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Pleasanton Unified School District school board candidates Thomas Choi (left) and Karen Fletcher answer questions during the Pleasanton Weekly’s Sept. 23 public forum at the district’s school board meeting room. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
PUSD Area 5 candidate responds to questions asked by the Pleasanton Weekly during last week’s forum. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Just over a half dozen people attended last week’s public forum, most of whom were current school board members or district staff. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
PUSD Area 5 candidate Thomas Choi holds up plans being proposed by the district that he said are being rubber stamped without any public input. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
Pleasanton school board Area 5 candidate Thomas Choi (left) answers one of the Pleasanton Weekly’s questions during last week’s public forum. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
A photo shows an empty seat where candidate Brett Martinez was supposed to sit, had he attended last week’s public forum. (Photo by Chuck Deckert) 
The Pleasanton Unified School District Board of Trustees trustee-area map, which shows Area 5 in blue. (Image courtesy of PUSD)
Pleasanton Unified School District Trustee Area 5 candidates Thomas Choi and Karen Fletcher discussed a range of issues relevant to the school board seat – as well as why they are the right person to address those topics – during a public forum last week moderated by the Pleasanton Weekly.
Brett Martinez, the third candidate on the ballot seeking to succeed Trustee Justin Brown in Area 5, declined to participate in the forum.
Choi is a parent of two current PUSD students, a licensed attorney and an electrical engineer who has been a vocal participant in recent school board and committee meetings. Fletcher works as a teacher at Livermore High School and has lived for years in Area 5, where her children went through school. Martinez says he runs a local home services business, although the Weekly has been unable to independently confirm that information.
Area 5 represents Vintage Hills and Hearst elementary schools, Pleasanton Middle School, and part of Foothill High’s attendance area.
Choi and Fletcher participated in the election forum in the district boardroom on Sept. 23 where they responded to questions from Pleasanton Weekly moderators Gina Channell Wilcox and Jeremy Walsh in a room of about a dozen people.
During his opening statements, Choi said as a relatively new parent in PUSD, he’s had the privilege to get to know so many teachers, staff and students when he volunteers at his kids’ schools. He also said it’s a unique feeling knowing that his kids will be able to go through the same school system his wife went through growing up.
“Being in those classrooms firsthand how hard our staff works, and how precious our neighborhood schools really are,” Choi said.
So when he saw his kids’ teachers and staff experience the fear of possibly losing their job during last year’s budget discussions, he decided to do something about it, which eventually led him to running for the trustee seat.
“Last year, when 76 student-facing staff were handed their pink slips, I refused to sit on the sidelines,” Choi added. “Board meeting after board meeting I was the only candidate who stepped up to that podium.”
Fletcher, on the other hand, opened her speech by highlighting her decades of experience and knowledge as a Livermore teacher, and as someone whose four kids went through the Pleasanton school system.
Fletcher, a nearly 20-year Pleasanton resident, said she loves PUSD so much, which is why she wants to continue supporting it as a trustee.
She said apart from her 10 years as an educator, she has volunteered at virtually every grade level as her kids grew up — her youngest graduated in May — which gives her a deeper understanding of the teachers, programs and students throughout the district. She also said as a teacher, she understands managing district budgets and the effects those budget decisions have on students.
“I promise to carefully oversee our district finances and steer us in the right direction by holding our superintendent and executive council accountable so that there is transparency and clarity with our budgets,” Fletcher said.
Over the last few years, PUSD has been struggling financially as it deals with a structural deficit that has continued to project higher expenditures and lower revenues as enrollment continues to decline. This, combined with other budgetary issues, has led to nearly $25 million in net budget reductions over the last three years.
This past year, the school board was once again met with angry parents, students and staff members who voiced their opposition to many of the budget cuts and reductions the board was considering at the time. It was during the 2026 budget reduction cycle that Choi said he really became more active at a district level.
Choi said over the past year, he attended dozens of school board meetings. One of the main reasons for doing so, he said, was to oppose many of the student-facing budget cuts during the last budget development process.
During these meetings, Choi said he fought against classroom cuts, challenged executive pay raises, discovered idle funds not being used by the district and volunteered his professional experience to help save educator jobs. Still, the district received a negative budget certification last year, had to ask the county for a loan and experienced other financial issues that Choi said he wants to address as a school board member.
In response to the Weekly’s questions about recent budget concerns expressed by residents, Choi said if he is elected to represent Area 5, he pledges to limit wasteful spending by looking into all of the money — he said about $12 million — the district spends on consultants, and putting an end to the rubber-stamping that he said happens during school board meetings to approve these wasteful consultant contracts.
“Our board does not need another rubber stamp,” Choi said during his closing remarks. “When trustees rubber stamp presentations without verifying the numbers, we end up in the current financial mess that we’re in where we require a $20 million loan just this month to keep afloat.”
When asked about those same budget challenges, Fletcher said she also believes in keeping the district fiscally solvent by not overspending money. However, she reminded the audience that the district has been taking actions to address these financial issues over the past year.
She noted how a windfall of recent money has helped save additional staff positions and that, if she is elected, she promises to also limit spending and stop overlooking expenses, like she said the district did last year.
