The six candidates for the Walnut Creek School District governing board answered questions at a forum at the Walnut Creek Library, presented by the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs, the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley and the AAUW Danville Alamo branch. The moderator was Dr. Rhiannon Shires of the League of Women Voters.
The candidates are Rod Ehsani, Geetha Ganti, Heidi Hernandez Gatty, Wenlei Johnson, Eryn Holl King and Aileen Ong. You can also read their answers to my questions.
The video is from Walnut Creek Television, on the City of Walnut Creek's YouTube channel. The Walnut Creek School District forum is the first half; the second half is the Acalanes Union High School District forum, which isn't transcribed here.
This transcript was generated from the audio using whisper, then reviewed manually for accuracy and labeled by speaker. The text matches the audio as closely as possible minus verbal tics (um, uh, etc).
All errors are mine (Kevin Burke).
Nik Weinberg-Lynn: Good evening, good evening, and welcome to the 2026 candidate forums for the Walnut Creek School District and the Acalanes Union High School District governing boards. I'm Nik Weinberg-Lynn, past president and current parliamentarian of the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs. And since this is homecoming week for Las Lomas, I felt it was only appropriate that I wore my 2002 homecoming shirt from Las Lomas since I am very invested in local education.
Tonight's forum is presented by the Las Trampas Creek Council, the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley, and the AAUW Danville Alamo branch. Thank you so much to the Walnut Creek Library for hosting us. Our purpose is to let you hear directly from the candidates so you can make an informed choice on November 3rd. The sponsoring organizations do not support or oppose any candidate or party.
Tonight has two parts summarized above. We'll begin with the Walnut Creek School District candidates from 6:45 to 7:40. We'll then make a brief transition and the Acalanes Union High School District candidates will begin at 7:45. We sure hope you'll stay for both.
To keep the discussion fair and balanced, each session will be guided by a moderator from the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley. Our first moderator for the Walnut Creek School District Forum is Dr. Rhiannon Shires. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Shires.
Moderator (Rhiannon Shires): Testing, can everyone hear me? Back there? Okay, thank you.
Okay, so as you know, this is the Walnut Creek School Board that we're looking at. We have six candidates for three seats. We have, we'll start from right to left for now. Rod Ehsani, then we have Wenlei Johnson, and Heidi Hernandez Gatty, and Aileen Ong, and Eryn Holl King, and Geetha Ganti. Now, thank you, first of all, for joining us. This is a great come-out, and this is a great way to get to know your candidates.
So the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs, the AAUW, Danville Alamo Walnut Creek, are the co-host of this candidate forum, along with the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley. The League of Women Voters, it's a nonpartisan organization. We do not support or oppose any candidate or political party. The League is here as part of its key mission to educate and inform voters in a space that is free from bias. In keeping with the League's mission, I do not live in this area or district, therefore I will not be voting in this particular contest.
The purpose of this forum is to present the Clayton community the candidates who are running for a seat on the Walnut Creek School Board. Oh, it says Clayton community. Oh, okay. Okay, it's probably that area, whatever. Okay, thank you. This contest serves the community of Walnut Creek.
Walnut Creek Television is recording the forum. It will be posted, unedited to the League of Women Voters, the Diablo Valley's YouTube page and on WCTV where you can watch it or have other people who were not able to attend tonight watch it.
Candidates when they came in have drawn random, excuse me, random numbers to determine the opening order of speaking. And you'll see there, I have them one, two, three, four, five, six, when I'm doing questions, I have a grid which looks like this, meaning it's all random of who gets to go first, okay? Okay, so closing statements will be in the reverse order. Let's see.
In addition to the one minute opening and closing statements, each candidate will have one minute to answer each question. Volunteer timers over here will raise a yellow 15 second warning card. A red card will be raised at the stop time. Personal comments about opposing candidates are not permitted. Any statements about opposing candidates must be verifiable in the public record, such as a vote, a public statement, contributors, contributions. Candidates must limit the rebuttal statement to correcting any mis-disinformation from a prior speaker.
