Incumbent candidate and school psychologist Dr. Amanda Stern, construction contractor Sigalie Sabag and firearms dealer Russell Stuart led the race for the three open seats on the Beverly Hills Unified School District Board of Education at press time on Nov. 6. Stern received the highest number of votes, followed by Sabag and Stuart, respectively. Estate planning attorney Dela Peykar Ronen was trailing Stuart by slightly more than 400 votes as of Wednesday afternoon.
"I am humbled and excited to have won a second term on the school board," Stern, the current board president, said in a statement. "The last couple of months have been tense as we faced the ups and downs of the election roller coaster. I am ready to work together with my colleagues, to share a vision of academic excellence and a renewed path in the best interest of our students and their families."
"I am truly honored and thrilled to accept the opportunity to serve on the Beverly Hills Unified School District governing board," Sabag said in a statement. "This journey has been deeply rewarding, and I am immensely grateful for the trust and support of our Beverly Hills community. My dedication to elevating BHUSD to its rightful place as a National Blue Ribbon district is unwavering. With a profound commitment to our students, I am ready to make a lasting and positive impact on their education and future. Thank you to everyone who voted and believed in my vision for our schools. Your support and dedication to our students mean the world to me, and I am beyond grateful to have you by my side. I look forward to working alongside my fellow board members to create a brighter future for BHUSD, support our students, families, superintendent, teachers, staff and administration, and make our community proud."
As the third place candidate, Stuart was cautious not to declare victory, noting that there are still votes left to be counted. However, he spoke optimistically about the possible outcome.
"I'm very humbled to run my second campaign in nine months and to have 5,337 people that live in our city that feel like I'm the best choice to be on the school board," Stuart said. "If it gets certified, and I have that honor to serve, I hope that people know that I'm going to fight and do my best for exactly what we campaigned on, and to make the district great again."
Although the results have not yet been finalized, Peykar Ronen said she does not believe she will win a seat on the board based on the results on Nov. 6.
"I think my team and I did the best we can. I think we did it with class and integrity and I'm really proud of everyone who helped me in this process. We dealt with some hills to climb and I think we did what we could whenever the obstacles came up," Peykar Ronen said. "My kids are in the schools so I obviously am still very vested and very interested to make sure that the schools are the best they can be. I really do hope that [the new school board members] deliver on the promises that they made us and they work together to really better the schools for our children and our community in general."