The Cupertino Courier

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Nunes, Wilson, Ho win seats on the Fremont school board

By Erin Hussey

The contentious school board race in the Fremont Union High School District saw wins by incumbents Barbara Nunes, Kathryn Ho and newcomer William (Bill) Wilson. School board president Avie Katz was not returned to the board.

In the final count of 106,945, Nunes took the first of the three seats, with 24,139 or 22.57 percent of the votes.

"I think there is some advantage to being an educator," she said. Nunes has worked in education for 37 years, including serving as principal at Cupertino High School.

"I think people know that you have had some experience in the system, so that's a plus."

Entering her second term as a trustee, Nunes is looking to work with the board to gain back the trust of the public .

"I am really going to work hard to have the board work together as a team," she said. "We are going to be focused on the students in the future."

Challenger Wilson claimed the second board seat with 19,855 votes (18.57 percent).

"I was reasonably optimistic because we had a lot of people really helping out," Wilson said. As one of the three challengers vying for a seat, Wilson decided to run because he believes that while the Fremont district has excellent attributes, the board itself was sometimes acting against those.

"I think that a lot of people were aware of what is happening and clearly decided that it is important to change directions," he said. Like Nunes, Wilson is looking to bring back the board's focus to education and heal the strains on the community caused by months of heated controversy.

The third went to Ho, with challenger Don Mackenzie only 177 votes behind her. Ho, who has served on the board for eight years, was granted a third term with 19,290 votes or 18.04 percent.

"I knew that is was going to be very close," she said. Ho, who describes herself as a bridge between schools and families, wants the board to work better together for the benefit of all the students. "We always have to keep the students' best interest in mind."

Although Mackenzie's 18,903 votes (17.74 percent) didn't earn him a seat, he expects to still remain involved with the school district.

"I ran because I am interested in schools and interested in our students," he said. "I did not run because I had kids in the school or anything like that, but I hope to continue to be involved in one way or another."

Challenger Michael Anthony Flores and board president Avrum (Avie) Katz fell to the bottom rung with only 12,870 votes (12.03 percent) and 11,888 (11.12 percent), respectively.

The next board meeting takes place Nov. 21 at 4 p.m. For more information on upcoming meetings, visit www.fuhsd.org/agendas.htm.