So a few reminders to our audience. If you have a question for the candidates, please write it down on a three by five card and hand it to one of the volunteers. Questions are screened to avoid duplicates and conserve time. Therefore, a question may be a synthesis of questions topics. All candidates get to reply to the same question. Since the forum is being recorded, we ask that you please silence your phones out of respect for the hard work that went into providing this forum and to ensure there is no improper use of the forum's content. We ask that you do not film or record tonight's program. We also ask that you refrain from cheers or applause during the forum in order to preserve the valuable time to hearing the candidates comments. Thank you.
Moderator: Now we will proceed with one-minute opening statements beginning, and if you don't mind I'm going to use your first names, is that okay, with Rod.
Rod Ehsani: Thank you, thank you all for joining us this evening and thank you to our hosts the League of Women Voters of Diablo Valley, the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs and the AAUW for hosting tonight's event. I'm Rod Ehsani, I'm a CPA and I'm a former health care executive and a longtime Walnut Creek resident. My wife and I are raising three daughters all of whom have attended our local schools and I still have one child in the Walnut Creek school system. So I have real skin in this game. Professionally I've spent over 25 years leading large teams and managing complex budgets or associate board member of one of California's largest credit unions and I'm also the former president of the Institute of Internal Auditors for the Sacramento chapter, a PTA leader and I've been on several HOAs. I'm running to put that experience to to work for our schools and to give back to this community.
Moderator: Okay, the next person will be Wenlei.
Wenlei Johnson: Thank you, Dr. Shires. Thank you, Dr. Shires. Seven schools, 3,697 students. As a board member, my job is to not serve one child, one family, or one campus. It is to serve every single student across our district. And over the past three and a half years, I've seen firsthand what focused leadership achieves. Science scores are on the increase. Eighth grade math scores up 17 points. Reading and math scores up across our district. School connectedness, meaningful participation up. When we hired our new superintendent, we had 41 applicants. Why? Because educators know that this district is strong, stable, and thriving. We cannot afford to derail this momentum for narrow personal agendas. Please, for our 3,697 students, I ask you to choose leaders who respect the whole community and govern for the benefit of all. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. And the next presenter will be Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you. School gives us our first glimpse of what the world looks like, and it shows us our place in society. The quality of our education and our community shapes not only who we are, but who we think we can become. I'm proud to have served on the Walnut Creek School District for the last eight years on the governing board, and I'm asking for your support to continue in this role. The board is responsible to ensure that our families and community experience schools as safe and welcoming environments where every opportunity is available so all our students can reach their fullest potential.
During my tenure, the district completed measure deconstruction projects on time and on budget. We are midway through our Measure J projects. Our focus on careful planning and fiscal responsibility has allowed these projects to flourish in parallel with rising student achievement and a comprehensive wellness program that is a model for school districts across the state and the county. Our community continues to face new challenges and we are all constantly learning and adapting. I've worked to ensure that the board's decision making is student centered with equity and belonging at the heart of our work.
Moderator: Okay, our next presenter is Aileen.
Aileen Ong: Good evening. I'm Aileen Ong, a mom with two kids in our schools. I'm here because my community asked me to step up. I'm not a career politician. I have no political machine behind me. Families and educators are frustrated. They are tired of important decisions being communicated after the fact by this board and they want change. When you ask why a principal was hired without a proper interview, you should get an answer.
During this campaign, someone here told me, we don't need current parents on the board. They continued, as a young parent at our child's music concert, do you want people coming up to you with questions about our schools. I said yes. I wanna hear it because a board member should be accessible.
I bring a unique combo to this race. The only one with more than 20 years experience in communications and PR and an active volunteer in our schools. I'm also endorsed by our teachers association. I'm running because our school, current school board has failed us and our community deserves a board that listens.
Moderator: Okay, our next presenter is Eryn.
Eryn Holl King: Good evening, I'm Eryn Holl King. I'm the proud daughter of a retired California public school teacher. I'm a substitute in our TK classrooms. I'm a classroom volunteer. And I'm the mom of two students who have grown up in our district. When you add it all together, I've spent thousands of hours in public school classrooms. And I've really seen firsthand what makes our school so special.
But my experience extends beyond the classroom. For the past 10 years, I've served on the Walnut Creek Education Foundation Board, including four years as president, where I worked closely with our district leadership, educators and families to raise critical funds for our schools. I also serve on WCI's school site council, where I have an even closer view of how decisions and resources translate into opportunities for students.
