Meet the candidates for Portola Valley school board

With the unexpected news that health problems mean incumbent Karen Tate is dropping out of the Portola Valley School District’s governing board race, only three candidates remain for three open seats on the board.

Ms. Tate has said that she will finish up her term, which ends in November, and that if she is elected she will have to resign, leaving the school board to either appoint a board member or hold another election.

Ms. Tate said she has full confidence in the candidates vying for the three expiring terms and asks voters to not vote for her.

Here is information on the three candidates.

—

Jeffrey Klugman

Mr. Klugman, 57, is the father of twins — a son and daughter in fifth grade at Corte Madera School — and married to May Chen, a Stanford oncologist.

He has an engineering degree from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Stanford University. He is a retired software executive, most recently working for TiVo for 15 years as executive vice president of products and revenue.

He lives on Willowbrook Drive in Portola Valley.

Mr. Klugman has volunteered in his children’s classrooms since they were in kindergarten, has been a parent tutor and basketball coach, and serves on the district’s technology committee. He previously served on the board of the Anti-Defamation League.

His business background, including his experience negotiating contracts and as an officer of a publicly traded company, will serve him well on the school board, Mr. Klugman said. His engineering background means he is data-driven and analytical, he said.

Mr. Klugman said he became interested in joining the school board partly over concerns that the district needed to think more carefully about how it uses technology in the schools.

The concern arose, he said, when his fourth-graders were given take-home Chromebooks. “This was a device that did not easily have the ability to be turned off,” he said. “I think there is an embrace of technology too soon.”

The facilities master plan currently being considered by the district should receive more public scrutiny and input before it is adopted, he said. “I think we just need to be out there more talking to the community,” he said.

—

Karyn Bechtel

Ms. Bechtel is 41, has two children (daughters in sixth and eighth grades at Corte Madera School), and is married to Adam Bechtel, who works for Apple in infrastructure.

She has a degree in speech-language pathology from Colorado University at Boulder and a masters certificate in dialogue, deliberation and public engagement from Fielding University.

She previously worked for Stanford University, including at the Haas Center for Public Service. In Colorado she helped to open a small one-room rural charter school.

A resident of Skywood Acres in Woodside, she has been volunteering at Portola Valley schools since moving to the district five years ago. She has been a math tutor and a costumed “Mystery Reader,” has worked on service learning projects, served on the the Corte Madera site council, and helped organize PTO assemblies.

Ms. Bechtel said she vowed to get more involved in her community after the November 2016 election “because I wanted to be sure there are thoughtful and engaged people in the room.”

“Karen Tate was very inspiring to me,” she said.

Ms. Bechtel said she does not see the school board, which will have four new members after the election (one is to be appointed Oct. 25), approving a facilities master plan and the details of a bond measure in time to get a bond measure on next June’s ballot.

“I think the question will become should we try to do it by November (2018) or not,” she said.

Ms. Bechtel said when her family moved to the district she took to heart its vision statement: “We are an innovative learning community inspiring the hearts and minds of all our children.”

“That drives everything we do,” she said.

—

Mike Maffia

Mr. Maffia, 39, has three children, including two at Ormondale School: a 7-year-old daughter in the second grade and a 5-year-old son in kindergarten. His third child is 2 years old. A resident of the Westridge neighborhood, he is married to Vanessa Maffia.

With degrees in economics and applied economics and finance from the University of California at Santa Cruz, he is a real estate developer and investor who owns Preserve West Capital.

Mr. Maffia helped raise money for the Windmill Preschool’s new home and with his wife has collected books and materials for schools in need.

Experience as a developer — working with contractors, architects and consultants — should serve him well on the school board as it puts together its facilities master plan, Mr. Maffia said.

“There are still a lot of decisions to be made,” he said, adding that more feedback from the community is needed before a plan is adopted.

“I genuinely enjoy Portola Valley,” Mr. Maffia said. “I think it’s a unique place that has a strong sense of community.”