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The Pleasanton Unified School District will be welcoming its new board member, Charlie Jones, during a special meeting on Thursday where he and reelected Trustee Kelly Mokashi will be sworn into office.
Jones, a high school social studies teacher in Hayward who lives and grew up in Pleasanton, will be filling the vacant Area 4 seat left by longtime Pleasanton educator Steve Maher following a heartfelt goodbye ceremony last week.
According to the certified election results from the Alameda County Registrar of Voters’ Office, Mokashi ended up with 55.75% (3,959) of the votes while her opponent — Donalyn Harris, a Pleasanton native, longtime member of various parent-teacher associations and former substitute teacher — had 44.25% (3,142) of votes.
Once sworn in, Mokashi will begin her second term on the board after having been originally elected during an at-large election in 2020.
This was the first time the Area 3 and Area 4 seats — which cover central Pleasanton and the east-central part of Pleasanton, respectively — were decided by a trustee-area election since PUSD transitioned from at-large elections.
In the Area 4 race, the numbers were a bit tighter up until the final certified results were posted. At the end, Jones had 52.37% (3,638) of the vote while Jen Flynn, a former Hearst Elementary School administrative secretary and parent of three PUSD students, ended with 47.63% (3,309) of votes.
After the two trustees take their oath of office, the new board will elect its next president and vice president — this past year, Trustee Mary Jo Carreon served as the president along with Trustee Justin Brown, who serves as vice president.
Once the newly appointed president and vice president assume their positions, the board will have a few items to approve as part of the consent calendar, which are items considered routine in nature and are typically approved through a single vote, before reviewing a staff presentation on the Brown Act.
Following that presentation, the board will also be participating in a governance workshop and will end the special meeting with appointing members to serve on various organizations and committees.
The special board meeting is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Thursday (Dec. 19). Read the full agenda here.
