Incumbent Ashley “Ash” Esposito led six other candidates vying for two Baltimore school board seats with all precincts reporting results Wednesday morning.
Challenger Domonique A. Flowers held a minuscule lead over the other incumbent, Kwame’ Jamal Kenyatta-Bey, meaning both will likely advance to the general election once the remaining mail-in ballots are counted. Another challenger, Jamar Day, leads the count for the fourth spot over Kevin W. Parson by a few handfuls of votes.
The primary election narrows the field in this nonpartisan race from seven to four candidates, who will face off in November for a seat on the Baltimore City Board of School Commissioners.
Esposito, who ran for her seat the first time in 2022, said Tuesday that voters told her they’ve appreciated her transparency and advocacy for foster youth, homeless kids, students learning English and those with disabilities. On her campaign website, the commissioner said that her primary focus is on kids with high dropout rates or low graduation rates.
“It’s hard when you’re on the board, because you don’t know how much people actually watch,” said Esposito, who has a child in Baltimore City Public Schools. “School boards are the bedrock of democracy.”
School board commissioners set districtwide education policy, hire the CEO and approve the school system’s budget. Newcomers will work alongside incoming CEO Jermaine Dawson, who will lead a large school system for the first time starting July 1. He’s laser-focused on improving student test scores, which have been rising in Baltimore for years but still lag behind the rest of the state.
In the coming months, commissioners will face controversial budget decisions, requiring them to balance increased costs, a new spending formula for charter schools and enrollment declines. They’ll also likely need to close schools.
Kenyatta-Bey holds the only other elected seat on the board. He is a graduate of city schools and Morgan State University. He has over three decades of experience as an educator in the school system. He’s also a cellist and theater director who is passionate about the arts.
The other nine commissioners are appointed by the mayor, and a student member is elected annually by fellow high schoolers.
Flowers, a challenger who held the second-most votes Wednesday, is an attorney and adjunct professor who spent over a decade working with Baltimore students as a substitute teacher and in after-school programs. A former Maryland PTA board member, Flowers is a father of two with a 5-year-old son at Thomas Johnson Elementary/Middle School. He has also represented students in IEP and 504 meetings as a special education attorney.
Day, who was barely edging out Parsons for the final spot on November’s ballot, said Tuesday he was “feeling very optimistic” that he would go to sleep and wake up to victory.
“I feel like I put it out all out there in Baltimore City and hopefully my votes will come through in my last few precincts,” Day said.
Day is a “former teacher, dean and lifelong community organizer,” according to his campaign website. He currently works in the Maryland Department of General Services and ran for commissioner in part because the school board voted to shutter the Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys. He supports public performance evaluations of the district’s new CEO and teachers’ right to strike.
Parson is a former English teacher and principal who helped open a charter school. He spent 12 years in Democratic politics. He works as the director of student support at a media focused charter school in Washington, D.C.
Glenn J. Schatz and Brian Michael Robertson also ran for the two elected seats. They’re unlikely to pick up enough votes to compete in November.
Schatz said kids like his own, who attend Baltimore public schools, “deserve basics that work: a safe ride to school, a building that isn’t making them sick, and something to do after the bell rings.” He’s a former Navy officer who leads a team conducting community health screenings in medically underserved communities. He supports a yellow bus pilot program to help get kids to school on time.
Robertson is the lone school board candidate who identifies as a Republican. He’s a former Baltimore City Public Schools student and teacher who works as an electrical engineer, a professional saxophonist and an elder at his church. He has committed to replying to any concern sent his way within 72 hours and publicly posting “plain-language” summaries of every school board meeting.
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