Four seats are up for re-election on the Alameda County Office of Education board this March, and two of those seats—Areas 2 and 3—include parts of Oakland.
Trustees on the Alameda County Board of Education are elected to four-year terms and every two years, half of the board is up for election. Board members are paid $963 per month and meet on the second Tuesday of every month.
The Alameda County Office of Education board oversees the alternative schools that the county runs, which include an independent study school, schools for pregnant and parenting students, and schools for youth involved in the juvenile justice system. The county has also authorized 13 charter schools that enroll about 3,700 students. Nine of those charters are in Oakland. As the authorizer, the county school board makes decisions about charter renewals or big changes, like enrollment increases or relocations. In June, five charter schools—three in Oakland—will be up for renewal for the Alameda County board.
The board also weighs in when a student or family is appealing an expulsion decision from their home district, or appealing a decision about transferring to another district.
Area 2 includes part of West Oakland, some of downtown, parts of the Oakland Hills, deep East Oakland to the San Leandro border, and Alameda.
For more about the March election, including what’s on the ballot and where and when to vote, check out The Oaklandside’s March primary voter guide.
Angela Normand
Angela Normand is the Area 2 incumbent running for a second term. First elected in 2020, Normand has worked as a special education teacher in Brentwood since 2006.
While middle school years are some of the most difficult years of adolescence, Normand likes teaching that age group because she can still instill a love of learning before they go to high school, she told The Oaklandside.
“Quite often, students realize somewhere around fourth or fifth grade that they’re not learning like everyone else. They’re experiencing some challenges and a lot of times they just check out and are just not interested in school,” Normand said. “So in my special day class, I really made an effort to connect with students to figure out how they learn and then teach them what accommodations or modifications they needed in order to become successful.”
She’s active in her local teachers union, and in 2019 Normand was elected to the board of directors for the California Teachers Association. She’s been on release from her classroom teaching duties to serve on the CTA board. Fellow teachers advised her to run for the county school board in 2020, Normand said.
Normand brings her classroom experience to the board and thinks her expertise in Individual Education Plans—supports and accommodations that a student in special education must receive—can be helpful in transfer appeals.
“There are students who, because of a myriad of reasons or circumstances, have experienced a non-supportive, unsafe environment, and they’re coming to us for a chance to start fresh and go someplace that they can get back on track,” she said. “It feels great to be able to do that. Students feel great being heard and having an opportunity to talk and plead their case to a board who is there to listen and make the best decision for the student.”
Normand also serves as the charter liaison on the board, a recent development. At every board meeting, she gives a presentation on the county charter schools’ data and policies on different topics, like demographics, special education, teacher vacancies, and teacher credentialing.
“We wanted to use this time to give the public and everyone an opportunity to really understand the role of an authorizer and understand what we’re looking at when charters come before us for a revision,” she said.
The pandemic shifted some of the focus when it comes to charter revisions, Normand said. Safety and cleanliness are often higher concerns than they’ve been in the past, and charter schools, like most public school districts, are also dealing with enrollment declines.
“I think that 2020 through 2023 really humanized us and touched everyone in a way that lends a different view into the work that we do and into the needs of the community, the needs of students, and the needs of educators.”
John Lewis
John Lewis has worked in construction management for more than 20 years. He is running for the board because he wants to raise students’ reading levels and ensure that districts have balanced budgets. In Oakland, across district and charter schools, two-thirds of students did not meet grade-level reading standards in 2023. Lewis also pointed to Oakland Unified School District’s recent budget challenges and school closure controversy.
Those concerns are more the purview of a unified school district board, but Lewis told The Oaklandside he’s pursuing the county school board seat because he feels he could get more done in a less contentious atmosphere.
“It’s very political at all the city school boards. I would think that the Alameda County Board of Education is a little bit less political,” he said. “I’m not a politician, and I’m not looking to be a politician. I just want to help.”
If he’s elected, Lewis wants to see substantial improvements in reading scores, and plans to set out specific goals for his four-year term to measure how much students have improved. He would also focus on selecting the proper reading curriculum and ensuring that districts are spending money wisely to support reading instruction.
“As a board member, I would have the ear of a principal and teachers versus as a regular citizen,” he said. “I would encourage them to set up a program that we’ve all agreed we’re going to use, and we at the county level would push on it and make that a mandate.”
Lewis has volunteered with the OK Program, a mentoring program that pairs Black boys with Black men. Lewis would like to see similar programs for underserved youth across the county.
“I look at all students as needing help. But I really feel passionately about the Black male and that we’re falling behind,” he said. “We have to have more communities that are committed to pulling their load and helping out.”
In Area 3 only one candidate is running
In Area 3, which covers Lake Merritt, Chinatown, Fruitvale, part of East Oakland, part of the Oakland Hills, and Piedmont, Ken Berrick is the incumbent and presumed winner.
Because Berrick is running unopposed, the Area 3 race won’t appear on the ballot and he’ll be sworn into his seat in July. Berrick is the founder of Seneca Family of Agencies, a nonprofit social service agency. He served as the CEO until 2021 and recently launched a new organization called Just Advocates.
After Alameda County Supervisor Keith Carson announced in December he would not be running for re-election, and the deadline to enter the supervisor’s race was extended, Berrick decided to throw his hat in the ring. He said his time as a CEO has given him insights into how organizations and government can work better together to support children and families, and Berrick wants to bring these insights to the county board of supervisors.
“We could do better as the county to be a partner with schools and a partner with child welfare. Most importantly, right now because of the enormous opportunities that are being presented in the expansion of mental health from Governor Newsom, his initiatives, and the potential that Prop. 1 brings to the table,” Berrick told The Oaklandside. “There’s an opportunity that we can either embrace or lose here. And you have to have a certain amount of broad policy knowledge, but also a certain amount of technical expertise on how you execute and build a program.”
If he is not elected supervisor, Berrick said he is looking forward to staying on the county Board of Education and working with Alameda County Superintendent Alysse Castro on strengthening the mental health resources for students throughout the county.
Berrick praised the board for working collaboratively and bringing specific expertise to the decisions they make that can alter a student’s trajectory.
“When students come before us, whether it be for an expulsion or an interdistrict transfer … being able to advocate for students that are struggling with a handicapping condition or disability has been something that I feel like I’ve helped to inform the board on,” he said. “Over the last 15 years, we have become a more and more collaborative body that works for listening and consensus.”
If Berrick wins the race for supervisor in November, he would step down from his seat on the school board, and the board would either appoint someone or hold a special election to fill his seat. He was first elected to the school board in 2008.
