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Catherine Vonnegut
Current board member, retired software engineer| vonne.org
Top priorities
- Academic excellence
- Student wellness
- Fiscal responsibility
Public service
- Mountain View Los Altos High School District Board of Trustees (2018-present)
Community involvement
- Former Red Cross EMT and instructor
- Mountain View High School PTSA, past president
- Los Altos Mountain View PTA Council, past president
Catherine Vonnegut is running for another term on the Mountain View Los Altos High School District Board of Trustees with the stated goal of ensuring continuity as the longest currently-serving trustee.
Vonnegut is one of three candidates vying for the Area 3 slot on the five-member board. She’s running against Thida Cornes, also a current board member, and Sanjay Dave, who served on the board from 2016-2024.
This is the first time the district will elect its board members from separate trustee areas, rather than through an at-large system. Previously, residents throughout the district all voted on each trustee. Now, the district is split into five segments, with each area picking one trustee.
Trustee Area 3 encompasses an eastern portion of Mountain View south of Central Expressway, including the Cuesta Park, Old Mountain View and Shoreline West neighborhoods.
First elected in 2018, Vonnegut served throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and the appointment of two superintendents, as well as new principals at both Mountain View and Los Altos high schools.
“I feel I’m in the best place to collaborate and compromise with new people – with the perspective of the past,” Vonnegut told the Voice.
She cited the creation of a career technical education program as one of the district’s greatest accomplishments during her two terms on the board. The CTE program is meant to prepare students for jobs, with courses in areas like sports medicine, business management, engineering and digital communications.
Vonnegut also lauded the recent growth of co-teaching in the district. That’s when a special education teacher pairs up with a general education teacher in the same classroom, allowing students with disabilities to learn alongside their peers. Last school year, there were 45 co-taught classes in MVLA, up from 10 in the 2019-20 school year.
Vonnegut believes the district has been doing a good job in expanding its mental health services, but that more work still needs to be done. Currently, too many students are referred directly to a therapist, Vonnegut said, when she believes they could instead benefit from group conversations led by a therapist about coping mechanisms for anxiety and stress.
When it comes to academics, Vonnegut described the district as being in “absolutely fabulous shape.” Last year, MVLA was rated the top school district in the Bay Area and the second-best district in the state by Niche, a school ratings website.
While Vonnegut said some may focus on adding – or subtracting – Advanced Placement classes, she believes the focus should be on staffing. MVLA’s teachers have generally been the highest paid in the state.
“The key here is to retain and hire the best faculty possible,” she said.
In the years Vonnegut has been on the board, ethnic studies has been a major area of controversy. The board originally adopted a one-year required ethnic studies class in 2023, ahead of an expected state mandate. Vonnegut voted in support of adding the class. However, the California Legislature then failed to allocate money for the course, meaning that the requirement didn’t take effect.
This past fall, MVLA’s board decided to shorten its class to a single semester – and Vonnegut cast the deciding vote. At the time, she said she understood the arguments from both sides and could almost “flip a coin” to make her decision. The vote ended up being 3-2, with Vonnegut in the majority.
Although she voted for it to be shortened, Vonnegut told the Voice that the one-semester class should remain a requirement.
The Voice has published an individual profile of each Mountain View Los Altos High School District Board of Trustees candidate. To view those articles, and the rest of our election coverage, head over to our 2026 Election Center.
