Ex-board member’s son runs for dad’s seat

The 20-year-old son of a former Oklahoma City School Board member is a running for his father’s old seat.

Josh Means filed papers Wednesday with the Oklahoma County Election Board and will challenge incumbent Gloria Torres, who is seeking a second four-year term as the panel’s District 6 representative.

District 6, on the city’s southwest side, is predominantly Hispanic.

Means is the son of Jay Means, who resigned from the board in June 2014 after taking a job as middle school principal in Woodward. He quit that job a month later to care for his ailing father.

Torres, 49, was appointed in August 2014 to replace Means and served out the remainder of his term, which ended in February 2015. She then ran unopposed for the seat after Means, who filed to run against her, withdrew from the race.

In an email, Josh Means said he’s running for the seat because “I feel as if we need a full-time board member in District Six.”

“My opponent has missed too many meetings to be effective, in my opinion,” he said.

Josh Means declined to be interviewed by phone and did not respond to email questions.

Torres is a former district middle school principal who later worked as the acting director of Community Outreach and Education for Oklahoma City Community College before resigning in November 2016.

Until recently, she commuted between Oklahoma City and Puerto Rico, where she worked for the secretary of education on issues related to community and family relations.

Torres, the board’s vice chairwoman, filed candidate papers Monday. She could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

The three-day filing period for school board hopefuls across the Oklahoma City metro-area ended Wednesday. Primary elections, if necessary, are Feb. 12.