Lara York, 37, has lived in Fremont
since 1992 with her husband, Steve. Her two sons attend Fremont Unified
schools. She is a California native, grew up in San Jose, and attended public
schools from kindergarten through college, earning a bachelor's degree in
business administration with a minor in sociology from California State
University, Chico.
Lara first became active in the community through the FUN (Fremont-Union
City-Newark) Mothers' Club; she served as its president from 1999 to
2000.
After the failure of a Fremont Unified School District bond in 1998, Lara
became concerned about the district's troubles and joined the Community
Facilities Committee and began regularly attending school board
meetings. She has served on an impressive array of district and other
school-related committees:
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Financial Advisory Committee
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Health & Safety Bond Committee
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Parent Representative Advisory Assembly
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GATE (Gifted and Talented Education) Committee
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School Site Council
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The PTA
In 2003 the Fremont Schools Management Association gave her its Friend of
Education
award.
Lara is perhaps best known in Fremont for her work since 2000 as a dedicated
board member, vice president, and president of the Fremont Education Foundation,
a public non-profit organization which raises money to provide educational
enrichment for all Fremont's children and teachers. She has been the program
manager for the foundation's After School Band Program and produced and
hosted the program's major fundraiser, the annual Music Telethon.
She also serves as president of the Fremont Chamber of Commerce's Dollars for
Scholars nonprofit, which awards scholarships to promising local
students.
Lara is an active member of the League of Women Voters, working on
various projects over the past four years including moderating episodes of the
local chapter's Voting Matters cable TV program, registering voters, and
the chair of the group's Education Committee.
She also has been a member of Parents Helping Parents, Citizens for Better
Community, and Math/Science Nucleus. Lara is also a member of the
American Association of University Women
