Berkeley voters will see just three names for three Berkeley Unified School District board seats on the Nov. 3, 2026 ballot: board president Ka'Dijah Brown, board member Jennifer Shanoski and newcomer Sandy Park. Former candidate Reichi Lee announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20, that she is running as a write-in.

Why it matters: District watchers told Berkeleyside it is the least competitive Berkeley school board election in about two decades, even as the five-member board deals with a projected $7 million deficit over the next two years, on top of more than $11 million in cuts it approved in June.

Who is on the ballot

  • Ka'Dijah Brown (incumbent): a teacher and the current school board president.
  • Jennifer Shanoski (incumbent): a chemistry professor at Merritt College and former president of the Peralta Federation of Teachers.
  • Sandy Park (newcomer): an education consultant and the parent of three children in Berkeley schools.

Ballotpedia lists the same three candidates in the at-large race. Board members serve four-year terms.

The three are running as a slate, and all three are endorsed by the Berkeley Federation of Teachers, a union of more than 900 members. Berkeleyside reports that in the last nine elections, only one candidate without the union's backing, Shirley Issel, who served from 1998 to 2010, has won a seat.

The write-in campaign

Reichi Lee ran for the board in 2022 and lost despite raising more money than any of the three winners. She was also a finalist this summer for the seat Ana Vasudeo left to join the Alameda County Board of Education. That vacancy drew 23 applicants, none of whom made the November ballot.

Lee's write-in platform calls for stronger limits on screen use, a pause on student-facing artificial intelligence tools and better math instruction. She told Berkeleyside she held off on a regular campaign because winning without the teachers union's support looked impossible. Lee and another parent who considered running, Scott Hofmeister, are part of Berkeley Unplugged, a group pushing the district to restrict classroom technology.

Where the slate stands

In interviews and a questionnaire, Brown, Shanoski and Park all said they would focus on the achievement gap, where progress in English and math has stalled for Black students, students with disabilities and English learners over the past decade. All three said they would cut spending on outside contractors and rein in fast-rising special education costs.

Other issues in front of the next board include hundreds of students on aftercare waitlists, attendance and enrollment that remain below pre-pandemic levels, a new elementary math curriculum, and repeated rulings by the California Department of Education against the district, including one over a Berkeley High yearbook photo.

Is no contest a problem?

Some parents say an uncontested race lets big decisions slip off the public's radar. "When you have contested elections, you start having accountability," parent Ivi Kolasi told Berkeleyside. Former board president Ty Alper called this year an anomaly, saying running citywide is a lot of work, and called all three candidates strong.

More Berkeley races

For Berkeley's council and rent board contests, see our District 8 council race guide, and find every local contest on our Bay Area Election 2026 hub.