Only four candidates file to run for school board race by
Wednesday deadline
Gilroy – Four candidates are all guaranteed a seat on the Gilroy Unified School District board.
Officials from the registrar’s office did not return phone calls Wednesday, but as of press time only four candidates had filed to fill four vacant seats, according to the county Web site.
Incumbents Tom Bundros and Javier Aguirre and newcomers Denise Apuzzo and Ardy Ghoreishi all filed to run in the November election. Incumbents David McRae and Jim Rogers refrained from seeking reelection. The filing deadline was extended from an original closing time of Friday to allow additional candidates to file.
Aguirre has spent nine months on the school board, after trustees appointed him to serve the remainder of the late TJ Owens’ term. The Gilroy native serves as a senior policy aide for Santa Clara County Supervisor Blanca Alvarado and is married with one young child.
Apuzzo, a mother of three and a local Realtor, is involved with district issues and attends board meetings regularly. A former Dispatch columnist, her children attend Gilroy public schools.
Trustee Tom Bundros, who has served on the board for one term, is the father of six children ranging in age from 39 to 18. A software engineer for Hitachi in San Jose, five of Bundros’ children graduated from Gilroy High School and one of his grandchildren will begin kindergarten locally this August.
Ardy Ghoreishi, an engineer for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, is the father of a six-year-old Las Animas Elementary School student. Ghoreishi’s wife is also a teacher at Las Animas. The longtime Gilroy resident is involved with local school issues, volunteering on the Christopher High School Steering Committee and the Citizen’s Oversight Committee.
His wife is also a teacher at Las Animas. Ghoreishi said he became interested in district issues after his young son started school and decided to throw his name in the race.
“I kept getting involved on the school level and everything that related to the school and it wasn’t before too (long) that I realized that if there is to be any change or improvement to what we have, it has to happen from the board level. That’s a good start. That’s the place you can bring it to light.”
In the weeks leading to the filing deadline, Rogers said he was on the fence but did mention that after eight years on the board he wasn’t sure about making another four-year commitment. McRae, who served on term, decided to focus on his comedy career and leave the seat open for a newcomer.
