Board of Trustees
Board Members
Leonard Washington
Trustee Area 2, , Board President
lwashington@sanmiguelschools.org
Term Expires 2026
Forty plus years as an educator answered some but not all my questions regarding the common practice among some educators of "buck passing", that tendency to blame the other guy for a student's lack of grade level proficiency. The middle school blame the elementary school; while the high school blame the middle school; and high education blame the high schools. The blame game is no secret, even occuring within the same learning institution. Tragically, it wreaks havoc among teaching professionals encouraging over/under achievement, and even worst, early teacher retirement. Students, whose teachers accept "buck passing" as truth, lose valuable classroom instruction through unfocused, distracted teaching. As a board member in SMJUSD, I look forward to applying my classroom and administrative background in the service of students at the beginning rather than the end of the "buck passing" practice. My educational experience has taught me the value of a caring, vigilant governing board, one whose understanding of institutional issues is current, especially, with respect to questionable academic practices. I have seen how a governing board's budget management and overall district involvement, empowers teachers to reject any practice/narrative harmful to their student's scholarly progression. At SMJUSD, I wish to replicate governing board best practices as I have witnessed in the past which resulted in a learning atmosphere void of positive or negative "buck passing" references, but filled with excited students and inspiring teachers.
My name is Mike Sanders. I have lived in San Miguel for 16 years and have resided in other parts of San Luis Obispo County since 1970.
My wife, Miki, and I were instrumental in the development of the San Miguel Chamber of Commerce, and we’re also parishioners of Mission San Miguel. We owned the San Miguel Mercantile for 10 years, having only recently sold it to another business owner who intends to carry on the business’s legacy in this community.
I have been on the San Miguel Advisory Council for the past 10 years and its chairman during the past 7 years. I am also a member of the San Miguel School Board and have been for the last 5 years, this being my 6th year and 2nd term. I am honored be able to help the town of San Miguel in this capacity as it supports the children and families of this community.
Miki and I are grandparents (and family matters a great deal to us), we like to RV and travel and we also enjoy working on our organic acre, which is just off of River Road.
I moved to the central coast in 1996 and have lived here for most of my life. After graduating from Paso Robles High School in 2010, I attended Cuesta College for three years where I earned my associate's degree and was able to transfer to California State University, Sacramento. There, I studied history and earned my bachelor's in 2016. After graduating, I did not go straight into their teaching program. I felt like I needed to be involved in something bigger than myself. That summer I enlisted in the United States Navy Reserves. After bootcamp and a-school, I came back to California where I continued the reserves and my education at Brandman University. I also worked full time at Almond Acres Charter Academy as a substitute teacher and PE assistant. Currently, I am a middle school history teacher and loving every second of it. My wife and I bought our home in San Miguel in 2020 and have been enjoying the area. I feel honored to have been voted in to represent and help Lillian Larsen and Cappy Culver flourish.