11/25/2024 -
Mary Watts of Santa Rosa has been elected to the Sonoma County Board of Education, representing Area 3.
As of the latest batch of results from Friday, Nov. 22, Watts received 63.4% of votes cast, according to the Sonoma County Registrar of Voters Office. Runner-up Marc Orloff received the remaining 36.6% of the vote.
Watts, who has a master’s in public administration from Sonoma State University, sees the position as a way to get involved in public schools as her older daughter prepares to start transitional kindergarten.
“I’ve always been focused on education and education policy work,” she said. Watts, who analyzes data for anti-poverty programs at the federal Department of Health and Human Services, said she has done extensive research on education policies and equity.
The Sonoma County Board of Education oversees the alternative education program at the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE). The program includes two academies for students who have difficulties in traditional high school settings, as well as the educational programs at Sonoma County’s juvenile hall. The county trustees adopt SCOE’s budget and set the salary for the Sonoma County superintendent of schools, an independently elected position. The board also serves as the appellate body for student expulsions, interdistrict transfers, and charter school petitions.
Each trustee also acts as a liaison between SCOE and the districts in their trustee areas, which for Watts is central Sonoma County.
Watts said she attended several district board meetings and county board of education meetings during her campaign.
“I am excited to congratulate Mary Watts on her election win and look forward to working with her in the years to come,” said Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Amie Carter. “Mary has already become a fixture at our board meetings, and I can tell from her insightful questions and the care she put into her campaign that she will be a strong advocate for Sonoma County’s students and families.”
Watts called the board seat an opportunity to give back to public schools, which she credits with helping ensure she and her two older sisters had a successful future. Watts and her sisters attended public schools, and their mother taught theater in public schools.
“I grew up low-income with a single mom,” she said. “We did not always live in the best ZIP code, but she made sure we went to the best public schools that we could.”
Among the topics she is interested in learning more about is SCOE’s role in special education. Her 4-year-old daughter has an individualized education plan related to speech issues, she said.
Watts grew up in Los Angeles, earned a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University, and moved with her husband to Sonoma County, where she earned her master’s from Sonoma State University.
Watts currently serves as first vice chair of the Sonoma County Democratic Party and lives in the Junior College neighborhood of Santa Rosa with her husband and two daughters. She will be sworn in at the regular county board meeting on Friday, Dec. 13, which will also be the last meeting for current Area 3 trustee and Board President Andrew Leonard. Leonard opted not to seek reelection after first being appointed to the role in 2015 and being elected in 2016 and 2020.
