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The Seattle School Board held a forum for the eight final candidates seeking to fill vacant director positions in the District 4 for Queen Anne and District 2 for Magnolia school districts.
Held at Lincoln High School on March 27 the meeting was chaired by Liza Rankin, board president, and moderated by Student Board Members Aauysh Muthuswamy and Semai Hagos.
The appointed candidates will serve on the Seattle school board until November 2025. The board seats opened after two directors resigned this January.
At the forum, the eight finalists expressed concerns regarding the lack of equity, declining enrollment rates and budget constraints prevalent within Seattle Public Schools (SPS).
“I want to listen to the students. I want to listen to the educators, and I want to listen to the parents to make sure we are all making an informed decision,” Rachell C. Olden said. Olden is a District 4 candidate who is a senior product marketing manager at Google.
Other candidates include District 2’s Danielle Gahl, a consultant at Adiutrix Consulting; Sarah Clark, director of policy at the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Carol Thompson, an Allen Institute associate director of data integration.
Despite the variety of professions among finalists, candidates shared a dedication to closing opportunity gaps for students from underrepresented and historically marginalized communities.
“You are making sure you are centering voices that might not have easy access to the system or have not traditionally been centered,” Joe Mizrahi said. Mizrahi is secretary-treasurer for UFCW 3000s.
His fellow District 4 finalists echoed their commitment to promoting equity within SPS, including writer and teacher Laura Marie Rivera, Gabriela Gonzalez, a chief data officer for a boat sharing company and Rachelle C. Olden.
The budget remains at the forefront of school board conversations as the window closes to avoid school closures and staff reductions across the district.
“To make those cost cuts we want to involve the community, gather feedback and try to make the least painful cuts as possible,” Shawn Sullivan, GT School CTO, and District 2 candidate said.
The District 4 director will serve the students and families of eight SPS schools, while the District 2 appointee will represent constituents from 15 public schools. Ultimately, the board will go on to help decide how SPS addresses the district’s $105 million deficit.
Additionally, candidates pledged to increase community involvement and to carry out the director role with Seattle’s families and their children’s futures at the center of their service.
Advocating for necessary increases to mental health resources, accessibility initiatives and STEM programs within public schools, the school board will confront SPS’s economic and community issues head-on in the next year leading up to the November 2025 election.
Directors for Magnolia and Queen Anne in Districts 2 and 4 will be appointed April 3 and take the oath of office at a special April 4 meeting. For more information about Seattle Public School's upcoming board meetings and district director appointments, please refer to the Seattle School Board website.
Alison Sabella is a journalism and Public Interest Communication student at the University of Washington.