A Dozen Candidates Vie for Four San Francisco School Board Seats

Twelve candidates are competing for four seats on the San Francisco School Board in a period in which the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is grappling with a $148.5 million 2024-2025 budget deficit and upcoming school closures. Eight of the contenders are presented below; the other four will appear in next month’s issue. 

Matt Alexander, the only incumbent in the race, serves as San Francisco School Board vice president. He’s communications director and lead community organizer for Faith in Action Bay Area, a nonprofit that supports low-income families and immigrants. He taught social studies at Balboa High School in the late 1990s and co-founded June Jordan School for Equity (JJSE), a high school with roughly 200 students located near McLaren Park. While Alexander served as principal, JJSE had a student body that was more than 80 percent low-income and close to 30 percent special education. Alexander is an Outer Sunset resident.

Virginia Cheung, a parent of a SFUSD student and District 11 resident, is co-founder and vice president of Give a Beat Foundation, a Laguna Beach-based nonprofit that uses music to uplift individuals involved in the criminal justice system. Cheung previously was director of Wu Yee Children’s Services, the City’s biggest Head Start and Early Head Start provider. She’s on the Parent Advisory Board for Wah Mei BASE! ExCEL’s program, a nonprofit organization that provides care and educational programs for infants and preschool students, as well as before and after school bilingual courses for school-aged children.

Lefteris Eleftheriou is a Sunset resident and regional sales manager for Sanyo Denki, a Japanese electronics manufacturer. From 2013 to 2022, he co-owned and operated Lascaux Art Academy, an afterschool private art institute in Belmont, which closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. He supports collaborating with teachers, students, parents, and constituents to determine how best to deliver a quality education. 

Parag Gupta is chief program officer of Mercy Housing, a San Francisco nonprofit that offers affordable, service-enriched accommodations for families, seniors, and people who have experienced homelessness. He’s the parent of a recent Chinese Immersion School de Avila graduate, a School Site Council chair – a group that represents parents, students, community members, and school staff in campus governance processes – and eighth grade algebra focus group member. Gupta helped draft SFUSD policy priorities for San Francisco Democrats as a San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee member. He also developed financial strategies for Stupski Foundation programs, which helps students complete postsecondary education. 

Jaime Huling, a Glen Park resident, is a deputy city attorney for the City of Oakland. She’s the parent of a SFUSD Spanish immersion school student and worked with ScholarMatch, a Mission-based nonprofit, that assists underserved youth in the higher education application and admissions processes.

John Jersin is a Noe Valley resident and cofounder of the John and Erica Jersin Foundation, which focuses on education, the climate, and public health. Recently the Jersin Foundation campaigned to build a new computer lab in Chinatown in partnership with Cameron House and 13 Fund. The lab provides low-income students with technology, education, and resources to complete classwork and participate in afterschool programs. Jersin is a former LinkedIn executive. He’s the brother-in-law of a SFUSD teacher, SFUSD Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee member, and parent of two young children who he and his wife, Erica, plan to attend SFUSD schools.

Madeline Krantz is an Inner Sunset resident and dual enrollment student at City College of San Francisco and San Jose State University, where she’s pursuing an education degree. She’s worked as a teacher’s aide in a synagogue, and with SFUSD students through her participation in Teacher Academy while a Abraham Lincoln High School student. 

Deldep Medina, a Mission resident, is executive director of Black & Brown Founders, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that supports events, virtual training, and a virtual conference to help Black and Latinx entrepreneurs. Medina has a child who attended SFUSD schools. She served on the District’s Latinx Family Advisory Committee, a Parent Advisory group launched this year that invites parents and caregivers of Latinx students to hear updates and share their input.