The early results of the November 5 election are beginning to solidify, though many local races have not been decided. Westside school districts have a lot on the line this year – the outcomes of school board races will determine the path forward for districts, and the fate of education bonds will impact the lives of schoolchildren for decades to come. 

The Los Angeles County Registrar, the office responsible for overseeing L.A. County elections, is still receiving, processing, and tallying votes from across the county. 

4.3 Million L.A. county residents voted in the November 2020 general election. Thus far, only 2.6 Million votes have been counted. The office updates election results daily, between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. Our reporting includes results as of 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. 

While some school board races are too early to call, initial results for the education bonds on the ballot are promising.

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) Bond Measure US has received 66.1 percent of the votes to approve the $9 Billion bond to improve district facilities. The measure needs 55 percent approval to pass. The district hopes to use the bond to fund repairs and renovations it says are urgent and necessary – more than 60 percent of LAUSD school buildings are more than 50 years old and the HVAC and plumbing systems inside them are in a constant state of disrepair. 

In the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, Measure QS and MM are both showing promising early results. Measure QS, the education facilities bond for Santa Monica is sitting at 62.5 percent of the votes in favor. Measure MM, the education facilities bond for Malibu has 60.5 percent of the votes in favor so far. Both measures need 55 percent of the vote to pass. 

Measure QS would garner up to $495 Million from property taxes to update and repair its aging facilities. Measure MM would supply up to $395 Million to improve and modernize Malibu school facilities.  

Though the district is still together, Santa Monica and Malibu residents vote separately for their respective portions of the district. A misprint of the ballot led to Santa Monica and Malibu voters having both facilities measures on their ballots this election. The L.A. County Registrar has confirmed that it will only count Santa Monica resident ballots for Measure QS and Malibu resident ballots for Measure MM. 

Measure O, the education bond on the ballot for Culver City Unified (CCUSD), is ahead by an even wider margin. Measure O, like its predecessor Measure K, will generate $2.4 Million a year for the school district and be used to hire and retain teachers and keep class sizes small. Currently, the results have Measure O with 82.3 percent of the votes in favor and 17.6 percent of votes against. The measure needs two-thirds of the vote to pass.

The status of many school board seats is still up in the air across Westside school districts.

In LAUSD, the race for board district 1 is somewhat of an outlier even within the district, where other races are still very unclear. BD1 covers south and west Los Angeles. Sherlett Hendy Newbill, a former Dorsey High teacher and policy aide to current BD1 representative George McKenna is in the lead with 70.8 percent of the vote. Kahllid Al-Alim, a community organizer, has just 29.1 percent. 

Three board seats are up for election in Santa Monica-Malibu. Current board members President Jennifer Smith, Vice President Jon Kean, and Maria Leon-Vazquez, are running to retain their seats on a united slate. One challenger, Christine Falaguerra, suspended her campaign in late September. But because of her late withdrawal, her name and the election for these offices remained on the ballot.

All three incumbents have won the majority of the votes. Smith has 30.1 percent, Kean has 27.7 percent, and Leon-Vazquez has 27.2 percent. Despite withdrawing, Falaguerra has received 14.9 percent of the vote.

Two new members will join the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education following this election. Board President Kelly Kent and Paula Amezola both decided not to run for reelection earlier this year. Three candidates are vying for two seats – Sameen Ahmadnia, Lindsay Carlson, and Andrew Lachman. Lachman is leading the results with 37.2 percent. Carlson has 34.9 percent and Ahmadnia has 27.8 percent.

The Inglewood Unified School District (IUSD) also has two open seats on its board. Current trustee for Area 4 Margaret Turner-Evans has received 68.4 percent of the vote. Her challenger Ronald Gomez has received 31.5 percent. Ernesto Castillo, the current trustee for Area 5, ran unopposed and won 100 percent of the votes.

The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) race will elect three members to its board of education. Incumbent Amanda Stern was joined in the race by newcomers Sigalie Sabag, Russell Stuart, and Dela Peykar Ronen. The three candidates with the most votes will be elected. At present, it’s close. Stern has 26.2 percent, Sabag has 25.5 percent, Stuart has 25.2, and Peykar Ronen has 23 percent. 

The L.A. County Registrar will update the election results again later today, and will continue updating daily until all of the votes are accounted for. The process could take a few weeks.

Photo by Benoît Prieur, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.