Voters weigh in on school board trustees in San Mateo County

Of the five candidates vying for two short-term seats, two appear to have a commanding lead. Tracy Park, a community volunteer, has 2,540 votes, or 30.63%, and Sarah Kinahan, who works at the County Office of Education, has 2,412 votes, or 29.09%. Jessica Lynn Rowe, a mother and attorney, who received 1,382 votes, or 16.67%, David Pollack received 1,240 votes, or 14.95%, and Rachel Lassman received 718 votes, or 8.66%, according to semiofficial results as of 11 p.m. on Tuesday by the San Mateo County Elections Office.

In the one contested race for the San Mateo-Foster City School District board, Trustee Ken Chin appears to have a commanding lead in the race with 11,366 votes, or 72.74%, against Randi Paynter, public health scientist, who trails with 4,260 votes, or 27.26%, according to semiofficial results.

Chin, who was first appointed to the board in 2018, previously said his goal is to provide some leadership stability to the district. For the two remaining seats, trustee Alison Proctor ran unopposed in trustee Area 1 and Latisa Brooks, a mother and businesswoman, ran unopposed in Area 2.

In the race for San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees, Area 2, Daly City Councilmember Michael Guingona appears to be leading with 7,405 votes, or 60.70%. Michael Makstman, the chief information security officer for the city and county of San Francisco, trails with 4,794 votes, or 39.30%, according to semiofficial results.

The race for South San Francisco Unified School District, Trustee Area D looks to be leaning toward Amanda Anthony, a former educator and current program manager at South San Francisco’s Economic Advancement Center, with 987 votes, or 65.63%. Steven Kassel, a tax consultant and youth athletics coach, appears to be trailing with 517 votes, or 34.38%, according to semiofficial results.

Trustees Mina Richardson and Chialin Hsieh are both running for reelection unchallenged, Richardson in Area E and Hsieh in Area C. Current board President John Baker, who was appointed to the board January 2016 and then elected November of that same year, would have been up for reelection in Area C this year. Because of district changes, he was an at-large member.

Amy Koo appears to be winning with 3,272 votes, or 56.66%, in the race for Sequoia Union High School District’s Area A, while Suvarna Bhopale trails with 2,503 votes, or 43.34%, according to semiofficial results.

The race for Sequoia’s Area D, which represents Menlo Park, part of Redwood City and North Fair Oaks, appears to be led by Sathvik Nori, a recent graduate of the high school district and member of the county’s Juvenile Justice Commission, with 3,114 votes, or 56.33%, while opponent Jo-Ann Byrne Sockolov, a mother and nonprofit consultant, appears to be trailing with 2,414 votes, or 43.67%, according to semiofficial results.

The race for three available seats in Belmont-Redwood Shores School District had four candidates. April Northrup had 3,829 votes, or 31.04%, while the remaining three candidates packed tightly led by Jackee Bruno with 3,040 votes, or 24.64%, followed by David Koss with 2,755 of the vote, or 22.33%, and Gopal Ratnam with 2,712 votes, or 21.98%, according to semiofficial results.

Northrup believes in on-campus support, especially in the classroom. Ratnam and Bruno agree in a team approach to supporting students, however, Bruno also believes in considering a student’s social and emotional well-being in addition to academic success. Koss stressed the importance of getting daily attendance up, fostering partnerships between teachers, parents and district officials and investing in student mental health support.

All results are according to semiofficial results from Tuesday, Nov. 8, which included votes by mail received by Friday, Nov. 4, and all ballots received at voting centers. Later results will include votes received after Saturday, Nov. 5. Post-election results will be released before 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10, Friday, Nov. 11, Monday, Nov. 14, Tuesday, Nov. 15, Wednesday, Nov. 16, Thursday, Nov. 17, Friday, Nov. 18, Monday, Nov. 21 and Wednesday, Nov. 23. Results will be certified Dec. 8.