I'm David Poll -- three kids, two of them in LASD classrooms right now, and a family that expects to have a child in the district through spring 2039. I'm running for the Board of Trustees because the best decisions come from listening to everyone our schools serve.
I'm a parent of three: Archer, 8, a 3rd grader at Oak; Delilah, 5, who just started kindergarten; and Zachary, our 1-year-old, who will be eligible for LASD's TK program in fall 2029. My wife Amy and I have called Los Altos home since 2019, and we expect to be LASD parents through spring 2039. The decisions this board makes land on our family's dinner table -- and on yours.
I'm in our schools all the time as a parent. I lead a Cub Scout den out of Oak, back up Amy as room parent, chaperone field trips, help with the walkathon and Living Classroom, and talk with teachers and parents at pickup. I hear what families actually say -- the praise, the worries, the questions that never make it to a board meeting. That ground-level view is exactly what a board benefits from. Of the three incumbents on this November's ballot, only one still has a child in our schools -- and that child will finish during the next term, while mine are just getting started.
That's the heart of it. A trustee's first job is to listen -- to parents at drop-off, to teachers in the staff room, to administrators carrying the day-to-day load, and to neighbors without kids in school who still care about a strong district. Then you weigh the evidence, name the trade-offs honestly, and decide. Too often, families feel like the big decisions just happen around them. I want to change that.
Professionally, I'm a Senior Director of Engineering at GitHub, after a decade at Google leading organizations of up to 45 people. My job is asking hard questions, navigating competing priorities, and holding teams accountable for measurable results. That's the same work real board oversight requires. Amy and I are both products of public education, K-12 through our university degrees. Public schools changed our lives, and I want to help make ours the best it can be.
You don't have to take my word for it. When a seat opened on the board, I interviewed for it — so you can hear how I think, in my own words.
“I'm watching my daughter learn to read right now. I see the curriculum in action every week. That's not a perspective I have to build; it's something I'm living day to day.” 25:24
“Making sure folks feel heard is a huge part of reaching consensus, and leaving people feeling validated in the journey to get there.” 30:50Watch the full interview →
A few principles guide how I'd serve on the board:
Decisions improve when every stakeholder is genuinely heard early enough to shape the outcome.
Use what research and results actually show works for kids, even when a louder trend is in fashion.
Name the trade-offs out loud. Families can handle honest answers; they can't plan around spin.
Every neighborhood, language, and learning need belongs in a district that works for all.