Only nine of the 101 Sonoma County school board seats up for election on Nov. 5 are contested — less than 10%. In Napa County, only four of 16 seats have challengers, all within the same district.

The remaining seats have no candidates or only one running, meaning most Sonoma and Napa County residents will not vote for their school board representatives this year.

School boards set the direction of a school district and ensure accountability, according to the California School Boards Association, and community involvement is necessary for its success. But a number of factors appear to be driving people away, from verbal attacks on board members and a lack of incentive to serve, to the way districts are divided.

This situation is not unique to Wine Country.

A state-level analysis by EdSource revealed that more than 50% of school board elections in California are not on the ballot this election. In Sonoma, which has 40 school districts, and Napa, which has five, the trend appears even more acute.

“Being in local government is really difficult,” said David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University. “It is demanding and it is a difficult environment. And then with the school boards, they have become a flashpoint for political and cultural wars that have driven people away.”

Aggression in meetings

Speaking specifically of Sonoma County, McCuan said School board members are regularly the target of verbal attacks.especially in the “Zoom era.”

“This discourages people from intervening unless they have an agenda. “The next generation of leaders doesn’t know if this is worth it or if they can really make the changes they think are necessary,” he said.

Echoing him, West Sonoma County Union High School District board president Julie Aiello said it is “extremely unpleasant” when people come to meetings and are aggressive or abusive toward board members. . This happened, for example, when his district decided near El Molino Secondary School in 2021.

“When people start yelling at you and saying horrible things, it’s hard not to say, ‘Why am I doing this?’ “We need to have more civil disagreements without abusing the people who volunteer to be on the school board,” he said.

Aiello has chosen not to run in this election, largely as a result of the time commitment that being on a school board requires. There is one candidate, Rio Kuteira, running for the seat he currently holds and will be elected unopposed.

General or area-based election

The West Sonoma County Union High School District, along with Petaluma City Schools and the Rincon Valley Union School District, are transitioning this election from a general election to a regional election.

In the case of general elections, candidates run throughout the district and the electorate votes in all seats. In regional elections, voters only vote for their area seat and candidates must reside in the area they wish to represent.

Several school districts and city councils have opted for this change to increase diversity and ensure that local government is more representative of their constituents.

But this could also be a reason for lower turnout in elections, according to McCuan, especially due to a lag effect in which people take time to understand where the boundaries of areas are.

Petaluma City Schools Administrator Sheldon Gen completes his term this year and has chosen not to run again.

“It’s harder to find candidates in these smaller areas,” he said. “I asked about 10 people to apply for the position I am vacating, all excellent people who can strengthen public education in their own way, but each one said no.

“Still, overall, I think (the regional elections) are a positive change.”

Only one candidate, union organizer Ryan Williams, is running for Gen’s seat and will be elected unopposed.

Remote regions

In more remote regions or smaller districts, there are often fewer candidates running for office simply because a smaller population means a smaller group.

This appears to be the case in uncontested school board elections in Napa County.

Of its five school districts, four have uncontested races. Only Napa Valley Unified, the county’s largest district, has all four of its open seats up for grabs. With the recent school closures and the Controversial Mayacamas charter school issue, community opinion is polarized on the current board and at least two contenders are running directly as a result of their dissatisfaction with the handling of these matters.

By contrast, the Howell Mountain Elementary School District, located in Angwin and with a student body of less than 100, has all five seats up for grabs with only two candidates running for them.