BUSY TIME FOR SCHOOL BOARD HOPEFULS IN 15 DISTRICTS
Dozens of seats were on East County ballots for Tuesday’s election
Dozens of seats are up for grabs among the 15 East County school public boards during the 2020 election. While some seats have only one candidate, several races are competitive.
Alpine Union: John Paul Sullivan, a school employee and father, and two incumbents — Travis Lyon and Joseph Perricone — are vying for two open seats in the Alpine Union School District. The district serves about 1,750 students. Early results showed a comfortable lead for the two incumbents.
Borrego Springs Unified: Two incumbents, former middle school principal and board president Steven Riehle, and board member Curt Yaws, are running unopposed in the rural desert community in northeast San Diego County.
Cajon Valley Union: Cajon Valley Union School District, with its 28 elementary and middle schools in El Cajon and La Mesa, is the largest East County school district. Four candidates are competing for two seats on the board, one in Area 4 and one in Area 5. In Area 4, incumbent Karen Clark-Mejia is challenged by Monica Hinton, a behavior health therapist. In Area 5, incum
bent James Miller is challenged by Stacie Hoover, who currently serves on the School Site Counsel at Bostonia Elementary in El Cajon. Both incumbents showed comfortable leads in early results.
Dehesa: Dehesa School District consists of just one school serving grades K-8. Incumbent Karen Kirkpatrick, Army veteran Doris Rivas-Brekke, Maria Sanchez and contractor Richard White are running for two available seats. Early results showed Kirkpatrick and White leading in a tight race.
Grossmont Union High School: Grossmont Union High School District includes 15 high schools in El Cajon, La Mesa and
Spring Valley. Board Vice President Chris Fite is running unopposed in Area 1 while in Area 2, board member Elva Salinas faces two challengers — educator Justin Slagle and Jim Stieringer, a former board member who lost to Salinas in 2016. Early results showed incumbent Salinas with a comfortable lead.
Jamul-Dulzura Union: Gregory Wall, a special education teacher and Peter Reichert are running unopposed for two seats on the board.
Julian Union School District: With three seats available, according to the county, just two candidates are running: incumbent Kevin Meacham and Danielle E.
Woodward.
Julian Union High School District: Candidates Meredith Page Brooks and Randa J. Lake (short term) are running unopposed.
La Mesa-Spring Valley School District: Four candidates — Sarah Rhiley, Abu-Bakr Al-Jafri, Suzanne Fairman and Lydia Milican — are on the ballot challenging incumbent board president Emma Turner in Area 4. Four candidates — Minerva Martinez Scott, Coldon Owens Sr., Lorena Smith and Tyra Fleming are competing for an open seat in Area 5. In Area 4, Rhiley had an early lead Tuesday while Scott led in Area 5.
Lakeside Union: Two seats are on the ballot in the Lakeside Union School District. Incumbent Rhonda Taylor is running for re-election with four challengers — Ginny Bell, Stacy Coble, Lara Moir and Charles Plante. Taylor and Moir led in early results Tuesday
emon Grove: Two seats are up for election this cycle with incumbent Blanca Brown challenged by two other candidates — Yajaira Preciado and Cheryl Robertson. April Leon, who was appointed to her seat in November 2019 after former board member Katie Dexter resigned and moved to Wisconsin. The winner will serve out the final two years of Dexter’s four-year term. Robertson and Leon led in early results Tuesday.
Mountain Empire Unified:
Mountain Empire spans 660 square miles of eastern San Diego County from Descanso to Boulevard. In Area 6, incumbent Tina Heimerdinger is challenged by Story Vogel, a teacher and football coach, while incumbent Chris Anderson is running unopposed in Area 7. Early results Tuesday show Heimerdinger leading.
Ramona Unified: Board President Dawn Perfect and Vice President Daryn Drum are running for re-election to the board against Stephanie Cooter, John Rajcic and Joe Stupar. Two seats are available. Perfect appeared set to win Tuesday, however, early results showed Drum trailing Rajcic by a slim margin.
Santee School District: In Area 2, incumbent Dian El Hajj is challenged by Sarah Kirk, a college professor and Jeremy Thomas, who’s listed on the ballot as a college athlete and student. In Area 4, incumbent Elana LevensCraig is challenged by Jacob Terenzini. El Hajj and LevensCraig led in early results Tuesday.
Warner Unified: At 432 square miles, Warner Unified School District covers a large swath of northern East County. Three seats are up for grabs with two incumbents — Melissa Krogh and Melody Sees — running. Also running are Carolyn Alto Audibert, Terry Cox, Gene Doxey and Byron Klemaske II. Krogh, Sees and Doxey led in early results Tuesday with Cox in a close fourth place.