When School Board member Brian Guerrero took the microphone on Sept. 2, 2024 at Sameen Ahmadnia’s campaign launch, he began with a jovial tone. “Most of you know that it isn’t often that the school board agrees completely on anything, so when I tell you we are unanimous in endorsing this candidate, that should tell you something.”
The campaign launch at Jackson Market was filled to capacity despite the late announcement and the holiday weekend, and was emceed by Justin Richmond, producer and co-host of the music podcast Broken Record. Richmond offered that he was an old friend of Ahmadnia’s and delighted to see her running for office.
Ahmadnia won praise from several other school board members who spoke, to the crowd, including School Board President Dr. Kelly Kent, and School Board member Paula Amezola, both of whom are standing down at the end of the current school board term.
When Ahmadnia spoke to the crowd, she introduced herself As “an immigrant advocate, and the parent of two fierce young women, and I’m here to advocate for all students. I always speak up when I see a perceived injustice; I think this what drove me to become an immigration attorney.”
“I spoke out [at La Ballon Elementary School] at the end of the year, when we were getting a non-Spanish speaking Vice-Principal… I asked how can we say we have equitable and inclusive schools unless multilingual families can advocate for themselves directly?”
Taking on the often discussed issue of infrastructure and maintenance, she noted “We need to be fully ADA compliant [ a legal standard that CCUSD has not yet met] and using our Measure E funds to focus on an equitable modernization of our school facilities.”
She thanked some other parents in the room for writing a grant to help the schools get ‘greener,’ focusing in on the climate crisis. “We should be moving towards solar power, and making sure we have cool green spaces for our students. We have a heat wave coming this week, and children need to be protected.”
Ahmadnia is getting a bit of a late start on the campaign, but with only three people running for two open seats, her candidacy will be drawing more attention to that part of the November ballot.
Judith Martin-Straw
