Shoreline Unified school board seat contested in Nov. 5 election

A Shoreline Unified School District board of trustees member faces a challenger in the Nov. 5 election.

Incumbent Thomas Tyson and Buddy Faure are both Inverness residents. Faure unsuccessfully applied for a seat on the board in 2022.

Tyson, 35, was first elected in 2020. He represents Trustee Area 1, which includes Point Reyes, Inverness and Olema.

Tyson is an attorney at the San Francisco-based firm Gibson, Dunn and Crutcher LLP. He has lived in the Point Reyes area most of his life and attended Shoreline Unified schools.

Tyson has a daughter at West Marin School and an older daughter who attended the school. He still coaches youth basketball, baseball and soccer and runs a weekly adult basketball program.

“I have a deep connection to this district and continue to believe that I have a unique skill set and drive to improve the lives and education of our students,” Tyson said in an email. “I take my role as a board member very seriously and consider it a privilege to serve there.”

Tyson said he believes the lack of affordable after-school care is the district’s most pressing issue.

“We have had success on this front recently by offering free care on Wednesdays as part of our early release program,” he said. “The hope is that we can extend this effort into the rest of the week.”

Faure is a musician in his early 20s and a former Marin School of the Arts student at Novato High School. Faure did not respond to requests for comment. During his 2022 run, he said he wants to promote music education and nature-related programs.

The seven-member board oversees a district of about 500 students in rural Marin and Sonoma counties and an annual budget of about $19 million. The district includes Tomales High School, Bodega Bay School, Tomales Elementary School, West Marin-Inverness School and three preschools.