Fields set for 3 seats on San Diego school board

SAN DIEGO

SAN DIEGO

Three spots will be up for grabs on the San Diego Unified school board next year, but only two will be contested races in next year’s elections.

Whoever gets elected will help govern California’s second-largest school district, with about 102,000 students and a $1.4 billion budget. There are five San Diego Unified board trustees in total who serve terms of four years.

No one has challenged current Board Vice President Richard Barrera for his spot, so he will be re-elected for a fourth term. Barrera has never had an opponent for his school board seat.

Board Trustee Sharon Whitehurst-payne, who was first elected in 2016, is the only incumbent facing a challenger next year.

Board President John Lee Evans has announced that he won’t run for re-election next year. He was first elected to the board in 2008.

The five board trustees each represent one of five geographic districts within San Diego Unified.

During the March primary, voters will vote only for candidates in their own district. The primary serves to narrow down the field for each district to two people.

In the November general election, all voters in San Diego Unified’s boundaries will vote for candidates in all the districts.

Here is the list of people running for the school board who successfully qualified for the ballot:

District A: Mira Mesa, University City, Clairemont, Madison High Schools

• Sabrina Bazzo (health educator/parent)

• Stephen Groce (parent/entrepreneur/commissioner) • Crystal Trull (educator/nonprofit consultant) District D: San Diego, Hoover High Schools

• Richard Barrera (trustee)

District E: Crawford, Lincoln, Morse High Schools

• Lawana Richmond (educational leadership manager)

• Sharon Whitehurst-payne (trustee)

kristen.taketa@sduniontribune.com