Rounding up the initial returns in key 2021 Central Puget Sound school board races

After a long stretch of at-home learn­ing and remote teach­ing due to the coro­n­avirus pan­dem­ic, this year’s school board races through­out King Coun­ty gave vot­ers the oppor­tu­ni­ty to decide who should have respon­si­bil­i­ty for over­see­ing the admin­is­tra­tion of many of the state’s biggest school dis­tricts, includ­ing Seat­tle, Belle­vue, Kent, and Lake Washington.

Seattle Public Schools (District #1)

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, Vivian Song Maritz has 67% of the vote, while Lau­ra Marie Rivera has 31%.

Song Maritz led in the elim­i­na­tion round and has been the clear fron­trun­ner in this con­test with a ten point lead over Rivera in NPI’s polling.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 5, Michelle Sar­ju has 82% of the vote, while Dan Hard­er has 17%. Sar­ju also led NPI’s polling last month.

Sar­ju wants to address inequities in the Seat­tle School Dis­trict and has pledged to bet­ter serve Black stu­dents and stu­dents of color.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 7, Gen­e­sis Williamson has 7% of the vote, while Bran­don K. Hersey, who is run­ning to retain his seat, has 91%.

Williamson has not been active­ly cam­paign­ing, set­ting the stage for a lop­sided result. Like Sar­ju and Song Maritz, Hersey led in NPI’s polling last month.

Federal Way Schools (District #210)

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 1, Quentin Mor­ris has 51% of the vote, while Tiffany LaFontaine has 48%. Not many votes sep­a­rate the candidates.

Mor­ris cam­paigned on increas­ing trans­paren­cy and focus­ing on skills stu­dents can use after high school. LaFontaine advo­cat­ed for a focus on ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tion and bet­ter access to technology.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, Trudy Davis has 53% of the vote, while Jim Stor­vick has 45%. Davis cam­paigned on increas­ing grad­u­a­tion rates and bet­ter learn­ing envi­ron­ments. She wants to work towards the goal of hav­ing schools part­ner with com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions and leg­is­la­tors. Stor­vick made trans­paren­cy and account­abil­i­ty the themes of his campaign.

Mercer Island Schools (District #400)

For Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 2, Bri­an Gian­ni­ni Upton has 48% of the vote, and Dan Glowitz has 50%. Glowitz hopes to bring his legal edu­ca­tion to the board in order to pro­mote a well-round­ed edu­ca­tion for all stu­dents. Upton is run­ning on a plat­form of rig­or­ous learn­ing and inclu­sive learning.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, Deb­o­rah Lurie has 63% of the vote, while Lacey Aak­er has 36%. Lurie, an attor­ney for the King Coun­ty Depart­ment of Pub­lic Defense, hopes to improve equi­ty in education.

She believes her past twen­ty-two years in the legal sys­tem serv­ing chil­dren and fam­i­lies has allowed her to become an adept lis­ten­er and prob­lem solver.

Aak­er acknowl­edged the set­backs caused by COVID-19 dur­ing her cam­paign and believes that school dis­tricts need to fos­ter greater com­mu­ni­ty dialogue.

Bellevue Schools (District #405)

For Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 3, Joyce Shui has 67% of the vote, while Faye Yang has 32%. Shui, an attor­ney, stressed the need for equi­ty and empa­thy through­out her cam­paign. Shui is endorsed by sev­er­al state sen­a­tors as well as the Women’s Polit­i­cal Cau­cus, Belle­vue Edu­ca­tion Asso­ci­a­tion, and King Coun­ty Democrats.

Yang, a med­ical doc­tor, argued that the Belle­vue School Dis­trict failed to prop­er­ly sup­port stu­dents dur­ing the pandemic.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 5 in Belle­vue School Dis­trict, Jane Aras has 63% of the vote and Gregg Smith has 36%.

Aras, who pre­vailed in the August Top Two elec­tion and has strong sup­port from pro­gres­sives and Democ­rats, espous­es a data dri­ven approach to edu­ca­tion to address men­tal health and emo­tion­al needs. Smith says he wants new lead­er­ship, direc­tion and solu­tions for the Belle­vue School District.

Issaquah Schools (District #411)

In Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 2, Robin Poe has 35% of the vote, while Marnie J. Mar­al­do has 63%. A tech pro­fes­sion­al, Poe wants schools to focus on ratio­nal and objec­tive under­stand­ing while focus­ing on learn­ing cen­tered on the nat­ur­al world.

Mar­al­do advo­cat­ed for a return to in-per­son learn­ing fol­low­ing the ear­ly waves of the pan­dem­ic and a focus on recov­ery and restoration.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, chal­lenger Wendy Ghio­ra has 52% of the vote, while incum­bent Syd­ney Mullings has 47%.

