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The four candidates competing for two open seats on the Sunol Glen Unified School District Governing Board are all newcomers who cite fiscal responsibility and maintaining student programs among their top priorities for office.
The Nov. 3 election is poised to shift the makeup of the three-person board, which oversees the small-town district serving about 240 students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade on a single campus on Main Street in Sunol.
Gagan Bassi, Jennifer Kavouniaris, Karen Newcomb and René Turnbull are vying for the two four-year terms; the elected candidates would replace Peter “Ted” Romo and Chris Bobertz, who chose not to run for reelection. The candidates are set to square off in a public forum Oct. 14 hosted by the Pleasanton Weekly, set for 6 p.m. at Sunol Glen School.
Bassi says she’ll bring ‘practical and accountable’ approach to seat
Gagan Bassi moved to Sunol in 2022. Her two daughters attend Sunol Glen, and Bassi said she was compelled to run for office after seeing first-hand how important the school is to district families and the surrounding community.
“I care deeply about Sunol Glen and the role our school plays in bringing our community together,” she told the Weekly. “I wanted to become more involved and contribute my time, professional experience, and perspective to help ensure the school continues to provide a strong education and the programs and support that families value.”
Bassi has built her career is primarily in the privacy and cybersecurity sector and currently works as a senior manager in cybersecurity for the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation, or AESC, which manufactures lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems. She said she also has experience in governance, risk management and other compliance work, which she said will give her a unique perspective as a school board member.
“I believe my experience can bring a practical and accountable approach to the board,” Bassi said. “My work in cybersecurity and governance has taught me to ask questions, understand risks, review details, manage resources responsibly and follow through on commitments.”
Bassi’s top four campaign priorities listed on her campaign website are maintaining positions and programs that “make Sunol desirable”; keeping a close eye on school bond spending; ensuring transportation safety along Highway 84; and maintaining the school district’s academic standards.
“Budget pressure is real, but it can’t be allowed to quietly erode the thing families moved here for,” Bassi states on her website. “Keeping good teachers is the board’s most important job.”
To learn more about Bassi and her campaign, visit gagan4sunolglen.com.
Kavouniaris places value on ‘real-world experience’
Jennifer Kavouniaris said she hopes to bring her range of professional and life experiences to oversee the Sunol Glen district.
She attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Pasadena and worked as a model in Japan. After spending some time working in retail, she forged a two-decade career in the restaurant industry, including as former co-owner of Spin A Yarn Steakhouse in Fremont.
“I am not a career educator, and I don’t pretend to have experience that I don’t have,” Kavouniaris told the Weekly. “What I do bring is decades of real-world experience managing people, budgets, difficult decisions and competing priorities.”
Kavouniaris said her connection to Sunol goes back to when her daughter, who recently graduated from high school, first joined the Sunol 4-H Club at 9 years old.
After her daughter joined the youth organization, Kavouniaris said, she developed a “real appreciation for Sunol, its families, its agricultural roots and the important role the school plays in this small community”.
“I decided to run because local school boards make decisions that directly affect children, families and taxpayers,” Kavouniaris said. “As a mother and grandmother, I care deeply about strong academics, student well-being, parental involvement and ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent responsibly.”
Kavouniaris in 2022 unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Fremont Unified School District Board of education with the backing of Moms for Liberty, a far-right organization that advocates against school curriculum that mentions LGBTQ+ rights, race and ethnicity, critical race theory and discrimination.
She was also a vocal supporter of the Sunol Glen board’s 2023 decision to ban flying a Pride flag at Sunol Glen School; the controversy made headlines across the Bay Area, and voters later recalled the two board members who pushed the measure through.
Kavouniaris said her current campaign priorities include “academic achievement, student mental health and well-being, parental involvement and fiscal responsibility”.
“I am willing to listen, do my homework, ask questions and work respectfully with parents, teachers, administrators and fellow board members,” Kavouniaris said. “I believe common sense, good judgment and the ability to work with people are valuable qualities on any governing board.”
To learn more about Kavouniaris and her campaign, visit sunolglen.com.
Newcomb touts business background in bid for board
Karen Newcomb’s daughters attended Sunol Glen School, involving the whole family in the community. She said she now feels compelled to give back to a town she sees as her extended family.
“We have been so appreciative of our experience and are forever indebted to the generations of educators and fiercely independent Sunolians who have shaped and supported Sunol Glen,” Newcomb told the Weekly. “I am committed to honoring their legacy by giving back to the school and community that has meant so much to our family.”
Newcomb is a retired investment strategist who spent 34 years working at a Fortune 10 company, including in domestic and international operating, technology and corporate departments. She said most of her work focused on analyzing business needs, developing projects and portfolios, managing and tracking deliveries and other operational oversight.
She currently serves as the treasurer of her homeowners association, the Kilkare Woods Association. In her position, she has “grown reserves and built multi-year asset plans,” experience she said would be useful as a school board trustee.
If elected, her priorities include ensuring there are enough resources for students; continued transparency and efficient use of bond money; and optimizing enrollment to “better balance school size with sustainable operations”.
“My goal is to build on the efforts of generations of educators and Sunolians who have shaped Sunol Glen, preserve what makes our school unique, and strengthen the foundation that keeps our school exceptional and independent as we begin its next 100 years,” Newcomb said.
To learn more about Newcomb and her campaign, visit karen4sunolglen.com.
Turnbull campaigns on decades of education experience
René Turnbull said she wants to bring her life’s work in education to the Sunol Glen board.
“After 20 years as a Sunolian, a career devoted to public education and a deeply personal connection to Sunol Glen, I felt this was an opportunity to give back to the community and school that have given so much to my family,” she told the Weekly.
Turnbull earned a bachelor’s in applied mathematics from California State University at Bakersfield and a master’s in statistics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
She worked in several schools before becoming a professor of mathematics and statistics at Diablo Valley College. In 2020, she was named the dean of STEM at Contra Costa College in San Pablo, serving five years before retiring in December.
She said her career gave her expereince in governance, policy development, budgeting and long-term planning.
As a resident of Sunol, Turnbull said she has participated in community events and volunteered her time to causes that benefit the town.
“I believe I can bring a valuable combination of community commitment, educational experience, administrative leadership, fiscal responsibility and collaborative governance to the Sunol Glen school board,” Turnbull said. “My goal is not to replace the strengths of our existing community but to contribute my experience alongside those of fellow board members, staff, families and community members.”
She said some of her top priorities as a trustee would be ensuring continued student success, optimizing enrollment and “maintaining a safe, caring and fiscally responsible learning environment”.
To learn more about Turnbull and her campaign, visit rene4sunolglen.com.
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