Election 2026: San Jose Unified school board candidates aim to repair community’s broken trust

Families of San José Unified School District students were outraged this year when board members voted to close five elementary campuses, setting up a battle for control of the board in this November’s election.

Now, several candidates are running for the five-member board’s two open seats with a promise to restore the community’s trust and stop additional campus closures. The board sets local policies, approves and monitors the district’s budget and manages school facilities and resources, overseeing the public education of more than 24,000 students.

The near Walter L. Bachrodt Elementary and Abraham Lincoln High in area 2 and those surrounding Canoas and Rachel Carson elementaries in area 4.

The election comes less than a year after the district first announced plans to close or consolidate campuses under the Schools of Tomorrow initiative, which was sparked by a 20% decline in student enrollment since 2019.

The board voted 3-2 to approve the planned closure of Canoas, Empire Gardens, Gardner, Lowell and Terrell elementary schools, and the relocation of the Hammer Montessori magnet program at Galarza to Gardner Elementary, with board members Carla Collins, Teresa Castellanos and board president José Magaña voting yes and members Brian Wheatley and Nicole Gribstad voting no.

For months, families protested the closures, arguing the fallout would disproportionately affect minority, low-income and special education students. Many community members, including elected officials San José Mayor Matt Mahan and State Sen. Dave Cortese, voiced concerns about a lack of community input and urged the district to halt the closures.

A Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report released in 2024 also called out the district’s board for a lack of transparency and community engagement, particularly around public access to meetings. Despite community concern, the board voted unanimously to reject nearly all of the watchdog panel’s findings.

Area 4

Trustee Wheatley announced his retirement in August, after 8 years on the board, which doesn’t have term limits. The move set up a race for the seat between retired teacher Mary Grunthaner and Michael Melillo, a former trustee and data scientist. Both of whom, like Wheatley, oppose school closures.

Grunthaner, who taught in San José Unified schools for 28 years, said the civil grand jury report inspired her to run — specifically critiques of accountability within the district and the school closures.

“There are significant problems that need to be addressed and we need to pull together as a community to address them,” Grunthaner said. “That’s my major priority at this time, rebuilding that trust, rebuilding that relationship between families and the district leadership and the board.”

Her priorities include ensuring the safety of all students, staff and teachers, improving communication, holding district leadership accountable to the community and prioritizing students’ mental health to ensure their academic success.

Grunthaner is endorsed by the San José Teachers Association, the teachers union in the district, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party and the Democrats for Public Education.

Melillo has served on the board before; he was appointed in 2018 to fill a vacancy and lost re-election in 2018 to Wheatley. He said a gap in academic achievement is one of the reasons he is running.

“We’ve got some schools that are doing great, some schools in the middle and some schools that are below average again on the state dashboard,” Melillo said. “Those schools have not made any progress, despite the fact that they have been priorities for the district to improve the performance of those schools.”

Melillo said if elected, he would strengthen early literacy and math intervention, set measurable academic goals, regularly report progress to the community and prioritize special education programs.

Like Grunthaner, he said he was disappointed by the rejection of the civil grand jury report and again by the Schools of Tomorrow process.

“That didn’t sit well with me that hundreds of children’s lives this year were at stake for something that felt pretty arbitrary at the end,” Melillo said.

Melillo is endorsed by state assemblymembers Patrick Ahrens and Alex Lee. State Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Richard Barrera also endorsed Melillo.

Area 2

Board president Magaña faces Union School District special education teacher Tomara Hall and parent Carson Dance, who is president of the parent-teacher organization at Merritt Trace Elementary School. Magaña voted for the school closures, which neither Hall or Dance support.

Magaña said that during his term, the board approved raises for teachers and staff, restricted student cellphone use and funded workforce housing for educators.

He said that if reelected, he plans to prioritize improving students’ academic achievement by raising 3rd grade reading rates, 8th grade math proficiency and college and career readiness across the district.

Magaña said the Schools of Tomorrow process “wasn’t as great as it could have been” and that the board has worked to increase the community’s voice in decision-making through forums and increasing feedback opportunities.

“We know that there’s always opportunities to get better,” he said. “Our hope is this… (will) also start to rebuild that trust from some of those folks who may have felt like the district didn’t listen to them.”

Earlier this year, parents voiced concern over Magaña’s ties to charter schools. According to campaign finance records, he has received approximately $80,000 from pro-charter school groups over two election cycles, 2018 and 2022. He has also worked in charter schools.

Magaña said the donations don’t dictate how he votes or prevent him from holding district-authorized charter schools accountable.

“I understand folks’ concerns, but, as I’ve said before, I stand on my record,” Magaña said.

Magaña is endorsed by San José Unified board members Carla Collins, Teresa Castellanos and Wheatley, as well as Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Richard Barrera and state assemblymembers Patrick Ahrens and Alex Lee.

Hall, who previously ran for the school board in 2020 and 2024, said she believes the board needs a teacher who understands the needs of students — especially low-income students, students with disabilities and English language learners.

She said the five schools picked for closure disproportionately impacted those student groups and the district should have conducted an equity analysis on how the closures would have affected minority students.

The district conducted an equity review when considering which campuses to close, but it focused on potential impacts to special education students, English learners, foster youth and low-income students eligible for free meals — not on racial demographics.

“I don’t want to see any more schools closed,” Hall said.”My hope is that people will vote for me as someone who will champion educational equity, who will fight for what students need and find the resources necessary to keep schools open.”

Hall said her top priorities include improving student success through mental health support, early intervention and small group instruction, advocating for additional school funding through state programs and repairing community trust by increasing transparency, improving communication and pushing for community input in decision-making. She said the board needs to make a stronger effort to include the families “most disenfranchised,” — including low-income, minority and English-language learners.

Hall is endorsed by several current and former school officials, including Santa Clara County Board of Education trustee Raeena Lari and former trustee Claudia Rossi.

The parent running for the seat, Dance said the district hasn’t met the community’s expectations in recent years. As PTO president, she said she’s helped solve problems on Merritt Trace’s campus with funding, food service, transportation and other resources — all of which she said felt like problems created by district policies and priorities.

She said the district’s recent school closures and the 2024 civil grand jury report reveal the board’s failure to include the community in important decision-making.

“I want people to feel like they are going to elect someone who can listen to them,” Dance said. “It doesn’t feel to me like we have trustees that are interested in being part of representative democracy.”

Dance said if elected, she would prioritize improving students’ academic skills and closing the achievement gap, growing special programs, including multilingual programs and arts programs, fully staffing classrooms, focusing on reducing student absenteeism, re-evaluating technology in the classroom — especially for the district’s youngest students — and ensuring community involvement in decisions.