Candidates line up for school board seats
Scores of locally elected school board terms are expiring this fall, but for about half of them, officials will be automatically reappointed without running for office.
That’s because no one has filed to challenge trustees overseeing dozens of agencies: the San Mateo County Board of Education, four West Valley Mission Community College trustee areas, and school districts in Milpitas, Campbell, Sunnyvale, the Santa Cruz Mountains and Berryessa, among others.
Wednesday was the deadline for filing to run in the Nov. 8 elections, which was extended by five days where an incumbent didn’t file for re-election.
In school districts facing controversy or crises, however, candidates have stepped up to run.
Five people are seeking two seats in Morgan Hill Unified, where the school board has feuded over charter schools, services to Latinos, procedural and protocol matters and trustee behavior. In its first-ever district elections, incumbents Rick Badillo and Thomas Arnett, who was just seated this month after winning a June special election, are each facing opponents. Board President Bob Benevento, despite taking out papers to run, is stepping down, His challenger, nurse Teresa Murillo, will be appointed.
In Santa Clara Unified, board President Albert Gonzalez is seeking reelection, but controversial trustee Chris Stampolis is not — but is filing instead for his former seat on the West Valley-Mission college board. In Santa Clara, two newcomers are joining Gonzalez in running for two seats in Trustee Area 2.
In Santa Clara’s Trustee Area 3, incumbent Michele Ryan, a one-time a Stam- polis ally, faces a challenge from library assistant Anna Welsh.
In Palo Alto Unified, which faces an unexpected $5.2 million budget shortfall and which has undergone a series of federal investigations over harassment and bullying, two incumbents and four challengers will vie for three seats.
In San Jose Unified, where board seats often are uncontested, incumbents Pam Foley and Sandra Engel face one challenger each.
“My work is not done,” said three-term trustee Foley. She wants to work on revising the district’s strategic plan and on improving middle-school math.
And in the Menlo Park City School District, which failed to pass two bond mea- sures on the spring ballot, five people are competing for two seats.
In races for the Santa Clara County Board of Education, charter-friendly trustee Grace Mah has drawn a challenge from Palo Alto Library Commissioner Sheena Chin to represent North County. Trustee Rosemary Kamei, appointed last year to represent the greater Campbell area, will face off against former San Jose councilwoman Judy Chirco, who headed a county Office of Education task force to combat bullying.
County school board trustees Joseph DiSalvo, representing central San Jose, and Anna Song, representing Santa Clara, Berryessa and Milpitas, will be automatically reappointed to four-year terms because no one else filed for their seats.
Contests where incumbents are not running have drawn more candidates. In the Foothill-De Anza Community College District, where three longtime trustees are stepping down, six candidates are running for three seats.
For a complete list of school board candidates in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, go to www.mercurynews.com/education.