Election Day is tomorrow. Residents living within Capistrano Unified School District’s Area 7 (includes portions of Mission Viejo and Rancho Santa Margarita) will soon make a choice between one of two newcomers vying for the seat currently held by Trustee Judy Bullockus, who is not seeking reelection after nearly a decade on the Board.
Those challengers are Ron Ruef and Linda Shepard. We reached out to both candidates to learn more about their backgrounds and priorities. Shepard’s profile can be found here.
Ruef retired from a career spanning more than 34 years with Morton Salt. He is a U.S. Army veteran who has also held leadership positions with several nonprofit and local government organizations, including the California Association of Park and Recreation Commissioners and Board Members.
His involvement with CUSD began while raising his two sons with his wife, Janice, in the district. He volunteered in their classrooms, served on school parent organizations, and participated in two School Site Councils. He later chaired the district’s Facilities and Finance Advisory Committee for five years.
He also played a role in helping keep Carl Hankey School open and transition it to a K–8 International Baccalaureate World School.
When asked his reason for running, Ruef stated that he “[believes] every student deserves the opportunity to succeed, every parent deserves a voice in their child’s education, and every taxpayer deserves accountability for how public funds are spent.”
“We must also maintain safe schools, strengthen communication with parents, and ensure transparency in district decisions,” said Ruef. “My goal is to bring practical leadership, careful financial oversight, and a willingness to listen to different perspectives while keeping students’ educational needs our highest priority.”
The biggest challenge CUSD faces, according to Ruef, is improving student achievement while managing declining enrollment, limited resources, and mounting financial pressures. This is at least one area where he and his opponent would have agreement.
Where they would differ, however, is in their allegiance to public teachers’ unions. Ruef’s campaign has been endorsed by the district’s public teachers union, Capistrano Unified Education Association, and has received $6,500 from them.
“I believe voters deserve complete honesty and transparency… I believe in maintaining a respectful, professional, and collaborative relationship with teachers’ unions and employee organizations. Teachers and school staff are essential to student success, and their perspectives should be heard when the Board makes decisions affecting classroom instruction, working conditions, and student outcomes,” Ruef said.
Does this put Ruef at odds with the eight existing charter schools within CUSD—or future charters which may come before the Board? Not necessarily, Ruef claims.
“I believe charter school proposals should be evaluated individually, considering the quality of the educational program, demonstrated community need, student achievement, financial transparency, and accountability for public funds… I support providing families with meaningful educational options, but those options must meet high standards for academic performance, fiscal responsibility, student safety, and transparency,” he said.
Pro-union candidates currently occupy a minority on the Board, but that is historically abnormal for the district.
Prior to the conservative majority taking control of the Board, a significant point of contention between them and the union-backed majority at the time was over transparency and parental notification. When the district rolled out Individual Transition Plan (ITPs)—already highly controversial in their own right—they did not require school administrators to notify parents or guardians that the child in their care was being socially transitioned.
Similar battles were waged over sexually explicit materials approved to appear in CUSD libraries and classrooms. One CUSD teacher made headlines for posting her viral “queer library” of over 100 books containing imagery and descriptions of orgies, sex toys, bondage, and alternative sexual lifestyles on TikTok. Though CUSD distributed an “internal directive” instructing educators to self-audit their spaces, this did little to assuage parents’ fears.
When parents pressed the Board to pass a parental notification policy introduced by Trustee Lisa Davis, the progressive majority at the time rejected it. This move was undoubtedly at the top of parents’ minds in the next election cycle when—for the first time in decades—the pro-union coalition lost majority control over Orange County’s largest public school district.
Ruef seems to understand this and takes a different stance than union allies of the past: “I believe parents should be informed about curriculum and age-appropriate library materials, with reasonable access to review them and a transparent process for raising concerns.”
“Parents should have a meaningful voice in decisions about curriculum, library materials, student health, and school policies. They are essential partners in their children’s education and should have clear opportunities to understand what is being taught, review instructional materials, ask questions, and provide input before important decisions are made,” he continued.
He also believes that there’s room for improvement on general transparency, but did not necessarily agree that CUSD has fared poorly on transparency in the past: “I would evaluate the current Board based on its documented actions, public records, and established governance practices rather than make judgments without reviewing the evidence.”
“I am not running to advance a personal or political agenda. I am running to listen, ask thoughtful questions, examine the facts, and make decisions that put students first,” said Ruef. “If elected, I will bring an independent perspective, a willingness to work with people who hold different views, and a commitment to doing what is best for the students and families of Capistrano Unified.”
For more on Ruef’s candidacy, please consider reading his responses to the Orange County Register’s 2026 election questionnaire. Shepard’s responses can be found here.
