"We have four candidates," Marisa Spatafore, district spokeswoman, said.

Laura Casas Frier, Julia Miller, Bruce Swenson and incumbent Paul Fong have filed to be included on the Nov. 8 ballot.

District board members serve four-year terms, overseeing two colleges with a combined enrollment of 45,000 students in a district that runs from Palo Alto to Sunnyvale and parts of San Jose. Board members receive $750 a month for their work.

"They are in charge of overarching policy," Spatafore said of the board members' duties.

In addition to policy, board members also oversee the financial stability of the schools, monitor academics and act as community liaisons.

Such duties are particularly valued in the Foothill-De Anza district. Both schools have prestigious reputations, with Cupertino's De Anza College consistently holding one of the top transfer rates to University of California and California State University campuses. De Anza College also has well-regarded pre-professional programs in areas such as auto technology and nursing.

Despite the successes, new board members will face challenges, especially given steep budget cuts by the state at a time when California community colleges already rank 46th nationally in terms of state funding.

Foothill and De Anza are also among the most underfunded in the state. De Anza receives a minimum of $3,700 per student from the state, compared to a statewide average of $4,100 and a national average of $8,200. The school was also recently hit with a settlement over disposal of environmental waste that requires payment of $101,109 in penalties.

In addition to Fong, the only incumbent running, Betsy Bechtel, Andrea Leiderman, Hal Plotkin and Sandy Hay serve on the board. Hay's term expires this year, and he's not seeking another term. Becthel, Leiderman and Plotkin all face the end of their terms in 2007.