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Dublin school board Trustee William Kuo confirmed that he plans not to pursue reelection to a full term of his own this fall, leaving the door wide open for the Area 3 seat representing the central-eastern part of the south half of town.
Kuo called his three-plus years on the Board of Trustees “a fulfilling experience” as advanced many priorities championed by his late wife Catherine, whom he succeeded in office following her sudden death in March 2021, but he said the time is right to shift his focus to giving back in a volunteer capacity with his daughter about to start as a freshman at the new Emerald High School.
“My plan is to not participate in the upcoming November elections,” Kuo told the Pleasanton Weekly. “I see myself as a parent volunteer and will be involved with the new high school as much as my schedule allows me to. The past three years has been stressful at times, and I owe it to both my kids (one going off to college) to be more present for them in the future (in light of them losing their mom).”
“I felt compelled to become involved when Catherine was suddenly taken out of our lives … and her vision for the future of the school district needed to be furthered along. She was only four months into her 2020-24 term,” Kuo said. “I knew what she wanted to accomplish and what her supporters voted her in for. So I did the best with that legacy in mind.”
An information technology professional by trade, Kuo has served on Dublin Unified School District’s governing board since May 2021, receiving the appointment from among three applicants who came forward to initially fill the vacancy created on the dais when then-trustee Catherine Kuo was killed after being hit by a car while volunteering at Fallon Middle School.
He then won the right to complete the remainder of his late wife’s elected term in November 2022, defeating one challenger by a nearly 2:1 margin for a special two-year seat on that general election ballot.
“It has been a fulfilling experience looking back at what the board accomplished in the past three years together,” Kuo told the Weekly.
No prospective candidates had pulled papers or filed to run for the DUSD Trustee Area 3 seat as of Wednesday morning, according to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ Office website. The initial deadline to qualify for the ballot is Aug. 9, but if Kuo does not file for reelection as pledged, the nomination period will be extended until Aug. 14 for that seat.
Areas 1 and 4 are also scheduled to appear on the November ballot for full, four-year terms.
