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Current Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District trustees Deena Kaplanis and Christiaan VandenHeuvel are facing newcomer Sam Phelps in the race to represent Area 5, with the candidates offering differing views on district priorities, finances and the rights of transgender students at a Sept. 28 forum hosted by Livermore Vine.
As the district’s first by-trustee area election, there are no incumbents for Area 5, which covers southeast Livermore and unincorporated areas south of the city. If either Kaplanis or VandenHeuvel wins, they would vacate their at-large seat with two years remaining on its term. The at-large position would then be filled through a provisional appointment or special election.
Kaplanis is a district parent who works as a chiropractor. She finished at the top of the polls in the six-way race for two school board seats in 2024. Her election followed an unsuccessful run for a seat in 2022.
As a board member, Kaplanis said, she has been the sole trustee consistently putting students first, with a focus on academic excellence, campus safety, fiscal responsibility, transparency and healthy learning environments.
Kaplanis said she intends to continue pressing for data-driven decisions to raise students’ reading and math proficiency and cited completion of unfinished facilities and security work and addressing students’ mental-health needs as priorities.
“I bring a perspective of a physician who treats the whole person, a parent who lives the daily realities of our schools and someone who came from modest beginnings and knows what a strong California public education can do,” Kaplanis said.
Phelps is the father of a Livermore High School student and two incoming Livermore Valley school district students and made a point to tell the audience he was “not a politician.”
As a project manager for a general contractor, he said, “my day is making sure that a number is real, the crew is taken care of and the thing actually gets built.”
Phelps said he heard about what it’s like to be a teacher from his fiancée, who taught fifth grade for years, and is running for the Area 5 seat to have a “hand on the wheel” for kids’ education in Livermore.
Although the district’s graduation rate is 97%, he said, the goal is for every graduate to cross the stage with options, “whether it be a trade, college or whatever they may want.”
VandenHeuvel said he is raising his family in Livermore and has built his career in pastoral care and ministry leadership at Cornerstone Fellowship. Key to his work, he said, is listening and building teams that “show up for people.”
But being on the board, he added later, is not about religion.
VandenHeuvel said that since being elected to the at-large seat, he has served on the district’s budget oversight committee, helped hire Superintendent Tony Limoges and worked through “some of the hardest financial decisions this district has faced in years.”
In his time on the board, VandenHeuvel said, he learned “Area 5 needs a trustee who already knows how this board works and has spent real time in its hardest rooms, not someone starting from zero.”
VandenHeuvel said he prioritizes financial stability; closing the achievement gap for students, especially for English language learners and those behind in math; and conveying district finances in plain language so “families don’t need to have an accounting background to understand where their tax dollars go and why.”
Last February, the school board approved ongoing reductions totaling about $14.8 million for the 2026-27 school year, with Kaplanis casting the sole dissenting vote. The board later restored and introduced more than $2.7 million in programming and staffing.
The district revised its budget in August to account for an additional $12.3 million in state revenue for the 2026-27 school year. Nearly all of the dollars are one-time funding.
District officials noted the district’s financial position had rebounded by the end of 2025-26 school year, according to a presentation on the district’s unaudited actual financial reports at the Sept. 15 board meeting.
“The accumulated reserves, combined with the new revenues in 2026-27, position the district to absorb incoming fiscal challenges without disrupting classroom services,” the presentation stated.
Kaplanis said she aims to maintain the district’s “healthy reserves” to ensure it has wiggle room if district funding falls short of expenditures.
She suggested using what she said are unassigned, one-time funds to restore student programs and services that were eliminated during previous reductions. She said there is $6.3 million on the table, but it is unclear what portion of the district’s budget she was referring to; that number does not match the general fund ending balance for future board prioritization from the 2025-26 unaudited actuals or the 45-day revision of the 2026-27 adopted budget, as described by district Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Kayla Wasley.
For the 2026-27 school year, about $12.2 million in one-time revenue was budgeted for the Student Support and Professional Development Discretionary Block Grant and the Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant, with about $2 million allocated for current expenditures, according to Wasley.
Phelps said he wasn’t aware of the district’s fiscal status but liked the thought of having reserves.
“What I look forward to is finding out truly what the fiscal reality is and getting to share that with all of my fellow parents,” Phelps said.
VandenHeuvel said the district’s financial standing had improved.
“To Sam’s point, it is very difficult to fully understand the school budget,” he said.
The district is primarily funded by the state through its Local Control Funding Formula, which is related to average daily attendance, he said.
VandenHeuvel acknowledged the desire to spend as much money as possible directly on students but cautioned against it.
“Let’s not restore any ongoing positions with one-time money,” he said.
The top issues for Area 5 parents are student achievement, turnover of site leadership and a lingering negative perception of East Avenue Middle School, Kaplanis said.
Parents don’t want their students “falling through the cracks” and getting “passed along” without being proficient in core subjects, she said.
The biggest concern from elementary parents, Kaplanis said, is student safety when transitioning into East Avenue. Kaplanis said the atmosphere on the campus is improving and that she reassures parents the campus is safe.
Phelps said the district must pay attention to the basic needs of Area 5 schools, such as maintenance of bathrooms.
Addressing the question for the district at-large, VandenHeuvel said his top-of-mind priorities are financial stability, closing achievement gaps and rebuilding trust with the community.
As in the school board races for Areas 2 and 3, the candidates for Area 5 butted heads on whether to permit transgender students to participate in sports aligned with their gender.
The state’s education code allows transgender students to use the facility and participate in the sport of their sex. But state law is in conflict with federal civil rights law Title IX, which bans sex-based discrimination and does not protect students based on sexuality, gender or gender expression. Under Title IX, transgender students must use the facility and participate in the sport of their sex.
Phelps and Kaplanis said they are OK with gender-neutral bathrooms but sided with Title IX on sports participation.
Kaplanis called it a fairness and safety issue, adding she has worked to maintain federal funding.
Phelps said he strongly opposed the idea of transgender individuals using the locker room of their gender.
“To let my 15-year-old daughter know that some 6-foot man is gonna undress right next to her while she’s undressing—I don’t know how I would explain that,” Phelps said.
VandenHeuvel, however, said it was “really important that we are direct about what this actually looks like in the classroom, versus these really weird caricatures.”
Banning transgender folks would require some kind of check, VandenHeuvel said, which he called “unconscionable.”
“I also want to go back to the science,” VandenHeuvel said. LGBTQ+ students with at least one supportive adult in their life and without constant harassment do better in school and emotionally, VandenHeuvel said.
VandenHeuvel is endorsed by the Livermore Education Association; the California School Employees Association; departing district trustees Steven Drouin and Emily Prusso; Alameda County Board of Education Board President Cheryl Cook-Kallio and Alameda County Superintendent Of Schools Alysse Castro. He has also won endorsements from Livermore City Councilmembers Kristie Wang and Evan Branning, Livermore Mayor John Marchand and Livermore Advocates for Public Education.
VandenHeuvel said he was not aware of any financial contributions to his campaign.
Phelps said he has received no campaign donations and is endorsed by his fiancée.
Kaplanis said she has never been endorsed by any special-interest groups but has received the support of local law enforcement in the past. Tri-Valley Republicans considers Kaplanis as having a conservative slate, according to the club website.
During the forum, candidates also discussed the use of artificial intelligence in schools, the work and goals of the superintendent, transparency with families and the maintenance of district facilities.
A recording of the forum will be available on Livermore Vine.
