2026 San Francisco School Board Race
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Meet the Candidates: San Francisco’s school board race
Eight candidates are running for three open seats on the school board. Here are their answers to weekly questions about issues and policies.
Meet the school board candidates: What does SFUSD need to do to end state fiscal oversight?
Eight candidates are facing off for three San Francisco school board seats. This week, Mission Local asked how SFUSD should end state fiscal oversight.
Mayor Lurie’s charter measures raise stunning $11M, more than all others combined
Fundraising for the ballot measures is staggering: Over $19 million is going toward the 10 measures on the ballot.
Meet the school board candidates: How would you address the district’s 24% chronic absenteeism rate?
Eight candidates are facing off for three San Francisco school board seats. This week, Mission Local asked how they’d fix the district’s chronic absenteeism rate.
Warring slates will face off in S.F. school board race, and one’s got a lot more cash
It’s tech-backed GrowSF vs. the teachers union vs. the Parent Coalition in the San Francisco school board race.
The candidates
Autumn Brown Garibay
- Job: Senior customer success manager at Sprout Social, Inc.
- Age: 41
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Renter in the Mission District
- Children: Three in SFUSD schools
- SFUSD experience: PTA at kids’ school, served on the parent leadership council of the San Francisco Parent Coalition
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in public relations and marketing from Long Beach State University and Sacramento State University
- Languages: English
- Transportation: Public transit, walking and biking
- Website: Autumn Brown Garibay for School Board
Virginia Cheung
- Job: Chief advancement officer of Open Door Legal
- Age: 43
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Homeowner in Crocker Amazon, previously lived in the Mission District and the Portola since moving to San Francisco in 2008
- Children: Yes, they attend Alice Fong Yu Alternative School and Wah Mei School
- SFUSD experience: Treasurer for Parents for Public Schools of San Francisco and served on the Parent Advisory Board of Wah Mei BASE ExCel
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in social ecology with a minor in digital art from the University of California, Irvine
- Languages: English, Cantonese, Mandarin and French
- Transportation: Driving
- Website: Virginia Cheung for School Board
Alida Fisher
- Job: Executive director at the Community Alliance for Special Education, incumbent Board of Education member
- Age: 51
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Homeowner in Lakeview/OMI, lived in the Sunset until 2015
- Children: Yes, four adults, ages 18-25. Three have graduated from SFUSD, and the fourth is a senior at Mission High School this year.
- SFUSD experience: Current SFUSD Board of Education member. Has served as chair of the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, member or past member of SFUSD’s African American Parent Advisory Council, LCAP Task Force, Charter School Oversight Committee, and PIR/CEIS/CCEIS Committee, PTSAs and SSCs at nine school sites
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Case Western Reserve University
- Languages: English, with limited ability to speak and understand Spanish and French
- Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking
- Website: Reelect Alida Fisher
Ryan Hazelton
- Job: Executive director of Mariposa Kids, a nonprofit for play-based programs for kids ages 1-11
- Age: 43
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Homeowner in the SoMa, living in San Francisco since 2007
- Children: None
- SFUSD experience: Chair of San Francisco Child Care Planning & Advisory Council, appointed by SFUSD
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of California, San Diego
- Languages: English
- Transportation: Public transit, walking and biking
- Website: Ryan Hazelton for SF School Board
Phil Kim
- Job: Deputy director at San Francisco Agency for Human Rights, incumbent Board of Education president
- Age: 36
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Renter in the Castro
- Children: None
- SFUSD experience: School board president
- Education: Bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from Bucknell University; master’s degree in education policy and administration from Loyola Marymount University; Pursuing Ed.D. at the University of California, Berkeley
- Languages: English and Korean
- Transportation: Public transit, walking
- Website: Phil Kim for School Board
Laurance Lee
- Job: Volunteer at schools and licensed general contractor
- Age: 56
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Homeowner in Noe Valley, born in the Richmond District
- Children: Yes, but did not attend SFUSD
- SFUSD experience: Current vice chair SFUSD Citizens Bond Oversight Committee (appointed in 2022)
- Education: Bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and history & science from Harvard University
- Languages: English (learning Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish and French)
- Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking
- Website: Laurance Lee for School Board
Reina Tello
- Job: Community organizer
- Age: 44
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Renter, born and raised in San Francisco
- Children: Two children: 14, rising eighth grader at James Lick Middle School; 18, recently graduated from June Jordan School for Equity
- SFUSD experience: Served on School Site Council two years ago
- Education: Current City College of San Francisco student studying labor and community studies
- Languages: English and Spanish
- Transportation: Driving
- Website: Reina for School Board
Tim Tung
- Job: Public finance analyst, research analyst, public finance lecturer
- Age: 46
- Party: Democratic
- Residency: Homeowner in the Western Addition, previously lived in the Richmond and SoMa
- Children: Two children at Chinese Immersion School at De Avila
- SFUSD experience: Chair of the school site council at the Chinese Immersion School at De Avila; serves on SFUSD’s local control and accountability plan advisory committee
- Education: Bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in information and data science from the University of California, Berkeley; master’s degree in public administration from San Jose State University
- Languages: English
- Transportation: Driving, public transit and walking
- Website: Tim Tung for School Board
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Get in touch with our reporter Rosina Boehm who is covering the race at rosina@missionlocal.com
Meet the Candidates
In the “Meet the Candidates” series for the school board race, we ask the 11 candidates one question every two weeks all the way leading up to the election. They must answer the question in 100 words or fewer. We will link to longer answers.
Read the candidates’ answers so far.