“As a board trustee I would make sure that I would ask the hard questions to make sure that we understand exactly what’s on the budget spreadsheets, and also what is not on the spreadsheets so we have a clear, transparent picture of where we are,” Fletcher said.
Throughout the rest of the forum, both of the candidates continued answering questions regarding school safety, working with local unions, school grading systems and their positions on things like technology or artificial intelligence.
Choi said PUSD should take advantage of local Bay Area connections and opportunities when it comes to technology, while still being careful and mindful about the dangers that come with things like artificial intelligence, which poses threats to job positions. He also said there should be more of a unified approach when it comes to using technology software throughout the district and that parents deserve more of a say when it comes to the technology that their students are using.
Regarding technology like laptops and other similar devices, Fletcher said it’s important that the district provides equitable access to those things for students. But when it comes to AI, Fletcher said as a teacher, she sees how AI is affecting students’ abilities to write, which is why she thinks PUSD needs to be careful in how it continues to assess the tool moving forward.
Some of the other topics that the two discussed included recent discussions of pursuing a parcel tax, which both candidates seemed to be against at the moment.
Fletcher said it would be difficult to gain enough votes to pass the parcel tax and that she wouldn’t want to support one unless there is enough of a public backing. Choi said he would want the district to be more transparent on how those parcel tax dollars would be spent.
Another relevant topic the two candidates discussed was the recent news that Superintendent Maurice Ghysels is planning to step down at the end of the calendar year, instead of June as expected – details the board revealed publicly the night after the forum. Deputy superintendent Ed Diolazo was announced as the next superintendent, beginning in January.
In keeping with his theme of criticizing the district, Choi said he did not agree with how the school board withheld information regarding its superintendent finalist.
“The Brown Act was written to shine a light on school board decisions,” Choi said. “It’s not to serve as a shield to hide contracts for the taxpayer. If the public isn’t allowed to see the contract, then the board shouldn’t be voting on it until the community has a chance to read what’s in it.”
As far as what type of qualities he wanted to see in the next superintendent, Choi said he wanted to see someone who is going to be transparent and who is going to solve the district’s fiscal challenges. “If we are a declining enrollment district, then the pay of our executive staff, including the executive cabinet and the superintendent, should coincide with that as well,” he added.
Fletcher didn’t comment much on the hiring process, but she did similarly say she wanted the new superintendent to be transparent. She also said it was important that the new leader be an expert on the responsibilities of a superintendent, and that they should have the ability to engage with all of PUSD’s stakeholders in order to build trusted relationships.
As far as some of her key priorities, one of Fletcher’s that stood out was that she wants to ensure transgender students have their own restrooms. She said she has seen firsthand in Livermore how transgender students sometimes have to hold off on using the bathroom all day and that she wants to make sure that all students feel supported at PUSD.
Toward the end, Fletcher said another key issue that she wants to address if elected is the income level disparity that she sees in Area 5.
According to Fletcher, Area 5 is made up of both multimillion-dollar houses in Ruby Hill, as well as townhouses, which is why she wants to make sure every student in her district receives an equitable education. She said that she also wants to continue the district’s expansion of transitional kindergarten and Kids Club so that working families can leave their kids while they’re away.
During her closing remarks, Fletcher said she would prioritize keeping budget cuts away from the classroom, ensure a fair teacher’s contract, hold the administration accountable and use her practical discipline to keep the district’s current footing.
“Pleasanton is at a critical juncture financially and protecting our district’s excellence requires leadership that understands financial responsibility,” Fletcher said.
She noted how the Association of Pleasanton Teachers endorsed her, along with the majority of the school board, and said she is the most equipped person for the job given her experience and deep knowledge of how school districts operate.
“I’m prepared to ask the hard questions, manage our resources wisely and put our children first,” Fletcher concluded with. “I respectively ask for your vote for Area 5 so we can build a strong, transparent and right future for Pleasanton schools.
Choi, however, made it pretty clear throughout the forum what his main goals would be, with one of the main ones being putting an end to rubber-stamping unnecessary consultant contracts or construction plans, including the most recent proposal for Hearst Elementary School and Pleasanton Middle School.
According to the Aug. 12 facilities committee meeting minutes, it lists three options for a new Maintenance, Operations & Transportation Yard. One of the options includes placing a bus yard at an empty lot near Pleasanton Middle School and the MOT building facility at Hearst Elementary School, both of which Choi said he has been very outspoken against
Choi said if elected, he would put an end to “backroom dealmaking” by mandating the public consultation before any formal construction project is proposed.
One of his other main goals include restoring fiscal discipline. He said before the district ever thinks about cutting any classroom or student-facing position, it should first cut any unnecessary waste at the district level.
“As an attorney and engineer that has analyzed thousands of PUSD records dating back to 2021, I have the knowledge, I have the skill set to hold this leadership accountable and make this right,” Choi said.
The Pleasanton Weekly presented the forum with logistical support from the Pleasanton PTA Council, Pleasanton Partnerships in Education Foundation and PUSD. To hear the two candidates’ full answers to all questions, watch the video of the forum available soon with this story online and on the Pleasanton Weekly’s YouTube page.
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