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Berkeley Unified School District office building on 1250 Addison Street in West Berkeley. BUSD has had a vacant seat on its board since former director Ana Vasudeo stepped down on July 1, 2026 Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight<\/p>\nBerkeley Unified School District office building on 1250 Addison Street in West Berkeley. BUSD has had a vacant seat on its board since former director Ana Vasudeo stepped down on July 1, 2026 Credit: Ximena Natera, Berkeleyside\/CatchLight<\/p>\n
The Berkeley Unified School District (BUSD) may choose a new board member as soon as Wednesday to fill the seat vacated by Ana Vasudeo, who stepped down<\/a> on July 1 to join the Alameda County Board of Education.<\/p>\n District officials opted to appoint Vasudeo\u2019s successor, rather than hold a special election. The school board reviewed 22 applications<\/a> and advanced six who garnered the support of two or more members. The finalists will interview at the Aug. 19 board meeting, with each delivering a two\u2011minute presentation followed by a five\u2011minute question\u2011and\u2011answer session with board members.\u00a0<\/p>\n Beatriz Leyva\u2011Cutler, a former school board director, and Reichi Lee, who ran for the board in 2022 but was narrowly defeated, are among the finalists for the seat. The other applicants are Kevin Gilmore, Scott Hofmeister, Dyamen N. Williams, and Mina Sun.\u00a0<\/p>\n The school board is expected to vote on Wednesday to fill the vacant seat, with a majority needed. Berkeley voters will have 30 days after the appointment to petition for a special election<\/a> if they disagree with the board\u2019s decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n The vacancy has come at a time when the district is navigating multi-year budget deficits<\/a>, and board members have indicated that they want to return to a full five\u2011member board quickly. Vasudeo\u2019s successor will hold office for the remainder of her term, which ends in November 2028.\u00a0<\/p>\n A few board finalists sent in their applications after Berkeleyside had reported<\/a> that BUSD would not make the materials publicly available. With all of those still in the running now confirmed, we sent each a questionnaire to see where they stand on some of BUSD\u2019s most pressing issues.<\/p>\n The 6 finalists aiming to replace Vasudeo on the BUSD board, at a glance<\/p>\n Gilmore, 63, is a career technical education teacher for the Contra Costa County Office of Education and a former Berkeley Unified substitute. Gilmore teaches at a juvenile hall in Martinez and said he wants to be an active voice for families and educators.\u00a0He has lived in Berkeley for 52 years.<\/p>\n Hofmeister, 56, is an independent IT consultant and former Kaiser Permanente AI executive who\u2019s lived in Berkeley for 15 years. He is a BUSD parent with two sons who have IEPs and has spent 11 years in various PTA leadership roles. Hofmeister said he would be the board\u2019s only technologist at a time when schools are grappling with their AI and mobile device policies.<\/p>\n Lee, 50, is a children\u2019s attorney and digital\u2011wellness advocate who founded the tech\u2011health program Healthfully. A Berkeley resident for 20 years, she has held multiple parent leadership roles in BUSD, including at Rosa Parks Elementary as the school site council chair, and is now Berkeley High\u2019s PTSA president.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyva\u2011Cutler, 70, was a BUSD board member<\/a> from 2008 to 2020 and previously the executive director of the bilingual early\u2011childhood nonprofit BAHIA Inc. She has lived in Berkeley for 33 years. In her statements to Berkeleyside, Leyva-Cutler said she knows from experience that academic growth and family engagement in Berkeley Unified need greater attention. If appointed to serve out the remainder of former director Vasudeo\u2019s term, Leyva-Cutler said she would not run for reelection in 2028.<\/p>\n Sun, 44, is a higher-education and nonprofit executive and a UC Berkeley lecturer. She has been a Berkeley resident for 7 years. Due to an earlier reporting error, Berkeleyside had omitted Sun from the initial list of finalists for the open board seat. As a result, and because she received Berkeleyside\u2019s questionnaire days later than the other finalists, Sun declined in an email on Monday to answer the policy-related questions. <\/p>\n \u201cI want to give these important questions the thoughtful consideration they deserve rather than submit rushed responses immediately before the interview (on Wednesday),\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n Williams, an African American male achievement facilitator at Bret Harte Middle School in Oakland, did not respond to Berkeleyside\u2019s questionnaire or follow-ups by publication time. <\/p>\n We\u2019ll update this article if we receive additional responses by Wednesday.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s where the four finalists who responded to our questions stand on some of the important issues confronting the district.<\/p>\n The growing need for special education services<\/p>\n BUSD has among the largest percent of special needs students in the Bay Area, and these students participate in general education classes \u2014 a model called \u201cfull inclusion.