A former mayor and a school administrator Tuesday won seats on the Ravenswood City School District board in a crowded field of seven candidates vying for two open spots.
The top two vote-getters with 14 out of 19 precincts reporting were former East Palo Alto mayor and College Track director Sharifa Wilson and East Palo Alto Charter School Vice Principal Saree Mading.
Wilson collected 27.5 percent of the votes while Mading drew 17.5 percent.
Wilson comes with several years’ experience on the East Palo Alto City Council in the 1990s and currently runs College Track, a program ushering high school students toward a college diploma. She also worked for the Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce and has started after-school programs in East Palo Alto.
“I was effective on the city council,” she said, “and I can do the same on the board of education.”
As the vice principal of a district charter school, Mading said she has seen how successful her curriculum is.
Mading, who grew up in East Palo Alto, hoped to transfer some of the hands-on benefits of her charter school to the whole district, she said. “I love where I work, but I live here,” Mading said. “All of these kids deserve great services.”
Former Ravenswood Superintendent Charlie Mae Knight came in third at 13.9 percent followed by Trustee Jacqueline Wallace Greene, the lone incumbent in the board election, at 13 percent.
Also on the ballot were planning commissioner Court Skinner, community activist Heather Starnes and Marilu Serrano, a regular critic of the school board and city council.
Staff writer Neil Gonzales covers education. He can be reached at 650-348-4338 or ngonzales@bayareanewsgroup.com.