Now I'm running for governing board because I wanna bring all of these perspectives together to protect what makes our schools exceptional while preparing responsibly for challenges that lie ahead. In meeting these challenges will require thoughtful, transparent, data-driven leadership, leadership that's responsible with our resources and keep students at the center of every decision.
Moderator: OK, next presenter is Geetha.
Geetha Ganti: Hello, everyone. My name is Geetha. I'm so excited to be here. I have worked in Silicon Valley Health Tech for about 14 years, solving a problem that should be very intimately familiar with all of you. Patients continue to not have the health care outcomes that they want, and providers are asked to work more burned out and see more patients per hour. The funny thing is, of course, Silicon Valley has asked a lot of the engineers to figure out this problem through AI. I now work on several boards where I advise companies who are using AI in the wrongful way so that the patient-provider relationship is always preserved, very akin to what we're looking at in their school districts.
A funny story about me, my family actually started in Silicon Valley, and I have two kids, a kindergartner and a fourth-grader, and my daughter was starting kindergarten at the time that we moved. And we joined a meeting where they were asking about kindergarten and the parents there were saying, my kid reads at a third grade level, can you pull him out so that he can have advanced treatment? Both my husband and I were like, I don't know if that's the environment we want our kids to live in. Walnut Creek is what we chose because we believe in this community and the wholeheartedness of it. Thank you.
Moderator: You have to stop, thank you.
Moderator: Okay, thank you for that first response. Now we're gonna proceed with questions. Now the questions have not been seen by any of the candidates. These have been generated by you. So it's first time I'm seeing them also. So our first speaker for the first question is going to be Wenlei.
Okay, while the superintendent manages daily operations, the board is responsible for governance and oversight. When evaluating complex decisions, what independent sources of info will you rely on to inform your voting choices? Okay, and you'll have one minute. Starting with?
Wenlei Johnson: Sure, thank you, Dr. Shires. I think this question depends on whether it's a closed item session or open item session. You can't hear me? Can you hear me now? Can you hear me now? Yeah, I'm sorry.
So your question was what information are we provided for items that come before us? It depends on whether it's closed or open session. We are provided information from various sources and just really we conduct surveys and gather information from our parent community. We ask everyone for their input and depending on the question that's being presented we will make a decision that's in the best interest of our 3,697 students and make sure that it is an equitable decision for all. Thank you.
Moderator: Okay, next person, Rod, would you respond to that question?
Rod Ehsani: So when it comes to making decisions as a board member, my campaign is very simple. It says students first, parents heard, and teachers supported. So when reviewing a specific decision that's before the board, the first question that I'm gonna ask is how is this gonna benefit our students? How is this gonna make the classroom better? And right after that is how are we gonna make sure that the teachers are supported so they can provide valuable instruction? Because we don't want our teachers to work hard, we want them to work smart. And finally, when it comes to students, we wanna make sure that every student is considered in these types of decisions. And we also want to make sure that some students require extra care, some students require more challenges. So we want to make sure that as we're making those decisions that we're constantly reminding ourselves and asking us. So when we're talking about what sources to look at, I think we can determine that, not just by looking at sources, but by asking those specific questions before we make decisions.
Moderator: Okay, our next speaker is going to be, let's see, Eryn.
Eryn Holl King: Great, so just so I understand the question, you're looking for independent sources of information of the governing board that we can use, is that correct?
Moderator: Do you want me to read the question again?
Eryn Holl King: Yes, thank you.
Moderator: While the superintendent manages daily operations, the board is responsible for governance and oversight. When evaluating complex decisions, what independent sources of info will you rely on to inform your voting choices?
Eryn Holl King: So independent sources of information I think we would all rely on would be our LCAP first, our strategic plan, our budget, CASP data, those are all the ones that come immediately to mind that I would think of. I think that's it.
Moderator: So our next speaker is going to be Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you. I think it's important to remember that the board governs at the policy level. So complexity is definitely increasingly a part of the decisions that we make and every decision that's made by a school district is made across a multiplicity of stakeholders. That means parents, community members, families, students, teachers, staff, and different decisions will weight different components of that community in various ways. It is really critical that you understand not only the type of decision that's being made, a curriculum decision might have piloting, would have a teacher committee, would have student input about how it is that that curriculum is received, where a safety issue would bring together potentially outside sources like our police departments and other types of information gathered from our facilities director, but it is for the board to work through the the superintendent to instruct the types of information that's requested. Thank you.
