EVERETT — Three newcomers are vying for an open seat on the Northshore school board currently held by the board president.
Preschool director Kimberlee Kelly, community organizer Holly Muenchow and parliamentarian Lynda Schram are eyeing the open seat. School board President Amy Cast has held the District 5 seat since 2014.
District 5 covers the eastern portion of the Northshore School District, including parts of Woodinville and Cottage Lake and a small section of Snohomish County near Crystal Lake. Wellington Elementary School, Leota Middle School, Timbercrest Middle School, East Ridge Elementary School, Cottage Lake Elementary School, Sunrise Elementary School and Hollywood Hill Elementary School are within the District 5 boundaries.
As of Wednesday, Kelly has raised $2,400 for her campaign, Muenchow has raised $1,253 and Schram has raised $200. Northshore school board members do not receive compensation.
The board of directors has three open seats this election cycle, and all three races will appear on the primary ballot.
The primary election is Aug. 5. The top two candidates will advance to the November general election.
Kimberlee Kelly
Kelly directs and teaches at an outdoor preschool in Cottage Lake that specializes in serving neurodiverse children and their families. Before her current position, she spent more than 15 years teaching K-12. She moved to Cottage Lake in 2024 and has a 1-year-old child who will attend Northshore when he’s older, Kelly said.
“As someone who has been serving in schools at various levels, from in classrooms to school leadership levels, I have a responsibility to our community and bring my lived experience to our board to make sure that our most vulnerable students are getting the support they need,” she said.
To balance its budget moving forward, the board will need to work to replenish its reserve. The district has moved through its reserve in the last several years due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a lack of funding from the state, Kelly said. The board faces additional pressure from the federal government, Kelly said, as the Trump administration has threatened to freeze funding. Amid the federal uncertainty, Kelly said it’s important to maintain relationships with other school districts and pay attention to education funding at a larger scale.
“Our financial situation puts us in a vulnerable place, where top-down pressure can kind of push us to make concessions on our values, and that’s something I want to prevent,” Kelly said.
For Kelly, that means advocating for a levy and lobbying at the state level to revise “outdated funding models that don’t adequately and equitably fund our schools across the state.”
Another concern among Northshore community members is overcrowding at schools and large class sizes.
Kelly said she’d prioritize having ongoing conversations with the district’s unions to make sure teachers are having a say in the number of students they feel they can adequately serve. She’d also advocate for redrawing the district’s boundaries to more equitably distribute students.
“These are not the things that I would like to do, but then as somebody who’s looking systems-level at our current financial situation, we also need to make sure that we’re financially viable and continue to be able to provide all of the necessary services for all of our students,” she said.
Kelly’s passion for academic freedom and advocating against efforts to ban books in curriculum also led her to run for school board, she said.
Kelly supports trauma-informed instruction, particularly as a number of groups are “under fire” right now, she said, including immigrant families, special education communities and the LGBTQ+ community.
“Our students are feeling that, and they’re expected to go into school and perform as if none of those things are happening,” she said. “Our schools are going to need to be places of sanctuary, where kids are getting people who are looking at them as whole beings and seeing the totality of their experience and supporting them.”
Kelly supports allocating professional development hours to foster that support.
Kelly is endorsed by the Washington Education Association Political Action Committee, the Northshore Education Association, Northshore Educational Office Professionals Association, King County Democrats and the National Women’s Political Caucus of Washington. She also has endorsements from State Sen. Derek Stanford and Woodinville council member Michelle Evans.
Holly Muenchow
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Muenchow left her job at Microsoft to become a full-time parent and community organizer. Muenchow has three children in the district, one entering middle school and two in high school. Her family has been in the district for about 12 years. She’s volunteered with the Northshore Financial Advisory Committee and the Northshore Council Parent Teacher Student Association, among other school and community organizations.
“This felt like the next step in the progression,” she said.
Much of Muenchow’s work in the district has focused on advocacy for school funding, she said.
“Our school district has faced a 15% budget cut over the last five years, which has been hard to absorb and has definitely impacted kids,” Muenchow said.
While part of Northshore’s budget challenges stem from a lack of funding, Muenchow said the district is seeing fewer volunteers and less community support.
“One of the things that’s been really wonderful about Northshore is the level of community and volunteering,” she said. “But part of that was driven by the prevalence of single-working-parent families, where the other parent could volunteer full time, and we’ve been trending away from that.”
Muenchow supports engaging in creative partnerships with the community for additional support, including mental health crisis centers and continuing to work with the Northshore Schools Foundation.
“I’m most excited about figuring out not just how the schools can support these students, but sometimes it’s about engaging organizations in our area who are already doing the work,” she said.
One focus for Muenchow is ensuring all students’ needs are met by expanding strong inclusionary practices — and other best practices — to more schools in the district.
“Schools are really good at serving kids who need a certain thing, but there’s a huge range of people,” Muenchow said. “People aren’t all the same.”
The school board is currently planning its levy and bond asks for the February 2026 special election. Muenchow said it’s important to communicate to voters why tax increases may be necessary to better serve students. She supports providing educators with livable wages, reasonable class sizes and adequate classroom resources.
Muenchow is endorsed by Snohomish County Democrats and First Legislative District Democrats, among other organizations. She is also endorsed by Bothell Mayor Mason Thompson, Bothell Deputy Mayor Rami Al-Kabra and State Sen. Derek Stanford, among other elected officials.
Lynda Schram
For 25 years, Schram homeschooled her five children, teaching “every grade from kindergarten to 12th grade,” her campaign website says. She has 12 grandchildren. Some of her grandchildren are in public school, her website says, but Schram does not say if they attend Northshore schools.
Schram did not respond to multiple requests for an interview.
Schram’s statement in the county voters’ pamphlet focuses on state law that allows transgender girls to play in girls sports. 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.
“Our State Superintendent of Public Instruction is opposed to Parents Rights but he is in favor of allowing boys in girls’ bathrooms, locker rooms and allowing boys in girls’ sports,” she said. “Our state is risking losing billions of dollars in federal funds by refusing to comply with the federal Title IX Rights of a half million girls.”
On her website, Schram said she supports passing a resolution “affirming protection for girls’ sports and private spaces.”
“Parents in the Northshore School District have a powerful voice through their school board directors,” she said. “Local boards can uphold Title IX and ensure our girls’ rights are respected. It’s crucial for parents to engage actively — attend school board meetings, in conversations with coaches, and most importantly your daughters.”
Schram’s other priorities listed on her website include focusing on academics and fostering “healthy learning spaces.” She said she will not “rubber stamp” new curriculum because of the district’s budget issues.
“Textbooks may have nice pictures but are they teaching us phonics rules, etc.,” she wrote. “With serious budget cuts coming to all districts, I will push for focus on our three R’s.”
State spending on public schools is too high, Schram wrote on her website.
“The constant budget panic is a result of unsound planning,” she wrote. “Increased spending has NOT improved student learning. As a result, many parents who can are leaving for private schools. Real changes need to be made focused on academic priorities.”
Schram is an administrator for the King County Moms for Liberty Facebook group. Moms for Liberty is a national conservative nonprofit that has advocated for banning books and against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and COVID-19 safety measures in schools.
Schram does not have any endorsements listed on her campaign website.
Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.
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