Mullings was elect­ed to the school board in 2019.

If re-elect­ed, Mullings, says she will pri­or­i­tize facil­i­ties that serve all stu­dents through envi­ron­men­tal­ly sus­tain­able strate­gies. Ghio­ra is a retired pub­lic school prin­ci­pal who advo­cates for find­ing the key to stu­dents’ suc­cess. She says she believes in the impor­tance of cre­ative and per­form­ing arts in education.

Lake Washington (District #414)

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 3 in Lake Wash­ing­ton School Dis­trict 414, Leah Choi has 53% of the vote, while Cas­san­dra Sage has 45%.

Sage, the incum­bent, was first elect­ed four years ago and has a his­to­ry of involve­ment in Repub­li­can and right wing caus­es. Choi, the chal­lenger, cam­paigned with the sup­port of pro­gres­sive and Demo­c­ra­t­ic orga­ni­za­tions and embraces ideas like pro­vid­ing all stu­dents with envi­ron­men­tal sci­ence education.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, chal­lenger Vishal Mis­ri has 39% of the vote, while incum­bent Mark W. Stu­art has 59%.

Mis­ri, a busi­ness leader at Ama­zon Web Ser­vices, focused on four areas: equi­ty and inclu­sion, men­tal well­ness, school infra­struc­ture, and teacher support.

Stu­art told vot­ers he wants all stu­dents to feel they have a home with­in their school. He ran on a plat­form of increased men­tal health aware­ness and inclusion.

Kent Schools (District #415)

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4 in Kent School Dis­trict, Awale Farah has 58% of the vote, while Bradley Ken­ning has 41%.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 5 in Kent School Dis­trict 415, Tim Clark has 60% of the vote, while Sara Franklin has 38%.

Clark’s plat­form empha­sized tech­no­log­i­cal access and edu­ca­tion. Franklin stressed improv­ing equi­ty and and con­duct­ing a robust search for a new superintendent.

Northshore Schools (District #417)

The Northshore School Dis­trict, locat­ed in the Ken­more-Both­ell area, cross­es coun­ty lines, so it’s nec­es­sary to look at returns from both King Coun­ty Elec­tions and Sno­homish Coun­ty Elec­tions to get the com­plete picture.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 1, Jacque­line McGour­ty has 59% of the vote in the King Coun­ty por­tion of the dis­trict, while Eliz­a­beth Crow­ley has 40%.

In the Sno­homish por­tion, McGour­ty has a small­er lead, with 51.71% to Crow­ley’s 47.81%. With major­i­ty sup­port in both por­tions, how­ev­er, she’s on track for vic­to­ry. In the dis­trict as a whole, McGour­ty has 56.5% and Crow­ley has 43.14%.

See com­bined results here.

McGour­ty is the incum­bent and hopes to con­tin­ue her work in strength­en­ing child­care, men­tal health sup­port, and safety.

Crow­ley ran on a plat­form of men­tal health advo­ca­cy. She says she wants to improve con­nec­tions among schools, com­mu­ni­ty, and the board.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 4, Sandy R. Hayes has 58% of the vote in the King Coun­ty por­tion of the dis­trict, while Chris Roberdeau has 41%.

Hayes also leads in the Sno­homish por­tion, with 53.41% to Roberdeau’s 46.25%.

In the dis­trict as a whole, Hayes has 56.53% and Roberdeau has 43.18%.

See com­bined results here.

In ini­tial returns for Direc­tor Dis­trict No. 5, Amy Cast has 51% of the vote in the King Coun­ty por­tion of the dis­trict, while Amy Felt has 47%.

In the Sno­homish por­tion, Felt is ahead with 51.63% and Cast has 47.91%.

In the dis­trict as a whole, Cast has a tiny lead: 50.18% to Felt’s 49.47%.

See com­bined results here.

Cast has been serv­ing on the Northshore School Board for eight years and hopes to con­tin­ue find­ing resources, part­ner­ships, and pro­grams to enhance edu­ca­tion. Felt hopes to sit down with fam­i­lies and teach­ers to solve prob­lems and increase open and hon­est com­mu­ni­ca­tion. As a pre­vi­ous assis­tant state attor­ney gen­er­al she act­ed as a children’s advo­cate in cus­tody disputes.

Updated numbers will be available tomorrow afternoon

King Coun­ty and oth­er coun­ties will release new tab­u­la­tions for all of these posi­tions tomor­row after­noon. King Coun­ty races can be viewed here, Sno­homish Coun­ty races here, and Pierce Coun­ty races here.