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In four races that could alter the composition of the seven-member Portland Public Schools Board, Christy Splitt, Rashelle Chase-Miller, Virginia La Forte, and Stephanie Engelsman were leading in early returns.
School Board members are elected to four-year terms and are tasked with hiring (and firing) the district’s superintendent, workshopping and approving big-ticket items, including capital bonds and school budgets, and drafting policy for the district. Members represent individual zones within PPS’s boundaries, but are elected districtwide.
In Zone 1, which covers Southwest Portland, including Ida B. Wells High School, Christy Splitt was the early leader with 77.98% of the vote. The School Board appointed Splitt to Andrew Scott’s seat in January after Scott moved out of his zone and resigned. If elected, she’ll hold the seat for two years to finish out his term.
Splitt is the government relations coordinator for the Oregon Department of Energy and a parent at Hayhurst Elementary School. She’s used those experiences on the School Board thus far to lobby legislators for more school funding, and has collaborated on efforts to bring down the costs of three high school rebuilds. Her opponent, Ken Cavagnolo, is an astrophysicist turned business executive who currently has 19.49% of the vote. He is a PPS outsider.
In Zone 4, which covers much of North Portland, including Roosevelt High School, Rashelle Chase-Miller was the early leader with 56.63% of the vote. Chase-Miller, who by day is the program director at education nonprofit SMART Reading, has centered her platform on raising academic achievement, advocating for the state to fully fund education, and supporting teachers. She has also pushed for improvements to PPS’s special education programming. She has raised the most campaign dollars of all the Portland School Board candidates this cycle, funded in large part by the Portland Association of Teachers.
Chase-Miller was on track to unseat her opponent, Herman Greene, the only School Board member this election cycle seeking reelection. Greene, a senior pastor at Abundant Life PDX, was polling at 42.69% of the vote.
In Zone 5, which covers much of Northeast Portland, including Grant and McDaniel high schools, Virginia La Forte was the early leader with 54.86% of the vote. La Forte, a brand strategist by day and longtime PPS parent advocate, started her campaign relatively late. The Zone 5 race has been one of the most unique this cycle, after incumbent Gary Hollands suspended his own reelection campaign and threw his support behind La Forte. Her major goals include reducing chronic absenteeism, raising low reading proficiency rates, and improving school facilities.
La Forte’s opponent, Jorge Sanchez Bautista, is a McDaniel High student. He is running on a platform to bring a student voice to the School Board, and was polling at 44.55%.
In Zone 6, which covers much of Southeast Portland, including Cleveland and Franklin high schools, Stephanie Engelsman was the early leader with 78.91% of the vote. Engelsman is a longtime public defender who has spent years focused on juvenile justice, with three kids in PPS schools. She has centered her campaign on reducing chronic absenteeism and expanding access to apprenticeship opportunities and college prep courses.
Engelsman’s opponents are Rob Galanakis, a Bike Bus PDX leader and Simone Crowe, a massage therapy school graduate. They were polling at 13.37% and 5%, respectively.