Moderator: Okay, next person, Geetha.
Geetha Ganti: Thank you for that question. It's really important to understand what a board can and cannot do. And the job is really to empower the superintendent with the right data sets, which of course, we can look at what's publicly available to do that. But really at the heart and the spirit of this is also being able to talk to the right people to corroborate the data that comes from those data sets. As an engineer and a former journalist, I think asking right questions and looking at the data are two lethal combinations.
So for example, if you go to my website and you see the curriculum that's out for Walnut Creek School District, it's amazing. Our board has actually done a really good job coming up with that curriculum. Well, it comes from a state level, goes down to a board level, and then there's a degrees of freedom for the teachers to choose. We've done a really good job of that. But then when you actually talk to parents, you should hear some of the concerns. They tell me that transition going from elementary school to middle school is tough. They say that their kids cannot keep up with the math program that comes in sixth grade. So doesn't it behoove us to look into the nuances of these details and be able to inform the superintendent of the voice of customer, which is our parents and teachers.
Moderator: Okay, number four.
Aileen Ong: I would go straight to the sources, the folks who know what's happening at the school level best. I would go straight to our parents, families and our staff. Staff have told me that they feel our current board has not given them a seat at the table when major decisions about our schools have been made. So I want to make sure that their voices are heard, all of our teachers and our supporting staff, and I would love to make sure that all families, including families in our general education and all of our families who have kids learning in special education have a seat at the table to share their opinions before I make any major decisions.
Moderator: Okay, next question. Walnut Creek School District is facing a critical funding gap after the June, 2026 Measure L Parcel Tax, a proposed $98 per parcel annually to attract retained teachers, maintain core programs and prevent class size growth, fell short of the two-thirds approval. Without this revenue, the district must make difficult choices in a state budget environment where local options are limited. How would you address this? How would you handle this? What are your thoughts on this? We're gonna start with Aileen.
Aileen Ong: Measure L fell short of its two thirds vote by only 376 votes. 376, that's one neighborhood. And for me, the problem with that, our community wants to support our schools, but our current board did not make the case that they can trust them with our community's dollars. There is a communication gap. We cannot be going out to our community asking them to invest in more money and consider them to be an endless piggy bank when we come one month before election season. We cannot, we need to be making the case year round for why we need the money, what outcomes we expect. If we want strong schools and a strong community, we need to be able to make the case year round. And I have that background in communications and PR so that I can effectively speak to all the different audiences and our taxpayers and tell them why we need the funding.
Moderator: Okay, next speaker, Eryn.
Eryn Holl King: So school funding is interesting. And I'm gonna do my best to answer this question in 60 seconds. So I don't think that the vast majority of people in California understand how schools are funded. So I think we need to start there. And I think most people don't understand is that New York is one of the states that has the highest per pupil funding. It's about 32,000 per student. Walnut Creek on the other hand is at about 17,000. So we really rely on community funding to help our schools. And that is to fund all of the extras that make our schools so spectacular.
And I don't think the community understands how poorly funded our schools are and that it really is up to us to pass parcel taxes and bonds for infrastructure and the Walnut Creek Education Foundation and our PTAs and PTOs to help lift up our schools so that we are at a level that's competitive with other states within our country.
Moderator: Okay, Wenlei.
Wenlei Johnson: Thank you. So when Measure H, the current parcel tax passed in 2009, that funded 21 full-time teachers. Today, it funds about 12 teachers. The money doesn't stretch as far. That is why we needed the parcel tax. And we felt just a little bit short, 61%. And it's unfortunate, but we're learning and we learn from what happened. The problem was there wasn't as much engagement. If you look at Lafayette and Moraga, which did pass third parcel taxes, they had 10% more engagement and voters who went out. And so that's what we're gonna look for next time when we go out and make sure that we get the parcel tax passed, thank you.
Moderator: Okay, next speaker is Geetha.
