For a #BetterSDUSD

I'm running for Student Board Member to bring
you a better c|

Hi, I’m Dane Culbreath, a student at San Diego High. I live with my dad here in downtown SD, I use public transit, and have a wonderful little sister! I also love photography and travelling. For college? Forget doing things for an application, after high school I plan to attend community college.

I can’t stand seeing completely fixable problems, big or small, get in our way. In eighth grade, our class trip to Catalina got canceled overnight, I spent many nights researching and emailing until we were back on the water. I will not stop until we rewrite our policies to fix completely solvable problems, and I want to ensure no other student ever feels ignored on one of our campuses.

This same drive has led me to co‑found BuildSD, where we're rewriting the story of development across our region, and creating data-driven journalism that helps San Diegans understand how our city is growing. Public service cannot be self-service, and now I want to bring this commitment to our district. If you ever have an idea or complaint, let me know and I’ll get to work.

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Consistent Communication & Representation Beyond SDUSD

Consistent communication and outreach to ensure that all students (especially those too often overlooked and underrepresented) have a real voice. I won't stop until we rewrite these policies to ensure no student ever feels silenced on one of our campuses. Start routine town halls (likely monthly) to break down what we are doing, while enabling students to ask questions and provide feedback - in person or online. We also need to improve our digital newsletters to summarize actions we have taken, progress on said actions, upcoming initiatives, and opportunities for student involvement. We need to reinforce trust through transparency, and make information accessible to all. Students should also be able to feel the things happening behind-the-scenes. I will also connect with our local and state leaders to bring our successes to everyone else. Most importantly, I will fight to represent us at all levels, including at the federal level.

Campus Culture & Infrastructure

Simply improving the vibe of our campuses can go so far! We will improve and even initiate new programs to keep our campuses clean, and promote/enable much more public art. We can introduce waste auditing and also promote more campus gardens. Continue the work on further solar installations. Require and ensure AC in our gyms! Extend school library hours to become safe and connected study hubs where students can access power outlets and free school WiFi. We also need to provide more resources to empower the success of our student organizations.

Endorsed by San Diego High Student Union
Student Organization

Transparent & Accessible Data

Work to launch and open a centralized portal (co-designed by students for students) powered by students' feedback tracking key indicators like food satisfaction, restroom cleanliness, library usage, safety-related concerns, etc. We will streamline the ability to request for facility repairs and other complaints/suggestions, with real-time updates. We will study the feasibility of interactive campus maps, with reported safety hazards also showing up there until they are resolved. On that note I also want to ensure we enable a rapid response to address infrastructure safety issues as quickly as possible after reporting.

Modernized Curriculum & Real‑World Learning

Classes should feel like a learning experience, not a waiting room. I'll fight for innovative and proven approaches like expanding IB programs and College, Career, and Technical Education pathways at our high schools, so students can get a head start on real-world skills. I'll also advocate for flipped classrooms where instead of just homework, we can, for instance, watch short video primers at home. This frees up class time for more hands-on learning and discussion. Additionally I’ll fight for more, and better, field trips across our grades. We can transform lessons into lived experience. Maker‑spaces and media labs should stay open before and after school, and more projects should be eligible to earn industry certificates or college credit. Our district’s policy on rule enforcement is flawed. We need to empower problem solving at our schools, and not blind compliance. Our elementary and middle schoolers are at the core of why we need this change, and they will benefit immensely from upgrading our outdated system. However, in this election their voice is in your vote.

Safety & Housing

Identify safety hazards, such as tripping hazards, and repair them ASAP. Also, our housing crisis is at the root of our homelessness crisis, which affects many students who may even be homeless themselves (and being homeless is not safe!). Safe housing is a human right. We will push for mixed‑use zoning near schools and on district property, and I will advocate for further policy changes at the local and state level to enable more housing development; modernizing policy is crucial. (For example, we still have silly outdated mandates such as minimum parking requirements that add costs to development (and the environment!) and do not improve safety or convenience; these should not exist, especially in already transit accessible areas). I will also fight for more immediate mental health resources for our unhoused, and for better public safety initiatives - especially around our schools.

Endorsed by Manny Rodriguez
President, YIMBY Democrats of San Diego

Health & Our Rights

We need to take decisive action on air pollution in our city, a crisis which also disproportionately harms our Latino communities. This is painfully clear especially at our schools near freeways. On this note, enhanced filtration systems will be immediately pursued, along with fighting for better city policies. Expand partnerships with health educators and local organizations to host confidential wellness pop-ups (reproductive health, mental health check-ins, etc), and guarantee permanent resources to be always accessible such as free hygiene and contraceptive products; rights without access aren’t real rights. Women’s rights are human rights, and that fact has been threatened recently. I will not allow any threats to students’ rights reach our schools. Ever. Oh, and one more thing, we need better food!

Better Food

Great meals start with great respect for our people and land (and by tasting great!). We need to increase the amount of Farm-to-Table options available through sourcing directly from local growers. We also need to be more inclusive to our variety of cultures with our food, and for instance add chopsticks as a utensil option (for applicable meals). We can also use smarter inventory-tracking tech to reduce waste, reinvesting savings to further improve the quality of our food. I will work to ensure high quality food that is forever free for every student will become a district standard.

Together, we will win.

daneca_official [email protected]

Our fight is not over, stay tuned on Instagram.