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After attending countless meetings and seeing how the Pleasanton Unified School District handled its last round of budget cuts, Pleasanton parent Thomas Choi decided it was time to do something.
That’s why he is running for the Trustee Area 5 seat this November.
“PUSD is facing serious financial challenges, including depleted reserves and negative certification,” Choi told the Pleasanton Weekly via email. “I am running to bring independent legal oversight, restore sound fiscal management, and ensure that our district’s resources directly benefit classrooms, students, and educators rather than administrative bureaucracy.”
Choi will be facing off against two other newcomers, Karen Fletcher and Brett Martinez. All three filed their nomination papers right after the deadline was extended due to incumbent Trustee Justin Brown not seeking reelection.
Choi is a parent of two PUSD students, a licensed state attorney and an electrical engineer. According to his LinkedIn account, he is also the vice president of licensing at Ericsson, a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company.
Over the past year, he became more of an active community member as the district underwent its contentious budget development cycle and approved millions of dollars worth of cuts and reductions. He attended dozens of meetings over the past school year and constantly advocated for fiscal accountability so that the district could avoid cutting from essential staff positions.
“Classrooms and frontline educators should never be where a district looks to cut,” Choi said. “Yet the board enabled administrative mismanagement and moved to liquidate irreplaceable community land while placing teachers and student support staff on the chopping block.”
Fiscal transparency and stability are at the top of his campaign priorities. If elected, Choi said he wants to rebuild the district’s budget reserves and eliminate wasteful spending. Â
“To avoid future cuts, PUSD must audit central administration and outside consulting contracts, rebuild our depleted financial reserves through disciplined multi-year budgeting, and protect educational excellence to maximize student retention and safeguard state funding,” he said. “The Board should have exercised proactive, independent oversight … before committing over $30 million to acquire and remodel a new central office complex.”
Choi is referring to the district’s acquisition of its current district office on West Las Positas Boulevard four years ago.
In addition to fiscal responsibility, Choi said some of his other top budget-related priorities include protecting classroom resources, supporting educators and, in general, keeping cuts as far away from the classroom as possible.
“We must prioritize supporting and retaining our teaching and all student facing staff,” Choi said. “Directing our resources into competitive compensation and direct classroom support rather than administrative overhead is the only way to keep dedicated educators and essential support personnel in Pleasanton.”
But it’s not just the budget that Choi would want to focus on if he is elected.
One of his other top campaign priorities, Choi said, is expanding student opportunities by “enhancing enriching academic and extracurricular programs so every PUSD student thrives and reaches their full potential”.
He said as someone who started his career as an electrical engineer, he understands the value of expanding different educational and career pathways, as well as working with local industry partners to “deliver real world experience and competitive career opportunities for our students”. He said doing this will help retain families and prevent them from going to other neighboring districts.
“We must protect the signature programs that set our schools apart, including arts, music, physical education, athletics, world languages, and debate, while partnering with Tri Valley industry leaders to expand grant funded mentorships and internships,” he said.
Lastly, Choi said he would want to restore the public’s trust in PUSD’s governing body by amplifying the voices of those in the community.
“Parents, teachers, and community members deserve a meaningful voice before policies are finalized, not just two minutes at the podium after decisions have already been made,” he added
Choi said voters can reach him directly at choipusd@gmail.com, if they want to learn more about his candidacy. He has no active campaign website to date.
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