Modesto City School District will undoubtedly see fresh faces on its Board of Education in January.
Four seats on the seven-member board are up for election this year – with three contested.
In Area 1, home of Gregori High School, incumbent Cindy Marks faces off against newcomer Nefi Lopez.
In Area 5, home of Johansen High School and La Loma Middle School, new leadership is guaranteed as current trustee Jolene Daly steps away from the role. Newcomers Debra Brady and Michelle Tomlinson are campaigning for the seat.
In Area 7, where there are no high schools but several elementaries, including Shackelford and Bret Harte, incumbent of nearly eight years Adolfo Lopez campaigns against newcomer Fabiola Garcia.
In Area 3, home of Beyer and Enoch highs, the seat is uncontested and candidate Stephanie Poulson will be elected.
The nonpartisan positions rotate every other election cycle. This year, odd numbered areas are up for election. Even numbered board seats will have their moment again in 2028.
Nefi Lopez, Area 1 candidate
Nefi Lopez, 41, moved to north Modesto four years ago with his wife and teenage son, who you may see campaigning with him around the city at local bookstores and other venues.
Lopez moved his family to Modesto after being laid off from his real estate job in the Bay Area. Since then, he has involved himself in the local realtors association and its young professionals network.
Lopez has coached for the Modesto Youth Soccer Association for about a year, starting with teens ages 14 to 17. He is currently coaching younger children around 8 to 10 years old.
“A lot of the kids that I’ve coached go to these schools,” he said. “They’re my main motivation. Seeing them growing, and making sure that they have the full resources and the full support from everybody else is what’s important for me.”
Along with the trustee seats, MCS will also have Bond Measure K on the ballot this November, aimed at continuing repairs and upgrades for high schools in the district.
Lopez compared infrastructure at local high schools to the ones he attended in Oakland. He said local bond measures like these are one of the reasons he chose Modesto as a new home. He fully supports the measure, and wants to see the funds prioritized for the most underserved in the district.
As a parent to a Gregori High School senior, he says he’s noticed a gap in communication and accessibility between parents and the schools. As a real estate agent, he has flexibility in his schedule to attend meetings for his son during regular school hours, but notes that many parents don’t.
“I think the communication is one of the things that we need to work on, and really kind of building more of a community with the school as a parent,” he said.
Lopez is endorsed by the Modesto Teachers Association, Stanislaus Democrats, and more.
Find out more at nefiforschoolboard.com.
Cindy Marks, Area 1 incumbent
Originally from Escalon, Marks moved to Modesto when she married over 40 years ago and has lived here ever since. In 1997, Cindy Marks campaigned against 13 other candidates for a seat on the MCS board and has been reelected every term.
She was the defining vote in 2017 when the MCS changed the way it conducts elections to the single-member district representative system we see today. She was on the board when national conversations around student safety were first sparked, after the Columbine High School Massacre in 1999 and through the pandemic.
Now, at 64, Marks takes pride in the achievements MCS has made towards improving students’ English and math scores amid a national reading recession.
“We’ve made some great progress with English language arts. We need to make a lot more progress in math,” she said. “That’s been something that we changed our math to SWUN Math, and that’s been a really good one. We’ve made some, but I still believe we need to make a lot more, progress in that.”
SWUN Math is a curriculum designed for students in transitional kindergarten through eighth grade. The program provides teachers with professional development in the subject at the same time.
Years ago, she developed a love for working with refugee children from Cambodia and Laos who lived in the (no longer operating) Paradise Apartment complex in Modesto. Today, this experience prompts her to watch over the number of students learning English as a second language. Last year, the district doubled its number of students that were English language proficient, she said.
If she is not reelected, Marks says she will continue on with her Christian-centered community service. Marks annually organizes “Pray Modesto,” an interdenominational prayer breakfast that brings together local officials, law enforcement, community members and pastors. She said she enjoys the event because it provides a space to celebrate positive changes in the city “because we always get the negative.”
Marks is endorsed by the Republican Party of Stanislaus.
Find out more at www.instagram.com/marks4schoolboard.
Debra Brady, Area 5 candidate
Debra Brady has lived in Modesto for 24 years. At 68, Brady is running for office for the first time. The decision came after she retired as a United Methodist pastor and district leader, and completed a period of caregiving and grief following her husband’s illness and death.
“What is more important than helping our schools be vibrant and thriving if we’re trying to create a vibrant and thriving community?” she said she asked herself, as she mulled over her decision to run.
Local immigration attorney and friend Erica Flaherty eventually convinced Brady to file for Area 5. Together, the duo has worked canvassing neighborhoods and attending local meetings.
Brady has spent decades attending church board meetings as a district director. At one point, she said her job included overseeing 80 churches and 60 pastors, so bridging the gaps between multiple factions is not new to her.
Brady said campaigning has given her new ideas for how to engage with community members, like leaving messages on doorbell cameras while canvassing. MTA and the district are currently at an impasse, as teachers are working without a contract. Brady hopes to create a better environment for these negotiations, if she’s elected.
“I do want to foster a culture of trust, and that comes through spending time together and listening and building relationships,” she said. “I think in the past the board has been encouraged to not be in relationship with union leaders, not to trust them. So there’s been some tension or hostility even, and I don’t think we can properly do our work unless all the entities are working well together.”
