Who's Running for Seattle School Board?
Update 3:
It does appear that in D4, Nadia F. Goforth is running.
She is currently Communications and Advocacy Director at the Legal Foundation of Washington, heading the Equal Justice Coalition and a fellow at the WA Institute for a Democratic Future.
Update 2
One candidate has dropped out and that's Kimberly Early in District 7. That leaves two candidates who will sail through the primary to the general election, Carol Rava and Jennifer LaVallee. Both appear to be white.
I still need to confirm but by my current research, this will be the first time in at least 36 years that District Seven's rep will not be a person of color.
end of update
Update: I misspelled Mr. Feeny's name a couple of times. My apologies.
end of update
Per the PDC as of 5:05 pm. My understanding is that candidates MUST be registered with the King County Elections by 5 pm today. I think you can register with PDC within two weeks of notice of candidacy. The last day to withdraw is Monday, May 12th.
Who's Running?
District 2
- Sarah Clark, current director. She was appointed to the position, not elected.
- Eric Feeny
- Kathleen Smith
District 4
- Joe Mizrahi, current director. He was appointed to the position, not elected.
- Gloria Suella Menchaca
- Laura Marie Rivera
- Nadia F. Goforth
- William Campbell
District 5
- Michelle Sarju, current director. She has repeatedly stated that she was leaving so it's unclear why her name is there. I did check and it appears she has spent campaign money in 2025. My take is that she is getting pressure to stay put to keep the 4-person majority for SOFG. But she seems very frustrated and unhappy in this role.
- Janis White
- Allycea Weil
- Julissa Sanchez
- Landon Labosky
- Vivian Song. Former director who left because she was not transparent about having moved out of her district.
- Vivian Van Gelder
Let's talk about the newcomer candidates.
District 2
- Eric Feeny
Mr. Feeny has a background in tech start-ups in process consulting and business development. He is a past president of the Cascadia Elementary PTA. Eric Feeny tried to get Rivera's seat. He also applied for the open Seattle City Council seat for position 8 in January 2024.
- Kathleen Smith Because she didn't add an initial, I cannot be sure who she is. I do not find a website with someone with that name running for the Board.
District 4
- Gloria Suella Menchaca
No webpage yet. Could not find anything on her. Anyone?
Some of you may recall that Rivera applied to fill Song's empty seat; Joe Mizrahi got the nod. She ran for school board in 2021. She is an SPS parent, working on her PhD at Seattle University looking at "the intersection of Motherhood and Leadership."
She is the political director for LD 36th and serves on the board for Seattle Special Education PTSA. She is deeply interested in the arts and has championed them during her previous runs.
I'll just go out on a limb at this juncture and tell you that there are few people running - in any of the races - who know as much as Rivera about SPS.
- Nadia F. Goforth
She's registered at the PDC but not King County Elections. Unclear to me if she is running so once I get clarity on that, I'll try to find out more.
- Harsimran Kaur
Despite what I see as an unusual name, there are five people with Seattle region ties. One played football at Nathan Hale High in 2022. Another is a counselor working towards her Master's at City University of Seattle. Another is a dentist in Bothell. Another person works in immigration in Kent. Another person is a tech in phlebotomist at Swedish Hospital.
I will attempt to narrow it down. Anyone?
His webpage is still under construction so I don't know much.
District 5
- Julissa Sanchez, registered at both PDC and KC elections
A fierce mujer, mother, community organizer, educator, youth, decolonizing, housing and racial justice advocate, xicana feminist and writer.
- Vivian Song, registered at both PDC and KC elections
Song is a known quantity for Seattle School Board having been elected to the Board in 2021. She resigned the seat in 2024 after moving to a new address without telling the Board. (I note this is not illegal and, in fact, if she had reported it to the other directors, would have remained on the Board until her term ended. At that time, she would have had to run from again from her new address. It never made a lot of sense to me that she resigned but I do think there was some bullying going on within the Board.)
Song is a data wonk in the model of former director Eden Mack. She's smart and calm and seemed to be a team player.
He has a Master's in Public Administration. He is a Fellow at the Washington Institute for a Democratic Future; he also works as the Aquatics Manager for the City of Covington. He is a member of the LGBTQ+ Commission for the City of Seattle. He attended public schools.
- Vivian van Gelder
An Australian native, Van Gelder is a former lawyer and currently the Director of Policy and Research at the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition. She recently wrote (or co-wrote) a paper on the history of Seattle Schools. I'll have a separate post on that document but I have mixed feelings about it. She has been active in PTSA and served on the SCPTSA as a past president.
She actually has more of a paper trail on her feelings about Seattle public education than other candidates. We can examine that later on.
She is a lawyer and "senior trial counsel" at the Fidelity National Law Group. She has been an extremely active Seattle Schools parent and the former president of the Seattle Special Education PTSA. She has also been active in PTSA. She is the founding president of All Youth Belong, "a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing inclusion and belonging for disabled youth in community life."
- Allycea Weil
She works in the creative fields of screenwriting and direction. She is the owner of Space Misfits Productions. She helped to create an app called Seattle's Infamous Redline Guide, which is a walking tour of the Central District. She has/had children in SPS at Licton Springs K-8.
Comments
Evan Briggs is even worse. She has boasted that she doesn't read her board director email. And then at the Daniel Bagley community meeting last week, she said, "I was forced — against my will — to run for school board director." She looks miserable at every meeting. Honestly, I don't want a leader who has been browbeaten into it. She had two opponents — Christie Robertson and Ben Gitenstein — both of whom are still engaged in SPS politics and would have cared about being a representative of the people. Instead, we have Evan, who I guess is too scared of whoever it is who forced her to run (Chandra Hampson?) instead of living her own happy life. I hope she just steps down and lets someone else represent her district.
— Sand Point parent
Then we have or should I say HAD Brandon Hersey. He used to meet with community and reply to emails. Now he is there just to make apologies for Jones. I am sure they have some kind of personal connection or friendship but really? Do your job Brandon.
Regarding the candidates, I will vote for those that are in the race FOR THE KIDS. People that have gone through the trouble to fake their addresses or have other political aspirations are a rotund NO for me. I plan to do my research and ask the hard questions because there is so much at stake.
Fed Up
I am glad to see a few good candidates.
~ Onward
-SWWS
Clark, along with Topp and Mizrahi are the three board members who've followed up for more info after I sent various data write ups since fall of last year.
Agreed though that we want folks who are for the kids.
Other one is Vivian Song who basically pointed me at the right direction to dig. If you've liked my financial analyses, credit must go to her.
At this point I want track record of understanding finances and structure the rest of the concerns are secondary or lower.
Clark appears to be a voice of reason representing her community. Thanks for the information, Albert.
- Clark has my vote
~ Voting for Clark