SOMSD Board of Education Elections 2022
Race and Equity Questionnaire

Thanks to all 5 candidates for demonstrating your commitment to equity in our schools by completing the questionnaire and making your answers available to the entire community.

This is the 6th year that SOMA Justice has published the BOE answers to questions on Race and Equity. Candidates were given 2.5 weeks to answer 9 questions. The questions addressed issues of inequity and safety in our district (particularly in regards to vulnerable populations, i.e., POC, queer, special needs, immigration, second-language learners, etc.).

This year SOMA Justice leaders decided not to score answers with a team of independent evaluators. In recent years, the leaders of SOMA Justice have noticed a gap in some BOE members’ stated stances on the scorecard and their positions once elected. The inability of public citizens to understand and evaluate incumbents provides a unique issue to address. We believe that true leaders should be open to communicating with the community, have a desire to help those families most likely to fall through cracks, stick to the principles they state when they campaign, and, most importantly, focus on meeting the needs of students – especially the most vulnerable students in our towns. We are using this year to take a step back and take the time to rethink and expand the scorecard metrics. You can read our full statement on this here.

This year, 5 candidates are running for 3 open seats. We have provided their short answers below, shading green and red based on alignment with SJ values on equity, justice, and inclusion.

You can read the full answers here for Regina Eckert, Bill Gifford, Will Meyer, Ritu Pancholy, and Nubia Wilson.

SOMSD Board of Education Race and Equity Scorecard - 2021