Two Portola Valley School District board members resign their seats

There are open seats on the Portola Valley School District governing board after two of the five trustees announced they were stepping down early. The resignations, made last week, come just two weeks after two members of the Las Lomitas Elementary School District’s Board of Trustees also stepped down.

Board President Brooke Day and Jeff Klugman, who each served on the board for four years, tendered their resignations two days prior to the Sept. 23 meeting, effective Nov. 20, according to a report prepared by staff. The board voted during that meeting to appoint two provisional members in mid-November.

The board chose the appointment process instead of calling a special election because this approach is “significantly less” costly and fills the vacancies in a more timely manner since a special election could not happen before April 2022, according to a presentation by district staff. The term of the two provisional appointments will end with the November 2022 election.

Day, whose term was set to expire in December 2022, said over the last several months her personal and work obligations have increased to the point that she didn’t feel like she could dedicate the time and effort the position needs.

“This decision didn’t come easy; it’s bittersweet for me,” she said during the meeting.

Klugman’s twin son and daughter graduated from eighth grade last spring, so he is no longer a district parent. He and his wife plan to be involved in their school activities, which are spread across their two high schools, making it difficult for other commitments.

“It has been far more rewarding than any occasional challenges that have occurred,” said Klugman, whose term was set to expire in December 2024. “This is the right time to turn it over to someone new.”

Klugman told The Almanac in 2017 that 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 district is in the midst of a major construction projects this school year — rebuilding its two school campus: Corte Madera Middle School and Ormondale Elementary School.

The Board of Trustees is hosting three virtual informational sessions on serving as a trustee:

• Wednesday, Oct. 6, at 7 p.m.

• Friday, Oct. 15, at 9 a.m.

• Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 9 a.m.

The application can be found here and is due by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 15, in hard copy to the district office at 4575 Alpine Road, Portola Valley, CA 94028, or via email.

Candidate interviews will be held on the evening of Wednesday, Nov. 17, and the board expects to make appointments after the interviews.

Board vacancy FAQs can be found here.