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6 MAPS: How city changed over last decade | ELECTION: What matters to you? | WHAT TO KNOW: Monkeypox | BACK TO SCHOOL: COVID rules
Three of the five seats on the Berkeley school board are up for election this fall.
Six candidates — Ka’Dijah Brown, Mike Chang, Tatiana Guerreiro Ramos, Norma Harrison, Reichi Lee and Jennifer Shanoski — are competing for the three spots. The other two seats on the board will be up for election in 2024.
In Berkeley, school board directors are elected at-large, which means you can cast votes for your top three candidates, regardless of where you live in the city.
The five board directors, elected to four-year terms, are tasked with giving guidance on the direction of the school district. They work closely with the superintendent, provide feedback on district decisions and budget, and pass their own policies and resolutions.
For example, in the last year, the school board unanimously voted to overhaul the district’s middle school enrollment policy beginning in 2023, passed a policy outlining appropriate conduct between students and teachers and weighed in on the district’s COVID-19 mitigation policies.
The candidates for this race have been campaigning since the spring: You have likely seen more lawn signs for school board than for City Council around Berkeley. Candidates have already raised over $48,000 in campaign contributions, according to city campaign finance records.
Want to weigh in on the local issues that matter to you? Fill out Berkeleyside’s election survey. You can find more coverage on our election page.
Brown is the only incumbent running, after Julie Sinai and Ty Alper announced they would not run for re-election in the spring.
This year will be the first year that school board candidates can opt into public financing, a system that became available for City Council and mayoral races in 2018. Under this system, candidates can receive a maximum of $60 from any individual, and each donation is matched six-fold by the city of Berkeley.
We’ll be publishing in-depth stories in the lead-up to Nov. 8, but we’re kicking off election season with short introductions to each of the candidates — presented here in alphabetical order.
All but two of the candidates (Brown and Harrison) have children attending BUSD schools.
The race was originally between seven candidates, but went down to six after Mara Kolesas dropped out of the race Aug. 16.
“Given the history of our school board elections, announced endorsements, and donations, I have decided not to run this year,” Kolesas wrote in an email to supporters. Kolesas described her chances of victory as “slim (if any),” explaining that she could not in good conscience ask people to devote more time and resources to her campaign.
Early voting for the 2022 election begins Oct. 10, which is also when you can start returning your vote-by-mail ballot. Election Day is Nov. 8.
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Ally Markovich, who covers the school beat for Berkeleyside, is a former high school English teacher. Her work has appeared in The Oaklandside, The New York Times, Huffington Post and Washington Post,… More by Ally Markovich
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