By Elizabeth Ireland
Jewish candidate Shana Hazan‘s widespread support in her campaign for election to the San Diego Unified School District board in District B is reflected at the polls. SDUSD, California’s second largest, now elects trustees from specific geographic areas.
Hazan has a commanding lead over Godwin Higa at 60.6% of the vote for the district encompassing northeastern San Diego, according to the county Registrar of Voters website. Hazan is a former teacher and nonprofit executive who serves on the California First 5 Commission.
Born and raised in San Diego, Hazan is a fourth-generation San Diego Unified student who graduated from Scripps Ranch High School. She has served as Chief Philanthropy Officer for Jewish Family Service of San Diego, where she managed a $28 million annual fundraising program, secured millions in funding for educational programs and social services for seniors, asylum seekers, and low-income families. She is currently serving as the managing consultant for 2023 San Diego Jewish Community Study, a demographic study led by the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego, JFS, the Jewish Federation of San Diego County, the Lawrence Family JCC, and the Leichtag Foundation.
Hazan and her husband Marc live in Kensington where they’re raising two daughters, the older of whom attends their neighborhood school. In March, she told San Diego Jewish World that she was running for school board to ensure that “every single child in our community has the ability to reach their God-given potential,” and also to “improve outcomes for historically underserved students, including refugees, to ensure they can reach their full potential.”
“Education can really be a game-changer when it comes to the trajectory of our lives,” she said. “For so many members of our Jewish community, when we think of where we were in the past and where we are today, a lot of us would attribute our advancement to education.”
In District C, the race is a little closer. Cody Petterson, an educator from La Jolla and adviser to County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, leads with 54.5% of the vote over Becca Williams, a conservative charter-school founder, getting 45.4%.
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Preceding republished from Times of San Diego, with which San Diego Jewish World trades stories under auspices of the San Diego Online News Association.