Candidate Announcement and Background

By Ray Gadbois

Ray Gadbois announces candidacy for Piedmont Board of Education in order to continue serving the school community.

"Our public schools are among the best in the State, thanks to the support of the entire community, including property owners, parents, teachers and staff. I would like to continue working on behalf of this community to preserve the quality of our schools," he explained.

Ray and his family moved to Piedmont eight years ago because they were attracted by the excellent public school system and the quality of life in this community. Since then, Ray has been an active volunteer in the Piedmont schools. He worked on the School Parcel Tax committee in 2001 and later served on the Budget Advisory Committee. For the past 5 years, he has been on the Board of the Piedmont Educational Foundation, working in a variety of roles, including Treasurer, Investment Committee Chair, Vice President and now President. During that time, he also worked on a Strategic Task Force established by the Associated Parent Clubs of Piedmont to analyze our fundraising strategies and practices. Ray has also been active as a coach in youth sports, including baseball, soccer and basketball.

Ray is most proud of his efforts as co-chair of the School Parcel Tax Committee, working alongside Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and many other volunteers from throughout the community. Over the course of nine months, he and the committee worked closely with the Superintendent and School Board to analyze the budget, solicit input from the whole community, educate the voters, and run a successful grass roots campaign.

"I would like to pursue several important goals as a member of the Board of Education: promote academic excellence, support innovation, and practice fiscal discipline. We need to balance these objectives over the next few years while addressing the seismic safety issues." he added.

Ray has an undergraduate degree in Accounting and worked as a CPA for 7 years before going on to graduate school at UCLA, where he obtained an MBA in Finance. He then worked in the high-tech industry for over 15 years, including senior positions at Oracle and PeopleSoft. He has also been a Visiting Lecturer at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has worked as a strategic consultant with several high-tech startups. He is currently studying to become a Certified Financial Planner and Investment Advisor.

Ray's wife, Deborah Lewis Gadbois, who works part-time as an architect and interior designer, is very active in the schools. They have two children in the Piedmont schools. Tyler is in the seventh grade at Piedmont Middle School and Grant is in the fourth grade at Wildwood Elementary School.