Michelle Sarju, Vivian Song Maritz leading in Tuesday count for Seattle School Board seats

Seattle School Board candidate Vivian Song Maritz led three candidates, including incumbent Erin Dury, for District 4 in Tuesday night’s primary count. Michelle Sarju stood in front of two other candidates for an open seat in District 5.

The chaotic year of online learning motivated seven candidates to run for two seats on the board that rules Washington’s largest school district. The top two voters for Districts 4 and 5 will advance to the November 2nd general election, in which voters will also choose between incumbent Brandon Hersey and Genesis Williamson for District 7.

The Seattle district has had a turbulent year. Former headmistress Denise Juneau decided not to renew her contract because of a strained relationship with the school board. A member of the school management has resigned from office. A civic group tried to call the entire board back because they had not properly planned the students’ return to class. And parents criticized Seattle Public Schools – one of the first boroughs in the country to go isolated – for taking so long to get children back to face-to-face classes.

During an interview a few weeks ago, candidates discussed what the district needs to invest in and the immediate need to improve communication between the district and families.

Sarju led the race for District 5 on Tuesday evening with around 82% of the vote. The district includes Downtown, Capitol Hill, Chinatown International District, First Hill, Leschi, Madison, and the Central Area. The incumbent Zachary DeWolf did not want to be re-elected.

Sarju said Tuesday night she was “completely optimistic” and “confident” that she will have a seat on the Seattle school board.

“It’s surprising and remarkable and I’m looking forward to doing the work on the other side,” said Sarju. “We have a big job doing this for our children in public school next year.”

Sarju, who works for King County as a project manager for maternal and child health, said social, emotional, and mental wellbeing are high on her list, and she wants every school to have at least one social worker. The board also needs to find a long-term superintendent, she said, as executive turnover prevents SPS from achieving its goals.

Behind Sarju in Tuesday’s count is Dan Harder, who ran for the Senate Republican in 2018 and received almost 14% of the ballots. He says he is committed to security, excellence and equality. He has worked at Boeing for 23 years and said he choose to run because he thinks children are wrongly taught that social inequality is caused by deliberate systemic racism.

The third candidate, Crystal Liston, received about 4% of the vote on Tuesday.

Four people are running for District 4, including Dury, who has replaced former board member Eden Mack. District 4 includes Queen Anne, Magnolia, and Ballard.

Dury, a nonprofit organizer and business consultant, had about 11% of the vote. She says she is focused on ensuring that quality education is more accessible for marginalized students as the district has not prioritized them in the past.

Song Maritz, who has more than 15 years of private sector finance and management experience, received approximately 56% of the votes cast Tuesday. By last week, Song Maritz had raised significantly more campaign donations, at $ 38,000, than any other candidate running for the board. She focuses on ensuring that the school budget reflects the district’s values ​​and goals, improving translation services and communication between schools and families, and working on transparency.

District candidate Laura Marie Rivera, who received around 23% of the vote, said she had been an educator in the public and private sectors for 30 years. She wants to improve special education offers and build partnerships with municipalities, states and the federal government, she says, because not only the school council makes decisions that affect children.

This area code marked the second time Herb Camet Jr. ran for District 4; he lost to Eden Mack in the 2017 election and had about 9% of the vote on Tuesday.