Who is Rinu Nair?
Born and raised in the Bay Area, Rinu Nair is a product of the Fremont Unified School District. The 18-year old recently graduated from Irvington High School, and now wants a seat at the Board to represent the voice of the student body.
While in high school, she was Chair of the FUSD Wellness Committee, through which she successfully advocated to introduce Hindi as a language. She believes that mental health services, and other support systems like peer-to-peer tutoring are key to student well-being. Another priority for Nair is to increase security on school campuses and to that end, she is in favor of maintaining School Resource Officers (SROs) or campus police.
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Her one-minute pitch to voters
As a former student, I bring firsthand experience of the challenges students face. Five board members make decisions for 32,000 students – however, there is no permanent student voice on the board or a decision-making vote. There is representation from parents, grandparents, and professionals on the board but no student voice. This is a gap that must be resolved to ensure every policy decision is made while considering what is best for our students, teachers, and staff. I am passionate about public service and committed to serve a four-year term with absolute dedication to inspire, educate, and challenge our students.
Her first order of business on Day One in office
My first order of business would be to review community feedback received through surveys and listening sessions on budget priorities. Next, I will review the proposals from the district on how to address the deficit. I will be collaborating with fellow board members and district staff to make decisions that are in the best interest of students, teachers, and staff. As a FUSD graduate, I have a better understanding of the pressing issues students face, which no one else on the board will have.
The major challenges that the Fremont Unified School District faces
FUSD is a well-run district but depends extensively on the state for revenue. The state is projecting lower revenues which will directly impact FUSD. We need to make thoughtful and hard decisions to address the $38 million deficit for the 2025-2026 school year.
There is a nationwide teacher shortage and FUSD is located in a high cost-of-living region. Hence, FUSD needs to offer competitive salaries and benefits to hire and retain high quality teaching staff.
FUSD has about 40 schools, many of which are badly in need of facilities improvements. These cannot be covered by the operating expenses, and cost more to maintain each year. The district is hopeful the bond Measure M will pass. In the event that it does not, students, teachers, and staff will continue to be in facilities with leaky roofs, flooded hallways, unsafe tracks after rain, and failing electrical systems.
Mental health stressors are on the rise and require empathetic mental health counseling – some of this funding came from the parcel tax that expired recently. We need to find creative ways to reduce the stressors and increase support for students, staff, and teachers.
If elected, her top 3 priorities will be…
My first priority is to raise the quality of education while offering support to students to reduce the achievement gap. Based on my experience tutoring refugee students, I have found peer tutoring and peer counseling to be very effective as students are receptive to receive help from other students. I will strongly advocate for students to have the option to take courses they desire at other FUSD schools as well as community colleges for credit. I will collaborate with the teachers to explain the impact of grading variability on student mental health and encourage them to address it.
My second priority is to improve student wellness by promoting empathetic mental health counseling, ensuring equitable classroom practices, and swiftly resolving systemic classroom issues. It is important to provide our students mental health support to ensure their well-being. We can partner with local nonprofits and city and county resources to offer these services.
My third priority is campus safety. We need to ensure our students’ physical and mental health is never compromised. I am a strong supporter of School Resource Officers (campus police) to deter crime and address threats on campus quickly. My opponent is a supporter of the defund the police movement and has worked to remove SROs in the past. As someone who has experienced lockdowns, gun threats, and fights on campus I understand and fully support their role in keeping our campuses safe.
What sets her apart from other contenders
I am the only one who has been in our classrooms and has experienced the system firsthand. I am a product of FUSD, and I know what our students truly need. Students are more likely to confide in someone their age. I have witnessed bullying, gun threats, variability in classroom experiences, mental health stressors, and unmet program needs. I am here to be the honest voice of our students. I am also the only candidate in this race who has directly done volunteer work and made positive contributions to our school district. I have sponsored foster youth, tutored refugee students, and hosted backpack drives.
I was also chair of the FUSD Wellness Committee where I worked to introduce Hindi to the school district, included mental health in district guidelines, and initiated the Sandy Hook Promise which created anonymous reporting systems on campus. My opponent’s only contribution to FUSD has been removing our campus police. I am endorsed by local leaders and four of the five school board members because of my work whereas my opponent is endorsed by high-ranking members of the Democratic party like Senator Aisha Wahab.
My campaign is a grassroots effort that works to unite our community and students.