Every Monta Vista Family Has a Trustee

You may have heard a conversation saying Monta Vista has "zero" trustees on the FUHSD board. The worry behind it is understandable. Every parent wants to know someone on the board is looking out for their school. But the claim misreads how the board works today.

Trustees represent neighborhoods, not schools

FUHSD now elects trustees by area. Each trustee is chosen by the voters of one trustee area, and the areas were drawn to balance population, not around schools. In fact, the district's demographer found that a map built on school boundaries couldn't meet the legal requirement for equal population. So no school, whether Cupertino, Lynbrook, Fremont, Homestead or Monta Vista, "has" its own trustee.

That means Monta Vista doesn't have zero trustees. It has three. Families in the Monta Vista attendance area live in three different trustee areas: most are in Area 3, which Rosa Kim represents, and the rest are in Areas 1 and 5. Area 3 also includes the Monta Vista campus itself, along with Homestead High.

The colored regions are FUHSD's five trustee areas. The thick black lines are the high school attendance boundaries. Source: FUHSD's interactive trustee area map.

Monta Vista isn't unusual. Homestead and Fremont families also span three trustee areas each, and Cupertino families span two. Not sure which area you live in? Look up your trustee area with the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, linked from the district's Trustee Areas page: here.

Monta Vista gets five votes, not one

Every decision about Monta Vista's budget, staffing, facilities and programs is made by all five trustees. Every trustee answers for every school. That is by design.

Monta Vista has never been without a voice

From 2006 through 2024, Monta Vista neighbors served on the FUHSD board without a break, and for more than a decade there were two at once. Bill Wilson served from 2006 to 2022, Jeff Moe from 2012 to 2024, and Rod Sinks from May 2023 to December 2024. All three lived in Cupertino near Monta Vista. The idea that Monta Vista fell behind because it had no voice on the board doesn't match the record.

The board looks different now because the district moved to trustee-area elections, which were designed to give every neighborhood across the district a voice. That change didn't leave Monta Vista behind. Today, Monta Vista neighborhoods in Area 3 are represented by Rosa Kim, and every decision about Monta Vista is still made by all five trustees.

Every trustee gets to know Monta Vista firsthand

Board members rotate as liaisons to each school so that no campus is overlooked. As Rosa has put it, "We want to know all our schools and all perspectives."

The people who know Rosa's work for Monta Vista best agree. Bill Wilson, Jeff Moe and Rod Sinks, the Monta Vista neighbors who served on the board alongside her, have all strongly endorsed Rosa for re-election, as has long time trustee, Homer Tong.

Representation is about showing up

Rosa has served FUHSD since 2018. When the district moved to trustee-area elections, she came to Monta Vista to answer parents' questions in person. She has also helped deliver for Monta Vista's campus. Rosa served on the board that brought Measure G to voters in 2022, and the district is now using Measure CC and Measure G funds to modernize Wellness Center, Music Building, Building F2 (Blackbox), and classroom buildings, along with new classroom technology, more efficient solar panels and new field turf.

Student well-being has been Rosa's top priority since she first ran, and she participated in the district's Wellness Council. In 2023-24, Monta Vista opened its Wellness Space, where students can take a short break to reset when they feel stressed or overwhelmed.

And when people raised concerns about Monta Vista's college admissions, she looked at the actual data. Check the other post in this blog.

An address doesn't tell you how someone will serve. A record does. Ask what each candidate has done for Monta Vista students, not what they promise.

Rosa Kim is already working for Monta Vista families. Re-elect Rosa Kim, Trustee Area 3.