\u201d This approach is one the district believes in, but it has shown to be more expensive, and BUSD has lately needed to dip into its general fund to cover costs amid staffing shortages and a rise in disability diagnoses of students.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gilmore stressed legal compliance for special education meetings, plans and evaluations. \u201cWe must adhere to all guidelines,\u201d he wrote. \u201cNon-compliance results in costly lawsuits we cannot afford.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Berkeley Unified settled a civil rights lawsuit in 2021<\/a> claiming the district had failed to properly identify and educate students with dyslexia.<\/p>\n Hofmeister, as a parent of two BUSD students with IEPs, said he has seen the benefits of full-inclusion learning as well as its drawbacks. He called for more analysis of how full-inclusion is being implemented in Berkeley schools, and better data on student outcomes. \u201cThe delivery model deserves study,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n As a children\u2019s attorney, Lee said she\u2019s seen firsthand how hard it is to navigate IEP and 504 programs. \u201cFamilies should not feel they must fight for what their children need,\u201d she wrote. Lee emphasized trust\u2011building with families, early assessments, progress monitoring and increased direct funding for special education.\u00a0<\/p>\n In her statements to Berkeleyside, Leyva\u2011Cutler called for more timely student assessments and individualized education program (IEP) planning and interventions, as more pre-school children are being identified for special education. She said additional resources are needed to support students who may need smaller class spaces, and for students in full-inclusion classes.\u00a0<\/p>\n BUSD\u2019s aging facilities<\/p>\n The district has aging buildings with seismic safety needs, and is currently managing several significant modernization projects: The reconstruction of Longfellow Middle School was delayed until summer 2028<\/a> after engineers discovered \u201cunforeseen\u201d structural failures at the campus; Sylvia Mendez Elementary has been undergoing a multi\u2011year modernization project<\/a> funded by Measure G to update classrooms and improve accessibility, which was scheduled to be completed by the end of this summer; and at Berkeley High, district officials are actively working on plans to add a parking lot and tennis courts<\/a> after more than 20 years of public discussion.\u00a0<\/p>\n Gilmore highlighted his background in building and construction, and proposed a career technical education pathway where students would learn about and perform seismic retrofits and repairs for class credit and pay. \u201cI have done seismic retrofits and know what it takes,\u201d he wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hofmeister said he\u2019d prioritize seismic safety and longer\u2011term capital planning so that the district wouldn\u2019t find itself \u201cchoosing between buildings and people every spring.\u201d He also said BUSD\u2019s \u201cfacilities footprint\u201d should match up with student enrollment projections.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee said BUSD is already prioritizing safety, modernization and sustainability in its school-site projects. She said she\u2019d emphasize accountability for taxpayers and district families, and prioritize transparency regarding facilities \u201ccosts, priorities, impact, budgets, and timing.\u201d<\/p>\n Leyva\u2011Cutler said she\u2019d support a new facilities master plan and an assessment of the current bond measures funding facilities improvements, to inform possible renewals. She said she\u2019d work with staff, board members and families to identify funding priorities and address \u201cdeferred maintenance needs.\u201d<\/p>\n Academic achievement and college readiness in BUSD <\/p>\n BUSD student test scores outpace state averages \u2014 over 66% of BUSD students in 2025 met or exceeded standards in math, compared to 37% for all districts in California, for example \u2014 but racial gaps in math achievement<\/a> persist. The district is rolling out a new math curriculum, but some families have voiced concerns about lack of input and transparency.\u00a0<\/p>\n These conversations in BUSD are taking place at a time of growing debate over SATs and concerns about college preparedness<\/a> in California. The University of California and California State University systems phased out the use of standardized SAT and ACT scores in their admissions processes in 2020 and 2022, respectively, after a 2019 civil rights lawsuit challenged the use of those tests on the grounds that they are biased against low-income students and students of color. But UC leaders are now actively considering bringing back the SAT<\/a> admissions requirement, following an open letter urging them to do so that was signed by over 1,400 faculty members. <\/p>\n Gilmore said the SATs are unlikely to return to public college admissions in California, and said teachers should never teach to \u201cculturally biased tests.\u201d He said students need to be taught how to be fiscally responsible and learn math that can be applied to everyday situations.