Incumbents Scott Schmerelson and Tanya Ortiz Franklin were comfortably in the lead Wednesday in races for the Los Angeles Unified School District board, while Kahllid Al-Alim and Graciela “Grace” Ortiz were ahead by slim margins for the seats left vacant by retiring board members Jackie Goldberg and George McKenna.
Four of the seven LAUSD board seats are on the primary ballot. There are seven candidates running to represent District 1, with McKenna retiring after a more than 50-year education career. The District 1 seat covers areas including Palms, South Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills and Koreatown.
With early results from Tuesday voting tallied, Al-Alim and Sherlett Hendy Newbill were neck-and-neck atop the District 1 race, followed closely by DeWayne Davis, an educational strategist, and then by Didi Watts, chief of staff to Ortiz Franklin; Rina Tambor, a tutor; Christian Flagg, a community organizer; and John Aaron Brasfield.
Al-Alim, a community activist, is calling for more parent engagement and ending the “school to prison pipeline.” He was endorsed by the influential United Teachers Los Angeles teachers union, but he came under fire recently for resurfaced social media posts, including one that suggested assigning an antisemitic book to students. The candidate apologized for the posts.
“There is a very long history of Jewish and Black people backing each other and working in solidarity for justice. I want to continue that important work,” he said in a Feb. 20 statement.
In response, UTLA’s Board of Directors voted to suspend campaign activities in District 1.
In District 3, which covers much of the northern and western San Fernando Valley, voters elected Schmerelson to represent the district in 2014 and again in 2020. He is facing four challengers: Dan Chang, Elizabeth Badger, Andreas Farmakalidis and Raquel Villalta.
Early returns showed Schmerelson well ahead, followed by Chang, a math teacher, and then, well back, Villalta, a teacher; Badger, founder and CEO of Minority Outreach Committee; and Farmakalidis, co-owner of California MusicBox, which provides private music lessons to students.
During his campaign, Schmerelson vowed to improve student safety and equip schools with current technology, air conditioning and air filtration.
In District 5, which stretches from the East Hollywood and Eagle Rock area to southeast Los Angeles, four candidates — Ortiz, along with Fidencio Joel Gallardo, Karla Griego, Victorio R. Gutierrez — are trying to replace the retiring Goldberg.
The early returns showed Ortiz and Griego in a tight race for the lead, followed by Gallardo, the mayor of Bell, and Gutierrez.
Ortiz was removed in February from her job as an L.A. Unified counseling administrator pending a confidential investigation, school district officials confirmed to the Los Angeles Times. A school employees union, Chapter 500 of California School Employees Association, withdrew its endorsement of her.
The investigation began after a civil lawsuit was filed alleging Ortiz and a political ally are liable for the actions of a campaign worker, who pleaded no contest to sexual misconduct with an underage volunteer, according to The Times.
An attorney for Ortiz demanded in a letter to the plaintiff’s attorney that the case be dropped, calling the allegations “malicious and defamatory,” The Times reported.
Ortiz’s top priorities include fully funding schools and reducing class sizes in all grade levels.
In District 7, which covers an area including Carson, San Pedro, Gardena and parts of South Los Angeles, incumbent Ortiz Franklin is facing only one challenger: Lydia Gutiérrez, a Long Beach elementary school teacher. Ortiz Franklin was ahead in early returns.
According to her campaign, Franklin’s priorities include ensuring more students get to choose college and prioritizing student safety.
If a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote, they will secure the office. Otherwise, the top two vote-getters will proceed to the November runoff.
The Board of Education governs policy for LAUSD, the second-largest school district in the nation.