Incumbent Phil Kim soundly defeated two challengers for his seat on the San Francisco school board, giving him a few months before he is forced to run again.
The result was clear from the first returns, with Kim pulling in more than 64% of the votes, while the challengers, Virginia Cheung and Brandee Marckmann, both district parents, split the leftovers.
Kim, who is currently board president, has served on the seven-member board since 2024, when former Mayor London Breed appointed him to fill a vacancy, with the requirement to run for the seat in the next election.
He will now serve out the remainder of the original member’s term, which runs through this year, meaning he will need to win again in November to remain on the board for a full four-year term.
Three seats will be up for grabs then, with Kim and Alida Fisher among 11 people who have filed papers for candidacy so far. It’s unclear whether current board member Lisa Weismann-Ward will run for reelection.
Kim, who also serves as deputy director of the city’s Human Rights Commission, has played a lead role since his appointment to the board through a school closure debacle, the resignation of the previous superintendent, the hiring of Superintendent Maria Su, a payroll fiasco, a special education hiring issue, Algebra I anger, a teachers strike and a district on the brink of insolvency.
The district is on more stable footing fiscally and with fewer scandals, but with big changes on the horizon.
The next board will be addressing a change to the unpredictable student assignment system as well as school closures as enrollment continues to decline.
Kim’s victory came with the backing of big San Francisco names, including Mayor Daniel Lurie, six supervisors, the San Francisco Democratic Committee, San Francisco Parent Action and other notable organizations and elected officials.
Not on the list was the United Educators of San Francisco, the district’s teachers union, which has often held significant sway in who sits on the school board.
Kim is a former educator who early in his career worked in charter schools. The local and state teachers union has long opposed charters, which are non-traditional public schools. He ran unsuccessfully for the school board in 2016 and 2018.
Instead, the labor group backed Cheung, who picketed alongside teachers during a four-day strike in February. November would be Cheung’s second attempt to win a seat on the school board. She ran in 2024 and came in sixth out of 11 candidates, with four seats available.
The position is considered part-time, paying $500 per month with eligibility for health benefits.