DIXON, CA (MPG) - With votes finalized, Melissa Maseda will return to the Dixon Unified School District Board and newcomer David Bowen III will join her.

Melissa Maseda, a former preschool teacher who "chose to stay home" and raise her children, was re-elected to the DUSD Board seat with 5,125 votes which is more than 40% of the voters. She attributes serving the community over the past 20 years and being involved with her four children age 13 to 21 to why she was re-elected by such a large margin. Maseda was first appointed to the Board and ran at the end of that term unopposed so this time involved campaigning.

"I think people recognize I really care about the community," she said. "I want to thank the community for believing in me. It's important to be trusted." Under her leadership, more transparency was created and there were surveys done each year for the staff, including the principals and superintendent, she said.

"I ask the tough questions and accountability is big for me," she said , adding that seeing things from a parent's perspective is one of her biggest attributes to the Board. She serves on the Budget Committee and also the School Bond Oversight Committee.

Her goal is to "get our students safely back to school," she said. Amazingly, Maseda is dealing with her own personal crisis as her husband is fighting cancer. "We're blessed that he's still here," she said, fighting back tears.

The older two children had to move out because they both work and they had to minimize Coronavirus exposure, she added.

"We can't get sick. We have protocols and tons of hand sanitizer," she said. "I knew we had to find a safe way to continue our lives." She feels the same way about Dixon schools and recently toured a charter school in Vacaville that is making it successfully and would like to see Dixon implement their ideas.

After watching numerous Fairfield Unified School District Board Meetings because he was part of the contract negotiation team, David Bowen, who was also just elected to the DUSD Board, decided he was "possibly better qualified" to serve as a Trustee.

"I was seeing things come to the table and I wondered where they were coming from. I began feeling like I was qualified to give my input in the negotiations that would help everyone-- teachers, students, and parents understand issues better. I want to be a clear communicator and contribute to the community," he said. Bowen garnered 4,260 votes or 33% to win his seat on the Dixon Unified School Board.

Bowen, who moved to Dixon two years ago with his fiance who is a 5th grade teacher at Travis, built a simple campaign, placed some signs around town and used a video on social media to promote himself. He earned his BA in math with a minor in Economics at St. Mary's College and also has a teaching credential.

"I'm super type A organized...I'm a maniac now!" he said with a laugh. "I have a masters in education, worked as a teacher assistant, coached students for ten years, and I hoped residents would figure, 'This guy has got to know something.' One of the first comments on Facebook was the question, 'Why shouldn't I just vote for the incumbents?' I had to basically give him the facts with the district. There are going to be teachers and school staff cut. At some point I have a unique perspective from working in the class," he said.

Although he hoped he'd win, he didn't think he'd win over incumbent and President of the Board Luke Foster as he is "very qualified and is very respected," Bowen said.

"I was up on election night hitting 'refresh' after 8 pm to see what was going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if I lost by 1,000 votes but at first I was up 500 over Luke Foster and I was surprised the lead didn't shrink," he said. Bowen remembered the excessively long school board meetings when the pandemic hit and the school closed.

"People were upset with the way things were going on and he was seen as the main person [to [blame] so there was a target on his back and probably was disproportionately negative because he talked the most as president of the Board," Bowen added.

His goals as DUSD Board Member are to address the problem of lost ADA due to students dropping out during the pandemic. ADA is the time students are in class that equates to state derived income for the district. Although it is difficult to plan for the future when you're in a crisis, he said, he has several solutions to help repair the problems.

"We have to take action for the future," he said. "In terms of how people are looking at that budget problem, we ask what can we do to increase revenues? I've addressed programs that can be implemented like offering a more robust education, for example." Attracting students back to Dixon who have left with inter-district agreements; bilingual education; an early college program so that when a student is finished with high school, they also have an Associate of Arts degree; and offering a virtual academy for parents, teachers, and students who do not want to return to the campus are some of his ideas.

"Dixon also has the farm and we can expand on offering career-technical education. I'm looking forward to using some of my research and being able to communicate that to students," he said.

Both Maseda and Bowen will join Caitlin O'Halloran, Jewel Fink, and Lloyd McCabe on the DUSD Board of Education on December 10 via Zoom. For more information, call DUSD at (707) 693-6300.