Married teachers withdraw bids to run for school board

Two Fulton County school board candidates say they have withdrawn from their respective races because they don’t live in the districts they were running to represent.

Samuel Beck and his wife, Stefani de Beck, are Fulton County teachers who qualified last week to run in Districts 3 and 4, respectively. However, the couple live in District 6. State law requires school board candidates to live in the district they run to represent. When reached by phone, the Becks said they were unaware of the law.

“My understanding of how this works was: If I were a resident of Georgia, if I were a resident of the county, and if I were a resident of the school district, I was qualified,” Samuel Beck said.

He likened his confusion to living in both Fulton County and the city of Atlanta but attending Atlanta Public Schools as opposed to schools in Fulton. He didn’t know he had to live in District 3 to run for the seat, Beck said.

De Beck said she was also unaware of the rules, only deciding to run a few days ago at the urging of her middle school students.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week the Becks own a house in southern Fulton County. According to a school district zone map, the house is located in District 6, which isn’t on the ballot this year.

That discrepancy prompted Elizabeth Harris to file a candidate residency challenge with Fulton County’s Department of Registration and Elections. Harris is the campaign manager for District 4 incumbent Franchesca Warren.

Fulton’s Department of Registration and Elections has not responded to multiple inquiries from the AJC about how the Becks qualified to run for office.