned a Master's Degree in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University.

Beginning in February 2020, Dr. Leng was instrumental in helping develop and implement new safety protocols to ensure the safety of anesthesiologists, who routinely perform invasive aerosolizing procedures. Her work has been utilized for Continuing Medical Education at Stanford, and accepted for presentation at the upcoming 2020 Annual Society for Anesthesiologists Virtual Annual Meeting.

Since May 2020, Dr. Leng has served on the Las Lomitas Elementary School District Pandemic Recovery Committee to help plan the reopening of the schools for both virtual and in-person learning. She has worked on the development of the virtual classroom curriculum/schedule, planning for COVID testing for teachers and students, health screenings, and additional safe practices once school reopens in person. Along with the LLESD Superintendent, Dr. Polito, she has helped keep lines of communication open between the committee and concerned parents.

Having worked with patients since the beginning of the COVID pandemic, Dr. Leng understands what it takes to maintain safety on a daily basis, while striving to help people feel comfortable in this new normal environment. Even after a safe vaccine is approved, it will take months for schools to return back to normal, and perhaps some new practices should continue into the future. She plans to help the school make safe decisions going forward.

In addition, the LLESD School Governing Board is just beginning a new strategic planning process. If elected, Dr. Leng will develop an impactful plan that will help future Las Lomitas/La Entrada elementary and middle school students. Having worked on Quality Improvement in the hospital setting, she aims to establish a continuous process so that any goals set will have regular evaluation and enhancement.

In particular, she would like to prioritize equity as part of the district's strategic plan, in order to provide a diverse educational atmosphere for the Las Lomitas and La Entrada children and community.