Four candidates will compete for two open seats on the Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education after the nomination filing deadline closes at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 12.
Avery Wang, John Craig, Linda Henigin and Howie Xu are vying to replace outgoing board members Shounak Dharap and Shana Segal, neither of whom chose to seek re-election. The race is at-large, meaning every Palo Alto voter picks two.
Because neither incumbent filed, the deadline was extended from the original Friday, Aug. 7, close. Xu, a member of the district's parcel tax oversight committee, filed before the extended deadline, according to the Palo Alto Daily Post.
Who's running
Avery Wang is a PAUSD parent, co-founder of the music-recognition app Shazam and a researcher at Apple. He raised $14,322 from 43 donors through June 30, according to campaign finance filings reported by the Daily Post. His donor list includes Marek Albostza, who successfully sued the district over math placement, and Stanford math professor Brian Conrad, an advocate for more rigorous coursework.
John Craig is a PAUSD parent who raised $9,917 from 32 donors through June 30. Wang and Craig donated $1,000 to each other's campaigns, and both received $100 from sitting board member Rowena Chiu. Both advocate for advanced coursework and math acceleration.
Linda Henigin is a PAUSD substitute teacher, classroom aide, parent and longtime volunteer. She led the early fundraising field with $17,620 from 49 donors through June 30. Her platform centers on "Excellence for All, Strengthening Belonging, and Rebuilding Trust." Her donors include Santa Clara County Board of Education member Jessica Speiser ($500) and Stanford pediatric psychiatry professor Shashank Joshi.
Howie Xu serves on the district's parcel tax oversight committee. No campaign finance data or detailed platform information was available for Xu at press time.
What's at stake
Whoever wins inherits a district under financial pressure. PAUSD's parcel tax renewal, Measure B, failed on June 2 with only 61% support, short of the two-thirds supermajority required. The existing parcel tax, which generates roughly $15 million annually, expires in 2027.
"While our ending fund balance remains strong today, the district has already begun the transition from building reserves to relying on reserves to sustain operation," Chief Business Officer Charen Yu said at a June 2 budget hearing, the same meeting where the Measure B results were announced.
The board adopted a $369 million budget for 2026-27 in June. Yu projected the district's reserve could drop from more than $104 million to approximately $82 million after contract negotiations are finalized, and further to roughly $57.6 million by 2029 without a parcel tax renewal.
The new board members will also work alongside Superintendent Jason Glass, who started July 1 as the district's fourth superintendent in six months. PAUSD students return to school Thursday, Aug. 13, one day after the filing window shuts.
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Mail-in ballots go out in October.
