Ten candidates have filed paperwork to run for five of the nine seats on the Atlanta school board.
The qualifying deadline was Friday afternoon.
Atlanta school board elections will now take place every two years instead of every four. All nine seats used to be on the ballot at once, but a 2020 law changed that. Candidates in odd-numbered districts in the 2020 race ran for two-year terms, which are coming to an end. Seats in even-numbered districts will be up for re-election in 2025.
Here’s a look at who is running for the five odd-numbered seats on Nov. 7.
District One
Incumbent: Katie Howard
Howard was elected in 2021 and represents the Jackson and Carver clusters of schools.
Challengers: None
District Three
Incumbent: Michelle Olympiadis
Olympiadis was elected to the school board in 2017. She represents the Midtown cluster of schools.
Challengers: Ken Zeff
Zeff leads the education nonprofit Learn4Life, which is aimed at helping districts improve student performance. He was Fulton County’s interim superintendent during the 2015-16 school year.
District Five
Incumbent: Erika Mitchell
Challenger: Raynard Johnson
District Seven (At-Large)
Incumbent: Tamara Jones
Jones was elected to the board in 2021.
Challengers: Alfred “Shivy” Brooks and William “Will” Sardin.
District Nine (At-Large)
Incumbent: Jessica Johnson
The board tapped Johnson in January 2023 to fill the seat of outgoing chair Jason Esteves, who was elected to the Georgia Senate. She will face voters for the first time in November.
Challengers: Nkoyo Effiong Lewis
Lewis, a former Fulton County Schools teacher, is an attorney who was a finalist for the seat currently held by Johnson.
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