Geetha Ganti: As Eryn mentioned, funding is complicated. If I were to look at this problem, I would look at it in a basic first principles framework, which would be, what is the amount of reoccurring revenue that we get as a district? And what is the delta between that and the amount of reoccurring costs that we have? If we keep having way more reoccurring costs, but not reoccurring revenue coming in, that's where we need to establish what our relationship is between a parcel tax, asking people for more money, and WCEF. Those are the two levers that we have. We have a very limited piggy bank, and it is up to us to figure out how we're able to market the parcel tax for so people can understand how badly it's needed.
As mentioned earlier, Measure L did not pass, and it didn't pass by just a few points. So it would really require the board to take a stance on how we would market it and help people understand with common sense language, what these parcel taxes pass for. Because guess what guys, I've talked to hundreds of households and a lot of people in Walnut Creek still do not understand what they're for. Thank you.
Moderator: Thank you. Okay, Rod.
Rod Ehsani: So Measure L failed in 2026. The good news is, we're hopefully gonna have another opportunity in 2028 to pass a new measure. I believe that there's already significant grassroots support because 64.7% of the folks voted for it. We didn't get the two-thirds majority to pass it, but we got nearly two-thirds of the people to vote for it. And as pointed out, we did see our neighboring counties like Moraga and Lafayette be able to pass their measure.
So I think the lesson here is we need to start earlier and we can't take the grassroots community for granted. We need to start earlier, we need to explain. There's no shortage of volunteers in our community to go out and spread this message. And until that time, we're gonna hopefully rely on the WCEF and the PTA to hopefully raise monies to reduce that gap until we go again and try to pass this measure in 2028, which I think we will do because we're gonna start early.
Moderator: Okay, we, let's see, the last person is Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you. In all candor, I do think Measure L was a failure of organizing, period. And the only thing that we, and the board's role once it pushes the parcel tax out is to do a better job of coordinating a committee that we can't, we do not control, but have an opportunity to be able to support differently than I think we did this case. So I'm not here to tell you that that was, that should be any different. But I will say that we are thoughtful enough as a board to have gone out for this parcel tax before it's catastrophic.
We do have another opportunity in 2028. Our 2627 budget is actually on track and will be fine. We will, and whenever we have had to think about how to make cuts, our first thought is how do we keep anything, how do we keep those cuts as far away from students as possible? How do we keep that out of the classroom? We have done a really excellent job in budgeting carefully for the future.
Moderator: Okay. The next question, the district is struggling to attract and keep qualified teachers amidst statewide budget pressures. Measure L's funding Walnut Creek School District risks losing staff to other districts or leaving positions vacant which can disrupt student learning and morale. How are you going to address the issue of teacher retention and recruitment? Okay, first will be Eryn.
Unidentified speaker: They can't hear you, they can't hear you in the back?
Eryn Holl King: I just did. I just turned it back on and off. One of the issues we do have in our area is cost of housing which does make it increasingly hard to retain teachers because most of our teachers can't afford to live here on the salary that they have. So that's something obviously that we can't control. So I think we need to look at other ways to make sure that our teachers' needs are being met.
I think the easiest way to do it and probably the most important is to make sure that our teachers feel heard and to make sure that our teachers feel respected. Our schools are the way that they are and that's fantastic as they are is because our teachers show up every day and they put the work in. And as the daughter of a teacher, let me tell you, they work behind-the-scenes more hours than most people know. And so I think a great way to start is just to thank a teacher. And I think that that's a great place to start.
Moderator: Okay, Rod.
Rod Ehsani: So great teachers and great great teachers make great schools. So when I say teachers supported, I mean first we need to listen to our teachers and understand what they need to be successful and what will make excellent educators want to stay in Walnut Creek. Compensation and benefits matter. They matter, especially in an expensive place like Walnut Creek. But support is also about workload, about flexibility, about leadership, about training, about resources, classroom resources, and making teachers feel respected and heard.
So I want to involve teachers in those conversations because they know best where those resources should be spent and to help themselves and help students and feel supported. So I would always start with the teachers and find out what we need to do and to make sure that future measures are passed so we have that financial leverage to be able to continue to retain those good teachers.
Moderator: Aileen?
