Voters to Decide Two School Board Seats

By Isabella Bravo
Co-Editor | The Pacific Times

On Election Day registered voters will not only cast their ballots for national offices such as President, but also in the Natomas Unified School Board race.

Clockwise: Jonathan Cook, Micah Grant, Sumiti Mehta and Monique Langer.

Trustee Area 5 is currently up for election as Dr. Susan Heredia who previously held the office is retiring. Trustee Area 5 includes NP3 high, middle, and elementary schools, Paso Verde School, and Witter Ranch Elementary. Monique Langer and Sumiti Mehta are running to represent the Trustee Area 5 seat on the school board.

In order to be eligible for the trustee position the candidates must live in the area. Both Langer and Mehta are Natomas parents. Langer is a mother to four Natomas students and works as a public affairs manager at the California Victim Compensation Board. Mehta is a technology consultant, currently serves on the NP3 school board, and is also a mother of two Natomas students.

Three candidate forums have been held in the past few months to give voters a chance to meet and hear from the candidates in person on the issues that matter to them.

Also participating in the forums were Trustee Area 3 candidates Jonathan Cook and incumbent Micah Grant. Trustee Area 3 includes Inderkum High School, Natomas Charter School, Westlake Charter High School, and Natomas Park Elementary.

On Sept. 23, a forum was hosted by The Natomas Buzz and League of Women Voters at the Westlake Clubhouse. Questions were generated beforehand and some during the forum by attendees on issues such as further support for students and teachers in the classroom and school safely following district-wide threats on earlier that month.

On Oct. 10, a second forum was held at Natomas Charter School where questions were generated beforehand and largely during the event, mostly by high school students from the district’s charter high schools.

Although many students are unable to vote in this year’s election, there was a large turnout of NP3 students who said they understand the importance of staying informed in local elections that impact their education.

“Getting involved in such smaller things are like a gateway into getting involved in much greater political affairs,” said senior Luke Nikitchuk who attended the Oct. 10 forum. “I think it was pretty interesting. I liked the fact that we could question the candidates. It was really engaging.”

Grassroots group Natomas Black Parents United also hosted a candidate forum online on Oct. 23.