Who won seats on 7 SLO County school boards
School districts across San Luis Obispo County held elections for open board seats on Nov. 3.
Elections were held for the Atascadero Unified, Paso Robles Joint Unified, San Luis Coastal Unified, San Miguel Joint Union, Shandon Joint Unified, Templeton Unified school districts.
Cuesta College’s Board of Trustees also held an election.
School board elections come at a particularly contentious times for districts as many are working to finalize plans to reopen campuses — or have already done so — for in-person instruction during the coronavirus pandemic. Members of each district’s school board have made key decisions on whether to allow students to come on campus and what that would look like.
Additionally, budget downfalls projected by the state will impact many school districts for years to come, especially in the time following the closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, which provides millions in funding each year to school districts across the county.
School board members have the hot seat when it comes to approving, finalizing and holding to account school district’s budgets.
Here’s a look at the unofficial results, as of Nov. 13, by the San Luis Obispo County Clerk Recorder’s Office (“I” indicates incumbent). These numbers are subject to change as additional mail-in and provisional ballots are counted:
Atascadero Unified School District
Four candidates competed for three open seats on the Atascadero Unified School District’s Board of Trustees.
22,342 votes counted, which represents 87.1% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Mary Kay Mills (I): 26.5%
- Terri E. Switzer (I): 26%
- Corinne C. Kuhnle (I): 24.9%
- Vy Pierce: 22.7%
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District
Twelve candidates competed for four open seats on the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District’s Board of Trustees.
25,630 votes counted, which represents 84.4% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Dorian K. Baker: 13.1%
- Chris Bausch (I): 12.6%
Jim Reed: 12.1%
Nathan Williams: 9.4%
Jim Cogan: 9.2%
- Greg S. Goodman: 8.2%
- Frank Triggs: 7.5%
- Laura Parker: 6.6%
- Caitlin J. Vierra: 6.4%
- Joan Summers (I): 5.7%
- Ruben Canales Jr.: 5.6%
- Leonard Washington: 3.6%
San Luis Coastal Unified School District
Three candidates competed for two open seats on the San Luis Coastal Unified School District’s Board of Trustees.
49,750 votes counted, which represents 87.5% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Kathryn Eisendrath Rogers (I): 42.5%
- Eve Dobler-Drew: 31.9%
Walt Millar (I): 25.6%
San Miguel Joint Union School District
Three candidates competed for two open seats on the San Miguel Joint Union School District’s Board of Trustees.
2,892 votes counted, which represents 82.1% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Constantino Victor Delgado: 39.7%
- Michael J. Sanders (I): 34.8%
- Lily Huynh: 25.5%
Shandon Joint Unified School District
Two candidates competed for one open seat on the Shandon Joint Unified School District Board of Trustees
574 votes counted, which represents 78.4% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Flint Speer (I): 54%
- Amy Russell: 46%
Templeton Unified School District
Seven candidates competed for three open seats on the Templeton Unified School District Board of Trustees.
7.079 votes counted, which represents 88.2% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Nelson Yamagata (I): 22.2%
- Ted Dubost (I): 20.4%
- Mendi Swan: 18.9%
- Matt Allison: 12%
- Peter Romwall: 11.1%
- Jay L. Raftery: 8.4%
- Nagla Orlando: 7%
Cuesta College
Two candidates competed for one open seat on the Cuesta College Board of Trustees.
31,395 votes counted, which represents 86.2% of registered voters who qualify for this race
- Mary T. Strobridge (I): 65.2%
- Brian Kennelly: 34.8%
This story was originally published November 3, 2020 at 8:26 PM.
