Ka’Dijah Brown

The Berkeley Unified School District, or BUSD, board meeting Wednesday marked the final meeting of the year for the school board and the last meeting for Superintendent Donald Evans and Associate Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi. Aside from these goodbyes, the majority of the meeting was spent in discussion of the district's math program.

Wednesday night’s emotional Berkeley Unified School District meeting marked the end of many things — the end of student director Arvin Hariri’s yearlong term, recognition of the retirement of four BUSD employees and community members, and the revocation of REALM’s charter.

BUSD board members continued talks surrounding the future of REALM Charter School and the district’s sustainability efforts at their meeting on Wednesday.

Assistant Superintendent Pauline Follansbee and Associate Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi joined the board to discuss the cuts and presented the superintendent’s proposed reductions.

At the meeting, the board officialized new positions, instituting Judy Appel as the board president, Beatriz Leyva-Cutler as vice president and Ty Alper as the clerk. The board also heard an update on the 2020 vision for Berkeley’s youth and approved the first interim budget for 2019.

Berkeley Unified School District Board President Josh Daniels and board member Karen Hemphill participated in their final meeting as board members Wednesday night, delivering advice and parting thoughts.

The results of Election Day perpetuated a series of flips and changes on the local, state and national stages. Among the highlights — a national flip in the House of Representatives, a state rejection of the expansion of rent control and a contentious Berkeley City Council District 1 race.

Ty Alper, Ka’Dijah Brown and Julie Sinai all secured seats on the board of Berkeley Unified School District as of press time at 2:02 a.m.

Berkeley Mayor Jesse Arreguín announced his first-preference endorsements for the Berkeley City Council elections, recommending Igor Tregub for District 1, Councilmember Kate Harrison for District 4 and Rigel Robinson for District 7, but Arreguín did not endorse any candidate for District 8.

The Berkeley Unified School District board provides much-needed oversight of the city’s public school system. This election season, Berkeley voters have the opportunity to elect three diverse and insightful voices to the board. Of all the candidates running for the board, Sinai, Brown and Alper are undoubtedly the most qualified. Here’s why.