Seattle School Board seeks two new members after unexpected resignations

The Seattle School Board will begin the process of filling two vacant seats starting next Wednesday, after two members abruptly resigned earlier this week because they no longer live in the district area they were elected to represent.

The board will officially acknowledge the resignations of Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera at the regular board meeting Wednesday. Applications will be open “as soon as possible” after the meeting and stay open for 90 days, said Board President Liza Rankin. The board will lay out specifics at the meeting, she added. 

The board is responsible for reviewing applications and selecting two new board members. The public will be given a chance to offer input and opinions.

Song and Rivera’s resignations are effective Friday, Feb. 2. More information will be posted soon on the SPS website, said Bev Redmond, SPS’s spokesperson. 

“We are looking for someone who is going to be able to hit the ground running, especially in District 4 where there has been a lot of turnover,” said board member Brandon Hersey. Director area 4, Song’s district, includes Queen Anne, Belltown, Fremont and downtown Seattle. “We are looking for someone who has close ties to the community groups in that area and throughout the city,” he said.

State law requires School Board members to live within the director area they represent. In January, it became clear that Song and Rivera were living outside the area they were elected to represent.

SPS policy allows directors to continue serving on the board even if they move out of their director area until the next regular election, at which point they should be replaced. Song moved, notified the district and kept serving even after the regular election in November 2023. The policy appears to specify that during that election, her seat should have been open. 

“Director Song’s legal counsel has advised that she can continue lawfully finishing her term,” Song wrote in her joint resignation letter with Rivera. SPS said in a statement that district policy provides that directors may continue serving even if they relocate, but the duration of that board service depends on the individual circumstances.

When Rivera first filed for office in May 2019, she was living in director area 2 — which at the time included Greenwood, Maple Leaf, Green Lake, Wallingford, Fremont and just a sliver of the University District. Her residency was confirmed by the King County Elections Office. When SPS redrew its director area district boundaries in 2022, her area shifted west to include Ballard and Magnolia, meaning the apartment she was living in was outside her director area.

Board policy allowed Rivera to continue serving her term, which she did. In May 2023, when she filed again to run, she was living at an address just north of Green Lake, also within director area 2.

And then she moved, as she acknowledged in her resignation, although in an interview she declined to specify where and when. However, the move brought her outside her director area, leading to the Tuesday resignation.

“I have never been out of compliance with state law or district policy and I am voluntarily resigning from a volunteer job that I could lawfully continue to serve in until 2025, based on RCW 28A.343.350,” Rivera said. 

The Seattle School Board representation works differently from Seattle City Council representation, where seven council members each represent a specific district and serve the people living in the district. An eighth and ninth seat are at large, representing the entire city. In contrast, Seattle School Board policy says that School Board members are “responsible for serving all schools in SPS, not only those located in their represented [director area].”

Every voter gets to vote for each director in the general election, not only those living in their director area. The director area only comes into play in the primary, if there is one, when voters choose among the candidates running in their respective director area.  

“This rule is complex. I love it and I think it has some good things about it. At the same time, it is complicated,” said Hersey. “It’s got its merits, at the same time it really does squeeze out folks that might be interested.”

Requiring School Board members to live in a specific director area helps get a wide range of people on the School Board who are familiar with all the different parts of Seattle. 

However, parents, current School Board members and the two leaving the board all point out that it can unfairly limit renters who might not stay in the same place throughout their four-year term.

“We have both experienced significant changes to our family situations, which have prompted both of us to move outside the boundaries of our internal director districts. Separations happen. Divorce happens. Sometimes the rules simply don’t reflect the realities of modern family life,” the pair wrote in their letter.

In conjunction with their partners, Song and Rivera own two properties each in Seattle, according to their Public Disclosure Commission’s financial affairs statements.

“The rule itself sets a precedent such that anybody who can not predict where they will live over the course of 4 years (e.g., renters in a tight and expensive rental market like ours) will hesitate to seek this office,” said Alex Wakeman Rouse, a parent and leader of the group All Together for Seattle Schools, via email. “Affordable family-sized apartments are difficult to find in this City, let alone within the same school district zone. This is deeply concerning as it could further limit representation on our board.”

Hersey noted that the system is complicated and not a perfect solution. 

“The complexities just go far and beyond what we as an individual School Board have the capability to decide,” Hersey said. 

“I am so sad to leave behind some amazing people in SPS, where there are 101 unsung heroes, because for all our district’s shortcomings, they are not for lack of love and commitment of so many staff members at the John Stanford center,” Rivera wrote in a statement. “I have long suggested that we find a place on the SPS website to tell their stories and humanize the people behind the work. I still hope that happens.”

“And our students are second to none,” she added. “The time I’ve spent with and around them has been the most rewarding part of my job. Their energy is contagious and their wisdom is inspiring. I hope the district increases the opportunities for students to be part of important decision making.”