LVUSD Elects New Board Member In Vadehra's Vacant Seat

AGOURA HILLS, CA — The Las Virgenes Unified School District on Jan. 17 appointed former board member Jill Gaines to fill late board member Kate Vadehra's empty seat.

Vadehra died on Nov. 26 after an 18-month "battle" with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), according to Superintendent Dan Stepenosky. Out of five candidates who applied for the seat, the board unanimously voted to appoint Gaines to sit on the board through Dec. 13, 2024. Gaines will not run again after this term expires, she said.

Community members had until Thursday to challenge the appointment with a petition with the Ventura County or Los Angeles Office of Education. The Ventura County office said it had not received a petition Wednesday.

The district voted in December to appoint a candidate directly to fill Vadehra's seat rather than triggering a costly special election. A special election would cost at least $1.5 million, and the election would not happen until November 2023, according to Stepenosky.

Gaines was initially elected to the board in 2007 and retired in 2015 after two terms, according to the district. As such, her transition would be seamless, with little learning curve, she said. She emphasized that she was twice approved by the community with her previous elections.

Gaines said LVUSD's teachers are some of its greatest assets, as is the districts dedication to improvement. In the board seat, she would like to enhance the district's budget and improve district volunteer networks to bolster student needs like tutoring.

"If appointed, I provide something seamless for the board and the community," Gaines said. "I can jump in and be valuable right away. I understand the budget, I understand the bonds and I have in the past been approved by the voters."

The board publicly interviewed five applicants — Alan Lazar, Gaines, Kiyomi Kowalski, Ron Kaiser and Russell Todd Zink — at the Jan. 17 meeting. Candidates were each posed four questions about the most and least successful aspects of the district, why they want to work with LVUSD, LVUSD's budget and working with district staff.