There are two Riverside Unified School District (RUSD) Board of Education seats up for grabs in the upcoming November 3 general election, with three candidates hoping to represent Trustee Area 1 and an unopposed candidate seeking reelection to the Trustee Area 5 seat.
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Incumbent Trustee Noemi Hernandez Alexander, retired superintendent Jinane Annous and local business owner Duffy Atkinson are running to represent Trustee Area 1.
The winning candidate would represent Riverside Unified’s southernmost neighborhoods, including the unincorporated community of Woodcrest and parts of the Victoria neighborhood nearest to Riverside Polytechnic High School. Campuses in the trustee area include Woodcrest Elementary School, Amelia Earhart Middle School and Martin Luther King High School.
If reelected, Hernandez Alexander said she would prioritize accelerating student outcomes, expanding career and college pathways, strengthening school safety and creating partnerships with local entities that lead to more opportunities for students, according to her campaign website.
Atkinson’s campaign website said he was focused on restoring academic rigor, strengthening parental transparency and choice, ensuring fiscal accountability and providing a safe and secure learning environment.
Annous, in a phone call with The Riverside Record, said she would focus on growing career and college readiness opportunities, emphasize student safety by establishing a new campus culture, improve teacher preparedness and retention and provide better special education services.
Hernandez Alexander and Atkinson previously ran against each other for the seat in 2022. In that election, about 55% of eligible voters made their voices heard in the four-way race, with Hernandez Alexander winning with 37% of the vote. Atkinson came in second with 29% of the vote.
Registered voters who reside within Trustee Area 1 will see the contest on their ballots, which are set to start going out October 5.
Incumbent Trustee Brent Lee is the sole candidate for Trustee Area 5, which covers a section of the neighborhood near Ramona High School and continues past the intersection of Central and Magnolia avenues. Campuses in the trustee area include John Adams Elementary, Central Middle School and the Riverside Adult School.
Lee was first elected to the board in 2009 and most recently won his 2022 reelection bid with 6,478 votes. Beth Martin, executive assistant to the board, said in an email to The Record qualified candidates running unopposed would be appointed to the seat by the Riverside County Registrar of Voters.
Both Lee and the winners of the Trustee Area 1 election will serve a four year term, starting on the second Friday in December, according to a district letter sent to the Riverside County Office of Education. The term is set to end December 13, 2030.
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