On Tuesday 7 November, the Atlanta Board of Education held an election for Atlanta voters to elect a new school board – or at least half of one. Members of the board play a pivotal role in managing the operations of Atlanta Public Schools (APS). The Atlanta School Board members are responsible for holding public meetings, overseeing personnel, encouraging community engagement, making communal decisions, managing APS budgets as well as many other important duties. A recent adjustment to election terms will now allow eligible voters to elect Atlanta school board members every two years, as opposed to the previous four years. This change means that the elections will take a new form. The Atlanta Board of Education’s 9 districts will not hold simultaneous elections, but will instead hold elections for half of the districts at a time.
The Atlanta Board of Education is composed of nine total districts: six board members represent geographical districts, while the remaining three represent “at-large” positions. At the recent election, board seats in the odd-numbered districts, which include District 1 (southeast Atlanta), District 3 (east Atlanta), District 5 (west Atlanta), and at-large Seats 7 and 9, were open to ballots. The even-numbered districts, which include District 2 (central Atlanta), District 4 (north Atlanta), District 6 (south Atlanta), and at-large Seat 8, will hold an election in 2025.
In the recent election, there were a total of ten candidates. District 1 had a single candidate: Katie Howard, who has been on the board since 2022. Running unopposed, Howard will continue as the District 1 board member. District 3 had two candidates: Ken Zeff and Michelle Olympiadis. Ken Zeff, an APS parent, will take on the position. District 5 had two candidates: Erika Y. Mitchell and Raynard Johnson. Erika Y. Mitchell, an Atlanta native and the incumbent, who developed the first electronic newsletter for her district, will continue as the board member. District 7 had three candidates: Tamara Jones, Alfred ‘Shivy’ Brooks, and William Sardin. A runoff election will take place on 5 December between Jones and Brooks, neither of whom received the required 50% plus one vote. District 9 had two candidates: Jessica Johnson and Nkoyo Effiong Lewis. Incumbent Jessica Johnson will continue as the District 9 board member.
The unofficial results for District 1, District 3, District 5, District 7, and District 9 are as follows:
District 1
Katie Howard (unopposed): 100% / 4,266 votes
District 3
Ken Zeff: 63% / 4,917 votes
Michelle Olympiadis (incumbent): 37% / 2,891 votes
District 5
Erika Y. Mitchell (incumbent): 70% / 3,012 votes
Raynard Johnson: 30% / 1,289 votes
District 7 At-Large
Tamara Jones (incumbent): 48.2% / 12,996 votes
Alfred ‘Shivy’ Brooks: 47.3% / 12,764 votes
William Sardin: 4.5% / 1,214 votes
* A runoff election will take place on Dec. 5 for Jones and Brooks (since neither received 50% plus 1 vote).
District 9 At-Large
Jessica Johnson (incumbent): 54.5% / 14,441 votes
Nkoyo Effiong Lewis: 45.5% / 12,075 votes
