Incumbents lead in school races

Incumbents nearly swept election night, taking 14 of the 19 school board seats open across the seven school districts serving Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.

There were 34 candidates vying for seats in the Coast Community College, Fountain Valley School, Huntington Beach Union High School, Huntington Beach City School, Ocean View School, Westminster School and Garden Grove Unified School districts.

In the Huntington Beach Union High School District, incumbents Brian Garland and Bonnie Castrey and retired teacher Kathleen Iverson took the three open seats against engineer and business owner Charlie Chi Manh Nguyen, educator and business consultant Anji Clemens, and businessman Tom Dern.

Iverson led with about 33,100 votes, followed by Castrey with nearly 33,000 and Garland with about 31,500. The next closest competitor, Nguyen, missed out on seat by nearly 13,000 votes.

The district oversees seven high schools, an adult school and two alternative high schools in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster.

In the Huntington Beach City School District, sitting board members Celia Jaffe, Rosemary Saylor and Shirley A. Carey were reelected, with Carey pulling in nearly 12,000 votes, Saylor about 10,800 and Jaffee about 10,700. The three incumbents were trailed by businessman Rob Fishel who took more than 7,000 votes. The district makes decisions for seven elementary and two middle schools.

Incumbent Judith Edwards was reelected with newcomers Sandra Crandall, a retired teacher, and James Templin, a public school administrator, joining her on the Fountain Valley School District board. Incumbent Nicola Weiss appeared headed for reelection Tuesday night, but lost to Templin by about 250 votes.

Crandall pulled in 23.3% of the votes, Edwards 21.3% and Templin 19.4%. Weiss trailed with 18.5%, and retired educator Rochelle Giuseffi came in last with 17.4% of the votes.

The district oversees eight elementary and four middle schools in Fountain Valley and Huntington Beach.

In the race for three open positions on the Ocean View School District’s board, incumbents John Briscoe and Tracy Pellman led in votes with special education para-educator John Ortiz coming in third. Incumbent George W. Clemens lost to Ortiz by about 350 votes.

Pellman led with about 11,000 votes, Briscoe trailed with about 9,400, and Ortiz pulled in about 7,700. George W. Clemens garnered about 7,300 votes, and businessman Brian Joseph Rodden came in last with about 5,200 votes.

The district makes decisions for two preschools, 11 elementary and four middle schools in Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley.

In the only race with no incumbents, retired college President David D. Grant took the seat against retired federal judge Lynne Riddle and retired policeman Bob Mosley for the Coast Community College District’s Area 5 seat.

Grant led with 43.4% of the votes over Riddle’s 34.8% and Mosley’s 21.8%.

Incumbent Jim Moreno took a nearly double lead over opponent Shana Christina Jenkins, a public affairs instructor, for the one open seat on the Coast Community College District’s Area 1 seat. Moreno garnered 72,500 votes over Jenkins 41,738.

The district oversees Golden West College in Huntington Beach, Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa and Coastline Community College, which is based in Fountain Valley.

In the Garden Grove Unified School District, incumbents Lan Quoc Nguyen and Bob Harden were reelected in a field of five candidates. The two led with Harden pulling in nearly 21,000 votes and Nguyen about 15,200 votes. Educator Bao Quoc Nguyen trailed with nearly 12,000 votes, labor relations representative Bob Tucker with about 8,800 and Shaun M. Curtis with about 6,000.

The district oversees two adult education centers, 47 elementary, 10 intermediate, seven high, two continuation and two special education schools in Garden Grove and in surrounding cities, including Fountain Valley.

Incumbent Mary Mangold took the lead with 28.3% of the vote, followed by fellow incumbents Andrew Nguyen with 25% and K. David Bridgewaters with 23.9% in the Westminster School District race. Retired Principal Ronald Zell trailed by nearly 300 votes.

The district oversees a child development center, 19 elementary and three middle schools in Huntington Beach, Midway City, Garden Grove and Westminster.