October 30, 2026

Election Day is approaching fast, and on the ballot this cycle is the trustee seat for Torrance Unified School District (TUSD) School Board Area D. 

Area D consists of the schools and general surrounding neighborhoods of South High School, Richardson Middle School, Calle Mayor Middle School, Riviera Elementary School, Arnold Elementary School, Seaside Elementary School, and Walteria Elementary School. This year, there are two candidates running for the Area D position, Jennifer Mak and Ryan Rauzon, one of which will be elected for a 4-year term..

We at the Sword and Shield had the opportunity to interview each of the two candidates on Thursday Oct. 22 about their campaigns and visions for Torrance Unified School District (TUSD).

Jennifer Mak is “first and foremost, a TUSD mom,” she has “three kids, Joseph Mak, Christine Mak and Timothy Mak. They went through Riviera, Richardson and South High. They are all proud products of TUSD.”

Currently Mak is on the board of directors with the volunteer center at South Bay and active with the Kiwanis Club and Lundquist Institute.

“I also became a Rotarian with the Rotary Club of Torrance” Mak said.

Along with these three titles Mak is a retired principal of 10 years.

“During those 10 years, always, every day, my priority was in the classroom,” Mak said.“I want to see how teaching and learning takes place in the classroom. I want to see what I can do better to support our teachers and our students.” 

Later in her career Mak became a District Administrator.

“I supported 16 schools on the West side… serving approximately 7,000 students. So, I was very active every day. I visited two schools. I made it my priority to go visit school sites, and walk classrooms with the principals. So, of course, if elected, you  will see me,” Mak said. 

Rauzon is running for this position as a TUSD parent as well “I am the dad of Caleb Rauzon, South Spartan, senior, class of 2027. And former Lily, class of 2025.” Rauzon said. He also has a younger son Lincoln who attends Richardson Middle School. Rauzon highlighted that “We (The Rauzon family) have been heavily involved in our church, heavily involved in Riviera Little League, South High Athletics, swim, and water polo.” 

Rauzon was previously the PTA President at Richardson Middle School, “served on a school site council,” and is “on the PTA here at South.”

Rauzon believes that his experience on the PTA and in business will help him in the Board position.

"I work in communications and own my own business doing communications work and community relations.” Rauzon said. “I also used to work in the state capital for a couple of elected officials.”

Additionally, Rauzon highlighted his involvement within TUSD. 

“I'm on campus. I'm in the schools. Principal Evans knows me. Dr. Balogun at Richardson knows me. Christie Forshay, the principal of Riviera, knows me. So, I think it's all of those things that just make me a strong advocate and a force. Also, I have kind of a big personality.” 

Both candidates have many visions for TUSD and ideas on how to accomplish them. 

Mak’s campaign theme is “Excellence for the Next Generation: Raise the Bar” which she outlined in three main goals. 

“The first one is to raise the bar for every student,” Mak said. “So, when I say every student, I do mean every student. I think the high achieving students deserve opportunities to stretch themselves, to challenge themselves. I also believe every student includes those who are not there yet.” 

As part of her plan to assist students who are struggling, Mak stated that: “We need to know who they are, what their needs are and really look into what are the root causes of them struggling and then provide them with timely intervention.” 

The second goal that she outlined was “to empower our educators and our school leaders.”

She outlines the importance of giving teachers “support, resources, and tools so they can do their best job,” and also mentions how she believes that “right now we do need to work on raising the starting salary for our teachers if we want to recruit the most talented... and also make sure that we provide our teachers a fair and competitive package.” 

 Her third goal “is to strengthen our partnership with families and community.” 

Mak acknowledges that families want to feel “heard, included and respected” and that “to have a two-way communication system put in place is very important.”

She not only wants to strengthen ties with students and their families but also to the surrounding community. 

“I'm trying to build relationships with our community partners and front loading pipelines for our students.” Mak said. 

As part of his goals and priorities Rauzon highlighted that “there are 22,000 (students) who are not at the state standard, not at grade level for reading or math.” 

 He goes on to say that: “we need to do better there. As a district. As adults we owe you (students) better. And the families of kids who are not at the state standard, guess what that feels like? It's terrifying. And especially as a parent, you're not entirely sure what you're supposed to do.” 

Rauzon outlines that not only are there kids in TUSD who are below standards but it's also difficult for those students and their families to find help and someone to turn to.

For his second goal Rauzon discussed how there is “a lot of the infrastructure of our schools there is 34 different campuses” and “We (TUSD) need to put more money into them” including “ plumbing, electrical, roofing, maybe air conditioning.” 

Rauzon acknowledges the different opinions and questions that revolve around this topic stating: “Well, the only way that that happens is if we as a community put on the ballot a question. Do property owners actually want to pay more to invest in our schools?” 

Ultimately he highlights that these changes he is discussing, and plans to push for, would help “tens of thousands of students and teachers have a better campus and better infrastructure.”

Both Mak and Rauzon are on the ballot this election cycle along with various others running for different positions. As election day draws closer, if you are able, make sure to vote next Tuesday, Nov. 3.

More information on how to vote in person or by mail can be found here. 

*Jennifer Mak’s interview was conducted by Katie Traylen and Payton Fort

*Ryan Rauzon’s interview was conducted by Mia Mueck and Noemi Karoum 

*the candidates interviews were organized in alphabetical order 

*the quotes from this article were taken and shortened for clarity from a larger interview for the purpose of this articles