> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # School board member to fly the coop - URL: https://www.smdp.com/school-board-member-to-fly-the-coop/ - Published: 2007-02-09T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-24T00:01:33.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Board to solicit applications for empty seat A VALUED COMMODITY* SMMUSD HDQTRS Just over three months after being reelected to a second term, Emily Bloomfield is expected to submit a letter of resignation from the Board of Education. Bloomfield recently learned that her husband, an employee at McKinsey & Company, a strategic management firm that provides consultation to the private sector, was given the opportunity to lead a new expansion office in Washington D.C. The new office will focus on world issues such as climate change, poverty and health care. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for him,” Bloomfield said on Thursday. “It’s a dream job.” But along with chasing the dream comes saying good-bye to a city the Bloomfields have called home for the past 13 years; a city where Bloomfield was active and served on the board for more than four years. “I feel very rooted here,” Bloomfield said. “It’s where two of my three children were born.” Rather than holding a costly special election to fill Bloomfield’s seat,the Board of Education will likely solicit applications from interested candidates in the coming months. The selected candidate will then serve out the time remaining on Bloomfield’s term, which runs through 2010\. Bloomfield’s place on the board will then become an open seat in that year’s election.The applicant chosen to serve in Bloomfield’s stead “would not run as an incumbent,”according to Deputy Superintendent Tim Walker. The board will have about six months to find a replacement. The Bloomfields plan to move to Bethesda, Md., this summer, where their children will attend the Montgomery County Public Schools, a district serving almost 138,000 students. Bloomfield is no stranger to the East Coast. She lived in Washington D.C. about 20 years ago while she worked in the World Bank. She later moved to Santa Monica when her husband landed a position with McKinsey & Company. At the age of 42, Bloomfield ran for the school board on a platform of preserving small class sizes and closing the performance gap. She was elected with 21.56 percent of the vote in a freshmen class that also included Oscar de la Torre and Shane McLoud. McLoud was the lone school board member who was not reelected in November. With a master’s degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and a master’s in economics from Oxford University, Bloomfield came to the board after having volunteered on the district’s Strategic Planning Team. School Board members contacted on Thursday said they will miss the expertise Bloomfield brings to the board. “She’s a very passionate person and truly committed... and has the ability to analyze programs and information presented to us in a way that cuts through any irrelevant stuff — what is working and what isn’t working,” said fellow school board member Jose Escarce. “That combination is unusual and very useful,” he added. Bloomfield was seen as helpful in assimilating new members to the school board. “She’s been a tremendous asset to our school district,” said new member Kelly McMahon Pye.“I have valued her thoughtfulness every time I speak with her.” Looking back on her time in the district, Bloomfield said she is most proud of the gains the district has made in the area of student achievement. At the same time, she feels that more could be done to close the performance gap. In her absence, Bloomfield said she hopes the Facilities Master Plan and Measure BB funding will lead to a small high school and middle school, that students will be better served in a more intimate learning environment. Whether or not a stint on the Board of Education in Montgomery County lies in her future remains a mystery for Bloomfield.It will take a little bit of exploring before she will make her move for a seat on that school board. “I have to learn what the territory and the dynamics are like,”she said.“I’ll get up to speed once we get there.” The school districts on the East and West coasts are different in that the former tends to receive more financial support from the state, Bloomfield said. “Statewide across the eastern seaboard,I see more public support for funding public education,” Bloomfield said. “Santa Monica is more distinct in that regard because we do try to supplement \[public education\] and there is community support.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 9, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020907.pdf?ref=smdp.com)