Student Board Member

What is a Student Board Member?

A Student Board Member is a student that serves alongside the five (5) Board Trustees on the San Diego Unified Board of Education. The purpose of the Student Board Member is to provide students with a voice on the Board of Education. The Student Board Member participates in discussions and represents all the students of the San Diego Unified School District via preferential voting rights, which means the student’s vote is expressed and recorded into the official minutes but does not affect the numerical outcome of the Board of Education vote. The term is for one school year but Student Board Members may run for reelection for a total of two years.

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What are the duties of a Student Board Member?

1. Represent all students and facilitate the discussion of all sides of issues. This duty does not preclude the Student Board Member from stating their individual opinion.

2. Provide continuing input in Board deliberations.

3. Strengthen communications between the Board and district students.

4. Serve as President of the Student Advisory Board.

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What are the expectations and responsibilities of being a Student Board Member?

The Student Board Member should plan to attend all Board meetings, workshops, etc., but at a minimum should attend all meetings held at the San Diego Unified School District Education Center Auditorium or virtually if directed (a minimum of 2-3 meetings per month with that increasing at the end of the year).  The approved meeting dates are posted here.

The Student Board Member will need to be familiar with the agendas prior to the meetings in order to make informed comments and votes.  Agendas are also posted at the link above.  The agendas with supporting materials can be quite lengthy and will require a large commitment on the student’s part (attending Board meetings, workshops, reading through the agendas ahead of time and asking questions so they are prepared to fully participate in these meetings, etc.).

Draft agendas are provided two Fridays before the meeting; these documents are Confidential as they are not yet available to the public.  Final Agendas and supporting materials will be prepared in notebook form and delivered to the Student Rep’s residence on the Friday evening that the agenda goes live, or will be made available via GoogleDoc, whichever is the preferred method for the student.

Additionally, the Student Board Member is expected to serve as the President of the Student Advisory Board which may meet around once a month.  The Student Board Member should plan to schedule, prepare agendas and attend the Student Advisory Board meetings.

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What is the Student Advisory Board?

The Student Advisory Board was created in the 2019-2020 school year and is made up of secondary students from across the district. The mission of the Student Advisory Board is to serve to effectively represent and empower students of the San Diego Unified School District by advising district leadership on the issues that directly affect the education of students, propose solutions for issues relevant to students, advise district leadership on courses of action for student affairs, and work to create district wide solutions for the problems discussed in meetings.

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What qualifications do I need to meet to run for the Student Board Member position?

Students interested in running must be enrolled in a high school of the school district, may be less than 18 years of age, and shall be chosen by the students enrolled in the high schools of the school district via a districtwide election.  

Eligibility Requirements: 

A candidate for Student Board Member must:

• Currently be enrolled at a high school in the San Diego Unified School District (no incoming freshmen or outgoing seniors are eligible).

• Have not received any suspensions in the previous and current school year (exemptions can be made by the Principal of the school where the student received the suspension as well as if the suspension is currently being appealed).

• Be willing to dedicate a significant amount of time to the position.

• Attend all open-session Board of Education meetings and workshops, as well as all meetings held by the Student Advisory Board.

• This commitment will result in spending multiple hours per week completing the tasks required of the Student Board Member. 

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How do I apply to run for the Student Board Member position?

Steps to Become a Candidate for Student Board Member:

The following are required Candidate Filing steps for a Student Board Member candidate to complete via this Google Form:

• Candidate Information Statement (Required): The candidate completes this document to provide basic information. 

• Nomination Papers (Required): Nomination signatures must be obtained to become a candidate for Student Board Member. The number of student signatures required for a Student Board Member candidate is 200 or 10% of the school's student body.

• Candidate’s Statement (Required): A candidate for Student Board Member may prepare a brief description of his/her/their background and qualifications to be printed in the District’s Voter Information Guide. 

• Candidate Video (Required): Please provide a maximum one (1) minute video for your campaign that will be included on the voter's ballot/District's Voter Information Guide to help students get to know you. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the video preparation, please contact the Elections Administrator at sseiders@sandi.net 619-725-7125.

• Declaration of Candidacy (Required): This is the final step of Candidate Filing. The Declaration of Candidacy is the document on which the candidate indicates how they want their name to appear on the ballot and what Ballot Designation they desire, if any. 

Please note that anything you submit could be requested by members of the public for their viewing.

Submit your completed Documents of Candidacy via email or via the provided Google Form:

Stacey Srsic (Seiders)

sseiders@sandi.net

619-725-7125

4100 Normal St. Room 2140 

San Diego, CA 92103

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Once I apply, what happens next?

Once you submit your completed Documents of Candidacy, you will receive an email confirming receipt. In the meantime, after you submit your application be sure to prepare to attend the in-person forum Saturday April 19, 2025. Then the documents will be reviewed and verified within three (3) days at which time you will receive an email either approving candidacy or notifying you that something is missing or incomplete. In the email approving your candidacy, you will also receive campaign regulations, the election timeline and the election process. 

As an FYI, students running to become the Student Board Member are subject to the following regulations:

1. Students are required to file reports on all campaign items and donations more than $50.00. This is to be turned into the Election Administrator.

2. Students who have declared candidacy for Student Board Member are required to comply with all policies of San Diego Unified when making social media posts that are in relation to their campaign.  This means that any type of hate speech, false information, or cyber bullying will not be tolerated.

3. Students are expected to follow all other San Diego Unified, and school campus, student rules while campaigning.

4. Students are expected to make decisions that do not negatively affect others when campaigning (i.e. disrupting class).

5. Students must have approval from their own school Principal and the approval of the Principal of the school they plan to visit prior to any school site visits. On any school campus while campaigning students must respect and follow all campus rules.

6. The San Diego Unified School District reserves the right to add campaign regulations as necessary in order to ensure a successful election (candidates will be notified of any campaign regulation additions).

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Who do I contact if I have questions?

Stacey Srsic (Seiders)

Election Administrator

sseiders@sandi.net

619-725-7125