<\/p>\n Hofmeister said grade inflation in high schools has made standardized test scores more relevant in university admissions, and BUSD graduates need to be able to compete. No matter what framework is used, he said, the district should determine if students are fluent in fundamentals instead of \u201cjust moved along.\u201d He said he\u2019d want data to show how math pathways in BUSD are preparing students.<\/p>\n Lee said she would bring \u201curgency\u201d and expertise to issues regarding math, literacy, and technology at BUSD. She said these decisions \u201cwill shape whether our students develop the focus, attention, and skills they need to succeed in college and beyond.\u201d She listed strong literacy and math outcomes as her priority, stating that many students lack numerical fluency. Lee said the district should adopt an \u201cevidence-informed curriculum that ensures foundational mastery.\u201d<\/p>\n Leyva\u2011Cutler said any student who is not meeting math and literacy standards by the second grade should receive targeted resources and support. \u201cAs the district implements a new math curriculum, the rollout should reflect best practices, (professional development), and meaningful family engagement across all grade levels,\u201d she wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n Budget cuts and financial pressures<\/p>\n BUSD is navigating multi\u2011year deficits, including a $10.4 million shortfall<\/a> last school year, and has cut positions and consolidated resources across departments. But with a deficit of over $7 million projected across the 2027-28 and 2028-29 school years, the board\u2019s work is far from over.<\/p>\n Gilmore proposed cutting overtime for all clerical and classified staff, which he said would save the district over $500,000 each year. He would not make cuts to special education and would maintain funding for nutritional services. Gilmore, whose grandmother was a cook at BUSD for over 30 years, said he understands that \u201cthese positions are more than a face, they are community members who enhance our children\u2019s school experience<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Hofmeister said he would cut what the data shows isn\u2019t working and would reduce \u201cadministrative overhead before classrooms.\u201d He said he\u2019d protect direct instruction and special education services. He listed multi-year budgeting and facilities planning as priorities, and said board members should not be \u201cpicking line items\u201d to cut from the budget, but should instead leave that work to staff.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lee said she would avoide cuts and reductions for key teachers or school staff, especially those who provide core instruction, curriculum development, and essential student services. She\u2019d instead look to cut where there are duplicative roles and vacancies, and would \u201crigorously audit\u201d BUSD\u2019s spending on apps, software, and technology to reduce redundancies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyva\u2011Cutler said that in a budget crunch, she\u2019d advocate for protecting academic and college-readiness supports for the most disadvantaged students, through programs such as Bridge, RISE, and Puente, as well as for staff and resources in the Office of Family Engagement and Equity. Her priorities would include transparently addressing BUSD\u2019s budget deficits with district stakeholders and ensuring that state funds under Proposition 98<\/a> are fully allocated.<\/p>\n Access to after-school care in BUSD<\/p>\n Aftercare in BUSD has recently undergone a restructuring<\/a> amid staffing shortages and high demand. The district has been trying to raise program capacity while also complying with the statewide expansion of transitional kindergarten<\/a> and stricter staff-to-student ratio requirements. Access to aftercare remains a big issue for working families, especially at elementary sites with chronic waitlists.<\/p>\n Gilmore said BUSD\u2019s communication with partner organizations needs improvement to address access to aftercare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hofmeister said aftercare waitlists are \u201can equity problem.\u201d He said TK expansion and ratio requirements are \u201creal constraints,\u201d but that there are solutions to staffing and scheduling problems. \u201cReliable elementary after-school care isn\u2019t an extra \u2014 it\u2019s what makes school work for working families,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Lee said too many families are still uncertain about their access to aftercare in the wake of BUSD\u2019s recent revamp. \u201cBeloved staff are gone with little explanation,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe Board should require far greater transparency, communication, and family engagement on how families are impacted.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Leyva\u2011Cutler urged more coordination between the district, city and private providers, and said BUSD should offer transportation to after\u2011school sites (the district is not providing transportation to city-operated afterschool program sites this year). She said BUSD needs to pay higher, living wages to aftercare staff and expand their hours to attract workers and reduce turnover.<\/p>\n BUSD English language learner outcomes <\/p>\n