Aileen Ong: Compensation matters for our teachers but so do provide so does providing excellent working conditions. You know, I spoke recently to one of the families in our special day program and they were telling me how disruptive it is when teachers or parents leave. For them, the teacher is the entire program. They cannot learn, their kids cannot learn with teachers who decide to leave.
And in addition to that, I've talked to a few teachers who felt they have not gotten a seat at the table to speak and work hand-in-hand with folks to help with strategic planning. I feel like we need to we need to keep our educators involved, have them have a seat at the table, and make sure that all of them are supported, especially those in our special day program.
Moderator: Geetha?
Geetha Ganti: Thank you for this question. If we think about how much time our kids spend with the teachers. It's so much. These teachers do God's work and it would be in our absolute best interest to hear them out on how we're able to retain them. I think this is one of the reasons why I was able to get the teachers endorsement because I'm so committed to hearing out what it is that would keep them in our schools and keep their conditions happy.
The thing that really bothers me is when something is not working it's really important to seek inspiration somewhere else. We are an hour away from Silicon Valley and Silicon Valley is able to attract the world's best engineers and it's just not on salary. We keep looking at this as a binary thing, it's not just salary. They provide some of the best benefits through self-insured health plans and the ability to have incredible maternity leave. I would go completely out of my way to understand the third-party administrator that's negotiating the benefits for our teachers and figure out creative solutions for them to be retained in Walnut Creek Schools. Thank you.
Moderator: Wenlei? Wenlei?
Wenlei Johnson: Yes. I actually don't think it's correct that we are not retaining teachers. I think this is a wonderful district to work, and teachers come to us in groves. We have a great relationship with the teachers union, and we hope to maintain maintain that relationship. One of the things that Measure L was to address is the benefits package that is very crucial and essential to retaining these teachers.
And so we have, in our budget, set aside funds to fund the benefits packages. And it is our hope that we have those funds to continue funding the benefits package and hopefully in two years when we go out again, Measure L or whatever measure it's called, then we'll pass and we can retain more teachers that way. Thank you.
Moderator: Okay. Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you. I would start by saying that our district is fully staffed currently. So it's not necessarily about attracting teachers, although we do see a lot of variance in what our teachers need. And when questions come to the table, at the bargaining table, that is where you see, you know, that is where a lot of that rubber meets the road. And what happens at the table isn't something that can really be, you know, disclosed in public, but what I will say about how it is that teachers are supported is that we have a really excellent coaching program, we provide professional development, we actually do partner with the Silicon Valley Math Initiative, and I'm not saying that that is always great because our teachers are also often asked to take in new curricula to have to work on wellness programs, and we have also tried to put in place some wellness supports for our staff and teachers.
Moderator: Okay, this is our last and final question. Campaigns and board discussions highlight a trust and transparency gap between the district and families. Voters express frustration that they do not receive clear plain language explanations of where funds go or how decisions are made, leading to skepticism about new measures. How are you going to deal with communication and trust with the community? And we will start with Rod.
Rod Ehsani: Listening is important, but being heard means more than just being given an opportunity to speak. Parents deserve answers to legitimate questions and concerns that they have, and they need to get clear explanations on how decisions were arrived at, what alternatives were discussed. And most importantly, parents should be given the opportunity to have meaningful input before major decisions are made. So as a board member, I would listen carefully to the parents' input. I would communicate with the teachers. I would speak to the students to make sure all of that information is included, and I want to make a very clear commitment: if you have a legitimate question, I will respond to you. If I don't have the answer right away, you will get an answer the following week and I will call you personally to make sure you get your answer. [I] believe that transparency builds trust.
Moderator: We have to stop, thank you. Okay, Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you. The unit of trust is relationships and how it is that we interact with one another and listen to one another. Not every decision that the board makes is one that can be discussed in a transparent manner. Personnel issues in particular are always necessarily kept in closed session, just the same way that they do in a professional setting, where questions around workplace challenge once brought to human resources often are resolved unsatisfactorily for the people involved because they are necessarily private. Our board works to support our superintendent in communicating. I would also, I think briefly now that I'm down to 15 seconds, say that the board protocols really dictate how the board can communicate back. So I would encourage you to look at the board handbook.
Moderator: Okay, Geetha.
