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Retired teacher Deborah Gibson has thrown her name into the election for a seat on the Livermore school board representing Area 3.
Gibson is facing off Nov. 3 against data analyst Angela Brady for the new post representing northern Livermore. As the first by-trustee-area election for the Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District, there are no incumbents in the race.
Gibson said, as a grandmother of 13 children, she is running for public office out of concern for future generations’ education system.
“As a trustee on the Board of Education, I pledge to work with my fellow board members to ensure fiscal stability, advocate for academic excellence and restore community trust,” Gibson told Livermore Vine in an email interview.
Prior to Gibson’s work as a teacher for 13 years, she was an insurance underwriter for a decade at Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company.
Gibson said she has also served on the board of directors for nonprofit organization Livermore Pregnancy Resource Center as well as His Nesting Place. The pro-Life, nonprofit Christian church and home for pregnant women is located in Long Beach, according to His Nesting Place website.
For the past two years Gibson has attended school board meetings, which she said has given her insight into the system.
“My priority is to work with the board and form a cohesive unit to work on the existing issues,” Gibson told Livermore Vine.
Among the issues Gibson said she wants to settle is the district’s compliance with Title IX — federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities receiving federal dollars.
Conflict exists between Title IX under the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and California Education Code. At the center of the disagreement is whether transgender students can use the facilities and participate in programs aligned with their gender identity. Title IX says no, but the state’s education code says yes.
Ahead of a LVJUSD school board meeting Jan. 13, Gibson requested an agenda item and resolution affirming the district’s compliance with Title IX “protecting female athletes in their safe spaces” and securing the federal school-based mental health grant and magnet grant funding.
The U.S. Department of Education sent a letter to the superintendent last September inquiring about whether LVJUSD was in compliance with Title IX, Gibson noted.
“This conflict would put our federal grant in jeopardy,” Gibson told Livermore Vine. “Compliance could help solve our budget deficit situation.”
According to the most recent update to the district’s budget, covered in the 2026-27 45-day revision, LVJUSD expects to receive mental health and magnet funding.
Gibson also said she wants to address the updates required of kitchen facilities district-wide. The updates are required by the Americans with Disabilities Act and an unspecified health department, according to the 2026 Facilities Master Plan.
Since filing her candidacy paperwork earlier this month, Gibson does not currently have a campaign website.
There is no relation between the candidate and former LVJUSD superintendent Torie Gibson.
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