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With two seats up for grabs on the Sequoia Union High School District school board, incumbent Amy Koo is leading the race for the Area A seat by a landslide against her opponent Alon Shiran. Michael Dekshenieks, who is running against an incumbent who dropped out of the race, appears to have a lock on the Area D seat.
Area A includes Redwood Shores, Belmont, San Carlos and parts of Redwood City. Area D covers central Menlo Park, North Fair Oaks and Atherton.
Early election night results show Koo has 4,886 votes, or 66.2%, while Shiran has received 2,496 votes, or 33.8%. Dekshenieks who is running unopposed received 4.981 votes, or 90.32%. Sathvik Nori, who dropped out of the Area D race and endorsed Dekshenieks in August, received 534 votes, 9.68%.
Koo told The Almanac that she feels good about early election night results. She said she was knocking on doors up until yesterday and was hopeful about the voters’ support.
As she is headed toward serving another term, Koo said she looks forward to initiating district-wide artificial intelligence policies, evaluating cellphone bans and ensuring every student is ready to graduate with their future goals in place.
Koo is the parent of two Sequoia Union High School District students and was first elected to the school board in 2022. She told The Almanac that her priorities for her next term remain the same: Improving communication and operational and fiscal responsibility, recruiting and retaining high-quality teachers and creating a safe and inclusive environment.
Shiran said he entered the race hoping to serve the future high school district that his three children would attend. His goals are to make changes that will increase opportunities and academic success for students.
Shiran’s priorities are restoring academic excellence with honors and advanced courses; fiscal discipline and transparency; offering a future-ready curriculum; and providing community engagement and accountability.
Dekshenieks is a parent of two Menlo-Atherton High School graduates and assistant coach for Menlo-Atherton High School’s girl’s lacrosse team. He will be replacing Sathvik Nori, a one-term incumbent who appeared on the ballot but dropped out of the race for the Area D seat and endorsed Dekshenieks in August.
In his campaign, Dekshenieks said that his priorities are improving community engagement, student safety, data-driven policymaking and financial leadership. Dekshenieks said he’s been a strong advocate for restoring ninth grade honors courses and preserving academic excellence across all of SUHSD campuses.
The initial results only reflect vote-by-mail ballots received by Nov. 1. Throughout the night, the San Mateo County Elections Office will release vote center ballots hourly until all are counted. Results from mail-in ballots received after Nov. 1 will start to be released daily on Nov. 5. Ballots postmarked by election day must arrive by Nov. 10 to be counted.
Visit The Almanac’s website for initial election results of other local races and measures, which will be updated over the next several days.