Geetha Ganti: I'm really passionate about this one. I'm gonna start with a quote that my news director told me when I was working in local news. He said, "Geetha, there's no point in being smart if people don't understand what you're saying." And that really changes the way that I communicate, especially when very complicated and nuanced policies come from the top down and not from the bottom up. It's very confusing, and it needs explanation. If I were to go about this, I would have a two-pronged framework, which is you have two ears and one mouth. Listen before you actually are going in and trying to understand how to communicate these things. I've heard from several people that they do not understand the bonds. I've heard from several people that they need more of an explanation on how this goes, how this money travels. And so we need to be able to take this information and market it in ways that people actually want to hear. Believe it or not, if you talk to somebody about something they're not interested in, they're gonna stop listening. So it would behoove us to understand why are the, thank you. I'm being forced to stop.
Moderator: Wenlei?
Wenlei Johnson: Yes, thank you. I believe it was at the coffee chat yesterday. Mr. Campopiano, Superintendent Campopiano said, is it that you don't like the message or you don't like the way we deliver the message? I think the question you're asking stems from people not liking the message. Well, we heard you when it dealt with personnel matters and you asked for more transparency. And that is why when we hired the new superintendent, we outlined every single step along the way, and we told you this is what we're doing. These are the candidates, 41 applicants. This is the next step. We invited you to every single step and told you and guided you along the way. So I think as a board, we are listening. And as a board, we are responsive to our community, and certainly it's our intent to hear you and to do our best to be better. Thank you.
Moderator: Eryn.
Eryn Holl King: So I think trust starts with a communication. Families and teachers and staff need information that's timely, clear and accessible, especially when the district is considering decisions that will affect their schools. We need to communicate not only what is changing, but why it's changing, what data informed the decision and what alternatives were considered and what the trade-offs are. We also need to engage people earlier in the process. Community input is most meaningful when there's still an opportunity for that input to influence a decision, not after the decision was effectively already made. And then we need to close the loop. I think this is one of our biggest opportunities. If we ask people for feedback, we should explain what we heard, what we did with the information and why the final decision was made. Transparency doesn't mean everyone will agree on every decision. It means people understand how we got there. And I really think that's how we're gonna build trust over time.
Moderator: Okay, so first of all, I apologize to those in the audience whose question I did not ask. There were too many questions for the time. Oh, I'm sorry. Sorry, go ahead.
Aileen Ong: Communications question, what perfect question for me. I have 20-plus years of experience working in corporate communications and public relations for major tech companies like Google, PayPal, and eBay. At the heart of it, at heart of great communication, what I tell all my executives is listening, listening first, and being an active listener. Showing you are listening means empathizing, responding with compassion. And as someone who takes that input in, what you need to do is figure out what is most important to these people. What are the priorities for all your different audiences, and speak to them in the languages, in the plain language that they understand. So when you're talking to parents, speak to them and make it easy for them to understand what's happening in the classroom so that they don't have to go to a board meeting to figure out why personnel decisions are being made above them. I also think it's important, you know, trust in our district has been broken. I feel like with my communications background, I can—
Moderator: Okay, we have to end, sorry.
Moderator: First of all, I want to thank our candidates, who I felt really did this in a very eloquent way. I did not hear any attacks. I heard everyone coming from their own perspective. And I think the audience appreciates that too. Perhaps you're able to stay after the forum to ask your questions, if candidates are able to mingle for a short while. Now, we're closing. Each candidate will present a one-minute closing statement. And we will begin in the reverse order of the opening statements.
So Geetha, you will be first.
Geetha Ganti: All right, well, I'm really upset we didn't get an AI question because that was one of the urgencies of why I'm running for this school board. I am so passionate about kids learning and I envy every single parent that's sitting here and in this table that does not have a kindergarten or elementary school kid. Those are some of the most complex ages for critical thinking. These kids will have a complete laboratory of information at their fingertips and what they do with that information and what kind of humans that they become, that's on us to be proactive about. These are unprecedented times and I'm interested in seeing how the school board is going to really get in front of this. Even Silicon Valley is trying to figure it out.
Well, lastly, I would say, let's talk about board mechanics, okay? One fifth of a board is nothing, two fifths of a board is something, three fifths of the board is everything. I want you guys to use that math equation tonight and understand if someone like me who's not a current board member was to institute any sort of change, I need board majority. I need to be able to talk to current board members and future board members about this, so keep that in mind as you vote.
