Voters in several metro Atlanta counties will head to the polls Tuesday to choose school board members. In other counties, they will narrow those races heading into the November elections.

In Gwinnett County, the state’s largest school district, District 4 voters will choose between Adrienne Simmons, an assessment specialist for the Georgia Department of Education, and Alexis Williams, an attorney who does work with nonprofit programs for youth.

In DeKalb County, District 6 incumbent Diijon DaCosta faces Janet Hughes, a licensed counselor. Battling for the school board’s District 2 seat are Candice D. McKinley, an attorney and former teacher, and Whitney McGinniss, a former teacher who has served on several PTA committees.

The Gwinnett and DeKalb races are nonpartisan, so Tuesday’s runoffs will decide those seats.

Cherokee County has two Republican Party runoff school board races Tuesday. In District 5, voters will choose between Sean Kaufman, a part-time Kennesaw State University faculty member, and Erin Ragsdale, a former teacher. The winner of that runoff will take on Democrat Sean Jackson in November. The District 6 race pits Susan Padgett-Harrison, a former school district employee, against Dr. Ray Lynch. The winner of the District 6 runoff faces no Democratic opposition.

Kaufman and Lynch are part of the 4CanDoMore group, which has been vocal against critical race theory being taught in public schools. They have also criticized social and emotional learning as an attempt to take control of children away from parents.

In Fayette County, District 4 voters will choose between Regina Daigre and Patty Mosley in the Democratic Party runoff. The winner will face Republican William Leon Yarde.

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Children in the Head Start program play outside with lead teacher Genesis Lavanway at the Arthur M. Blank Early Learning Center. It's one of the Head Start programs in Georgia that may not receive its annual funding on Nov. 1 due to the ongoing government shutdown. A bridge loan from the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta will keep the programs running for another 45 days. (Miguel Martinez/AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC

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(Photo Illustration: Philip Robibero / AJC | Source: Getty, Unsplash)

Credit: Philip Robibero / AJC