The Abridged version:
- Roxanne Stellmacher and Morri Elliott are facing off for an open seat on the San Juan Unified school board.
- Their race is expected to be one of the most competitive the district has seen in years. Each candidate boasts an extensive resume in education and deep community ties.
- The candidates, who live in the same neighborhood, say their interactions have been friendly despite the tensions around their race.
Two neighbors — of similar backgrounds and platforms — are competing for an open seat on the San Juan Unified school board.
The choice between Roxanne Stellmacher and Morri Elliott is on the ballot for voters living in the school district’s area 3, which encompasses Carmichael, southeast Arden Arcade and Arden Town.
Front yards and street corners throughout the area are dotted with signs for each candidate. Posters for the school board election outnumber those for races higher on the ballot in many neighborhoods.
The competition has garnered attention, perhaps because there is no incumbent. Zima Creason, who has represented the area for two terms, is vying for a spot on the Los Rios Community College District board.
The race in San Juan Unified also stands as a local election with partisan dynamics that have undercut school board races across the country in recent years.
But the candidates, who each boast about 20 years in education and deep ties to the community, said they want the focus to stay on the district, its schools and students.
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Career technical and parent communication
Elliott has many ideas to contribute were he to be elected trustee, he said. But if asked to pick his top priorities, those would be expanding career technical education offerings across San Juan Unified and improving communication with families.
“The vocational piece, career technical education, CTE — that’s my passion,” he said. “That’s the biggest reason I want to serve on the board.”
Every comprehensive high school in San Juan Unified currently offers at least two pathways, such as construction or culinary arts. Some campuses offer as many as five courses.
Elliott said he wants to keep adding more options for students.
San Juan Unified, the seventh largest school district in California, serves a diverse student body, particularly in the western, more urban neighborhoods where many refugee families have settled.
“We’ve got to provide more and more resources, wrap-around supports,” Elliott said. “What do students need at home and what do parents and families need?”
Inclusive curriculum and early learning
That districtwide diversity fuels one of Stellmacher’s top focuses, which is more inclusive curriculum.
“My first priority is around making sure that kids have safe, inclusive schools where everybody feels like they belong,” she said, “so that the curriculum that we are teaching is not only meeting standards … but it’s also reflective of the cultural diversity of our district.”
Strengthening early literacy and math skills is another key piece of Stellmacher’s platform, something she said is deeply familiar with from her time as academic intervention specialist at San Juan Unified.
Like Elliott, Stellmacher said she aims to build on the district’s career technical education offerings. During her time working for the district, she said she proposed and helped shape the newest pathway, education career courses at Encina High School.
“(It’s a) pathway that’s so desperately needed because we have this gap in teacher employment pools,” Stellmacher said.
‘Involved at every single level’
Stellmacher has worn a plethora of hats in the field of education, starting as an English teacher at Luther Burbank High School in the Sacramento City Unified School District. She moved over to San Juan Unified about a decade ago, serving in roles including academic intervention specialist for multiple schools and grade levels.
Currently, she works as chief of operations and programs for California EDGE Coalition, which focuses on workforce and adult education.
“I joke that I’ve served cradle to career,” Stellmacher said.
All this experience, she said, gives her a distinction over her opponent.
“I’ve been involved at every single level along the educational spectrum,” she said.
One of her daughters graduated from Rio Americano High School, while the other is still in school there.
While she and Elliott overlap in a number of their platform priorities, Stellmacher said her time spent working in the district and classroom gives her a leg up in actually implementing those goals.
‘A fresh mind’
Elliott began his education career as a U.S. and world history teacher for middle schoolers. He taught in Sacramento City Unified for a year before shifting to Gateway Community Charters and quickly working his way up the administrative ladder.
Two of his three children are still in the school district, one at Churchill Middle School and the other at Choices Charter School, a dependent charter in San Juan Unified.
In addition to his experience in education and role as a parent, Elliott pointed to his time as a youth sports coach as deepening his connection to the community.
“Coming in as a dad, coming in as a coach, coming in as an educator outside the district,” he said, “I think that’s a benefit because it brings a different perspective.”
“I haven’t been intertwined in San Juan politics within the district, and I think a fresh mind, a fresh start is a good thing,” Elliott added.
Campaign backers show partisan split
School board races are by definition non-partisan. Differences in candidates, though, are often apparent in who is backing or funding the campaigns.
Elliott’s contributions include $1,000 from Republican Assemblymember Josh Hoover. Among his endorsements are Republican state Sen. Roger Niello and the Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association.
Stellmacher received funds from groups like the Women Democrats of Sacramento County and the Town and Country Democratic Club in Citrus Heights. Her endorsers include Democratic state Sen. Angelique Ashby and the San Juan Unified Teachers Association.
‘We’re both good people’
Elliott said theirs may be one of the most competitive San Juan Unified races in recent memory, though it hasn’t felt especially political to him.
“I’m glad people care,” he said.
Sentiments of division and talk of hot-button political debates, Stellmacher said, have generally come from voters themselves.
“The number one question I’ve gotten while running has been what am I going to do about trans(gender) students?” Stellmacher said. “As if there’s something that needs to be done with them, as opposed to ensuring that they have a top-notch education.”
Between the two candidates, though, she said interactions have been consistently cordial.
The pair live less than a mile apart, Elliott said, but surprisingly hadn’t crossed paths until ending up on the ballot together. Each had a child in the same elementary school class and they share many acquaintances.
“I think it’s been a good campaign because we’re neighbors and we’re friendly,” Elliott said. “We’re both good people.”
“He’s very nice. I’m nice,” Stellmacher said. “This isn’t about who’s nice. It’s about who’s qualified.”
