Longtime school board member faces two primary challengers

EVERETT — Two newcomers are looking to unseat longtime Northshore school board member Sandy Hayes for the District 4 seat.

Recent University of Washington graduate Sehaj Dhaliwal and retired software salesperson JoAnn Tolentino are challenging Hayes in the primary election.

District 4 covers the central portion of Northshore, including some parts of southern Bothell and eastern Woodinville. Woodinville High School, Woodin Elementary School, Northshore Middle School and Woodmoor Elementary School are within the District 4 boundary.

As of Friday, Tolentino had reported $1,070 in campaign contributions. Hayes and Dhaliwal had not reported any contributions. Hayes filed as a mini reporting campaign, so she does not have to report contributions or expenditures unless they exceed $7,000.

The primary election is Aug. 5. The top two candidates will move on to the November general election.

Sandy Hayes

Hayes has served on the Northshore school board since 2009. Two current school board members, Jacqueline McGourty from District 1 and Amy Cast from District 5, are not running for reelection. The other two board members, Elisabeth Sotak and Hân Tran, are serving their first terms. Part of Hayes’ decision to run again, she said, was to keep some experience on the board for another term.

“I love what I do. It’s an honor to represent,” she said. “There’s just a lot of good work left to do, and the community requested that I stick around for a little while longer while we get some experience under everybody’s belts,” she said.

One of the top issues the board faces is budget challenges amid federal and state funding uncertainty, Hayes said. She would continue advocating for more funding at the state level, she said.

“Helping them understand that the costs also go up in education, just like they do everywhere else,” she said.

Since Hayes began serving on the school board, the biggest changes she’s seen are district growth and an increase in technology use.

“The kids haven’t changed, but our understanding of what kids need have changed enormously in the last 16 years,” she said.

A priority for Hayes is figuring out how to prepare kids for an increasingly tech-driven future, she said.

“We’re educating kids for the second half of the 21st century and even into the 22nd century, and we’re doing it in a system that was designed in the 19th century,” Hayes said. “So what skills do kids need in this world of (artificial intelligence) and a global economy and how do we get them there?”

In her time on the school board, Hayes has been part of starting inclusionary practices, increasing graduation rates and test scores, and building more schools with bond funding, among other accomplishments.

With regard to federal uncertainty, including threats to withhold funding, Hayes said the board will need to monitor the role the federal government could play in local education in the coming years.

“There is no federal right to education in our country, it’s not part of the U.S. Constitution, so it’s kind of a decision that each administration makes — the role they want to play and what that role looks like,” Hayes said. “We’re still navigating that right now.”

Hayes is endorsed by Snohomish County Democrats, 1st District Democrats, 45th District Democrats and the National Women’s Political Caucus, among other organizations. She also has endorsements from Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson, Bothell City Council member Jenne Alderks and Northshore school board member Jacqueline McGourty, among other elected officials.

Sehaj Dhaliwal

Dhaliwal recently graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in political science and public policy. In the county voters’ pamphlet, she said she works in public service in “legal, nonprofit, healthcare, financial, and women’s protection.” She is a “proud product of the NSD school system,” her campaign website says.

Dhaliwal did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.

Her priorities include student-focused funding, affordability and fiscal responsibility, school safety and amplifying young voices, according to her website.

Regarding the budget, Dhaliwal said her priority is student learning and growth inside existing schools rather than new buildings. She’d work to protect funding for extracurricular activities, mental health services and special education, she said.

“If there’s one thing we need to get right, it’s education,” she said in the voters’ pamphlet. “I know the district is facing real financial pressure and rising debt, but that doesn’t mean we cut what matters most. We need to protect the people and programs that directly support student learning — teachers, mental health services, extracurriculars, and academic support. These aren’t extras. They’re essentials.”

On her website, Dhaliwal said it is important to have young people serve on school boards, and she would encourage youth within the district to become civically engaged.

“My education shaped who I am, and I want to make sure today’s students, and tomorrow’s, receive the same opportunities,” she said in the voters’ pamphlet. “Our generation must be at the policy table now as critical decisions about public education are being made.”

Dhaliwal does not have any endorsements listed on her website.

JoAnn Tolentino

Tolentino is a Northshore grandparent. In addition to her career in software sales, she taught private music lessons for children for 35 years. She said her passion for teaching inspired her to run for school board.

“They’re so impressionable and they’re sponges for their future,” she said. “I just loved it. … I heard there’s an opening in my district, and there’s only one every four years, so I thought it was perfect timing.”

Since 2019-20, Northshore has seen declining enrollment, according to the district’s website. Tolentino said she spoke with parents who pulled their children out of Northshore schools because students were spending time on “things that weren’t truly academic.”

“Their parents wanted more academics in the time that they are away from their family, but there’s not studies on it, so I would like to pursue that,” she said.

To preserve the budget, Tolentino said the school board should eliminate unnecessary spending, but preserve some extracurricular activities, including music.

“We have all this money, we have all these programs, let’s keep the money flowing,” she said. “You need to make some cuts.”

Toletino said she would support a policy to ban transgender girls from playing in girls sports, which she said is an important issue facing the district. On April 30, the federal education and justice departments launched an investigation into the Washington Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, alleging the state’s gender-inclusive schools law is not in compliance with Title IX.

“I don’t know of any girls’ parents that want boys competing against them,” she said.

Last month, community members found social media posts from Tolentino that indicated she was at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 insurrection in 2021. Tolentino confirmed she was in attendance on that day in a statement to The Daily Herald. She said she was there as an observer and did not enter the Capitol building.

“I attended the event as a private citizen exercising my right to assemble peacefully and had no involvement in any illegal or nefarious activities,” she said. “My actions were lawful, and I remain committed to transparency and cooperation with authorities.”

Tolentino does not have any endorsements listed on her website.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.