Five candidates vie for school board
Mary Pippitt, Kunio Okui, John Barbieri, Jo Loss and Charmaine Banther are competing for seats on the Castro Valley Board of Education.
Watch them speak at a candidates forum on this Olympian video!
The race for a position on the CVUSD school board is well underway. With five candidates running and only three seats available, the race for November votes is tight. Three candidates are incumbents and two are new candidates to the political race.
Kunio Okui is a long time member of the school board and currently serves as president of the Board of Education. He has a bachelors degree in business and a masters in governance and boardsmanship. His former occupation before becoming a board member was as an accountant and a financial planner.
Okui has overseen many district projects such as the Trojan Stadium renovation and the construction of the Center for the Arts. As stated in his statement in the official voter’s manual, “I believe in the future of our children and their pursuit of academic excellence.”
Jo Loss is an incumbent currently holding the position of vice-president and clerk. She has earned a masters in boardsmanship and governance by the California School Boards Association and has held many positions in the California State PTA, including president and vice-president. Loss has also been appointed to California’s P-16 Council (preschool up to college) and has held offices in the Alameda County School Boards Association. She takes pride in a very strong record of public work as a “champion for public education in Castro Valley and statewide.”
John Barbieri is currently running for reelection and is officially endorsed by the Castro Valley Teachers Association (CVTA). He has presided as a board member and personal commissioner for many years. He has taught math, management, and economics at local Chabot College and holds a lifetime teaching credential and a masters in governance.
Barbieri aims to “work collaboratively with parents, teachers and staff ” to maintain Castro Valley’s standard of education and student achievement.
Charmaine Banther is currently running for election to the school board and is officially endorsed by the CVTA. She has been a public school teacher for 25 years and is currently a math teacher. She is an advocate of smaller class sizes and the support and building up of “core” academic programs (math, science, technology, etc.). Banther also believes in bettering the working conditions and learning environment of the staff and students. She “will strive to look outside the box” for solutions and “work together with teachers, parents, principals, and administrators.”
Mary Pippitt is currently running for election to the school board and is also endorsed by the CVTA. She has been an educator (including teacher and administrator) for over 30 years and promises to bring to the school board extensive experience and perspectives.
Her main priorities are to retain “superior” staff, preserving integral educational programs, and creating and maintaining trust and common goals.
Pippitt is guided by her past experiences to make decisions that are in the interests of staff and students within Castro Valley. “It’s time an experienced educator sits on the board,” she said, and claims “deep knowledge and understanding… gained from working inside schools.”