Eryn Holl King: I've had the privilege of working alongside our educators, our families, our district leaders and our community to strengthen our public schools. I know what makes this district special. I understand the challenges ahead and I'm ready to do the work necessary to protect what we value while planning responsibly for our future. I have received endorsements, Walnut Creek Teachers Association is one, and to me these endorsements reflect confidence in the experience and collaborative leadership I will bring to this role.
The decisions we make over the next four years will shape not only the experience of the students sitting in our classrooms today, but the strength of our schools for the students and families that come after them. I'm ready to bring my experience, my commitment, and deep understanding of this district to those decisions. I would be honored to earn your vote and continue my work for our district. I really believe that strong schools build a much stronger community. Thanks.
Moderator: Aileen.
Aileen Ong: Thank you to the Las Trampas Creek Council of PTAs, AAUW, and the League of Women Voters for bringing our community together tonight. At the heart of this election is trust. And I believe the current board has fallen short of earning it. I know how to fix the way this district communicates with us. We deserve board members who are accessible, who listen, who respond, who empathize. And when our schools need community support funding, we need leaders who have earned the trust to ask for it.
Our schools are strong, but they can be better. Our kids deserve better. Six people are running for three seats this year. To me, that shows how much people care about our schools and how ready our community is for change. My community asked me to step up. I said yes. I'm here as a grassroots candidate to stand alongside the people who want change. It's time for new leadership. It's time to rebuild trust, and I'm ready to lead. I'd be honored to have your vote on November three.
Moderator: Heidi.
Heidi Hernandez Gatty: Thank you for everyone who has put this together and thank you to everyone who has come together. I've learned a lot from education first and foremost and very early and somewhat frustratingly is that education is the long game. We have a deeply engaged community to build on. I know because before I sat on this board, I spent seven years supporting the community through PTAs, through the Walnut Creek Education Foundation, through advocating at the district and state level. I know what it means to be able, I know that education is a complex landscape and it is not getting easier.
I hope that in the next four years I'll be able to continue to support the progress that we've made around putting equity at the heart of our decision making, at the heart of our strategic plan. I've seen our achievement grow, I've seen our belonging improve, and I want to be able to support our new superintendent as we continue this journey to make Walnut Creek School District as strong as it can be. Thank you.
Moderator: Wenlei.
Wenlei Johnson: Thank you. I sit before you with no personal agenda. My commitment to this board comes from a single place, a deep love for this district, a passion for education, and a desire to see our new superintendent and our schools succeed. Look at where we are today. This district is working. Our students are thriving academically. We have inclusive schools that promote a climate of belonging for all. Our finances are solid with growing reserves secured for the next three years. Teachers want to work here, and through Measure J, our campuses have never looked better.
Are we perfect? No, but progress requires steady, experienced leadership, not disruption. Do not risk our momentum or upset this balance for those who put their personal priorities above our collective success. Thank you.
Moderator: Okay, Rod.
Rod Ehsani: Thank you to our hosts and to everyone who joined us tonight. Look, many of you already know me. We've served together in our schools, in the PTA, HOA, you're my neighbors, you're my friends. And those of you who know me know that when I make a commitment, I take it seriously. I'm very passionate and I do it 100%. I'm a CPA, I used to be the chief audit executive for VSP. I served boards and I've been on boards. I know what I'm doing, okay? But most importantly, I'm a father. I have a daughter in the Walnut Creek School District and I will approach every decision affecting your children with the same care, concern, and responsibility I would expect of my own.
If elected, my commitment is simple. Students, you will be first. Parents, you will be heard. And teachers, you will be supported. I would be honored to have your vote November 3rd. And for more information about me, please visit my website, rodforwcsd.com. And thank you very much, and I ask for your vote.
Moderator: Okay, well, first of all, let's give a line of applause for our candidates. And I also like us to applaud this wonderful audience that provided some of these very provocative questions. And as you notice, our next speakers will be Acalanes Union High School District. So if you're able to stay here for that, that would be great. If you want to mingle, ask her candidates some more questions, you're welcome to do that also. But thank you. It's been a great debate. Thank you.