Brady is endorsed by Modesto Mayor Sue Zwahlen, Modesto Teachers Association and more.
Find out more at DebralBrady.com.
Michelle Tomlinson, Area 5 candidate
Michelle Tomlinson, 51, was born and raised in Turlock and now lives in the neighborhood next to Christine Sipherd Elementary School in east Modesto.
As a former full-time mother of three and recent empty-nester, Tomlinson said this year is the perfect time for her to run for local office. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom she was a real estate agent and business owner in the Bay Area, and left it behind to raise her family.
Her main motivation to run for office came last June, when MCS approved a new health curriculum for fifth graders across the district. Tomlinson says she is running on behalf of the parents in Modesto who were against the highly publicized program.
The new curriculum, called Puberty Talk, includes chapters on consent, identity expression and masturbation.
“Where I draw the line (is) when Modesto City School Board decided to bring curriculum into our schools, to our fifth grade daughters and sons, that is pornographic,” she said
While her children were in elementary schools in the Empire School District and later MCS high schools, she was involved in several parent organizations. She spent time on Sylvan’s Superintendent Advisory Committee, Johansen High School’s English Learner Advisory Committee and more.
As a second-generation Mexican-American she hopes to bridge the gap between families in Spanish-speaking communities to better support students who take English-proficiency tests every year.
In February, high schools across Modesto walked out in protest of violence caused by federal ICE agents. Tomlinson said their reactions were warranted, considering the fear their community is facing.
“They’re trying to bring notice to ‘Hey, we want to be educated. We don’t feel safe. Let’s let you know and voice our opinions.’ Well, that’s being an American,” she said. “You’re free to express your opinions, and you’re free to voice your thoughts in the way that they did.”
As a parent, she spent a lot of time voicing her opinions by organizing anti-bullying campaigns and advocating for parents who don’t understand their children’s Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) in the Empire district.
If she wins, she will work to close the learning gaps in math, reading and writing for all students.
Tomlinson would like to see the district financially prioritize programs for families to better address the needs of their students who are learning English as a second language and those on IEPs.
If she doesn’t win, she said she would refocus her time working in the community, most likely with the Stanislaus County Republican Central Committee.
Tomlinson is endorsed by the county Republican committee and local Republican candidates and politicians Kevin Lincoln, John Duarte, Juan Alanis and more.
Find out more at Michelle4mcs.com.
Fabiola Garcia, Area 7 candidate
Fabiola Garcia, 48, is a lifelong west Modesto resident and graduate of Modesto City Schools.
Garcia currently works with a group that provides free cell phones to underserved communities, also known as a government phone distributor. She said the work sometimes puts her in danger of assault.
Despite those concerns, she has talked with her friends and family about running for office for years.
“We’ve been plotting for a while, but it was just all about timing. So last election cycle, we knew for sure that I would run this cycle,” Garcia said.
She lives in a neighborhood surrounded by three elementary schools and says watching local students struggle, especially those whose parents are less vocal, pushed her to run. Her top priority is ensuring all students graduate “college ready,” whether or not they immediately pursue higher education.
As a parent of a highly-functioning autistic young adult who went through the special education system, Fabiola says she understands how crucial advocacy is for students whose families may not know how or feel comfortable speaking up.
“I know that it’s for students whose parents are a little bit more introverted. So I think we need to help so that all the parents feel comfortable and so all the students have success,” she said.
She also centers teacher compensation and benefits, citing friends and local educators who cannot afford adequate medical coverage despite working full-time.
She notes that surrounding districts such as Atwater in Merced County pay significantly more for similar special education roles, and she argues that better pay and benefits for teachers will translate to better outcomes for students.
Fabiola brings prior leadership experience as former president of Congregations Building Community (CBC), part of the PICO network, a faith-based community organizing group.
There, she worked on local policies to prevent costly vehicle impounds for unlicensed but sober drivers, backed efforts to expand driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status, and supported national campaigns around DACA and universal healthcare.
She said her family has always supported local student activism, dating back to her time in school when students walked out to protest Prop 187, which would have denied undocumented children public education.
“We literally had teachers that walked out with us,” she recalled. “I think that was great because even as young people, some teachers walked out with us, and our parents came. My mom specifically came and was giving everybody water bottles that she could.”
Find out more at Fabiola Garcia for MCS District 7.
Adolfo Lopez, Area 7 incumbent
Adolfo Lopez, 35, has served two terms and nearly nine years on the Modesto City Schools board representing Area 7, where he was born and raised within a few blocks of his current south Modesto home.
“My parents live a block or two from here, and so I just really enjoy being a part of this community,” he said. “Getting to experience how this community has thrived over the last couple of years has been amazing.”
Lopez works as a community engagement manager for the Parent Institute for Quality Education, focusing on statewide parent leadership and advocacy.
His trustee district includes seven elementary schools – it’s a point of pride for him to name them all – and Hanshaw Middle School. Students in his area go on to attend Modesto High, Downey, or Johansen for high school, though those campuses are not geographically in his purview. Lopez said despite that he feels a responsibility for all students in the district.
Lopez is strongly in favor of supporting the district’s High School Bond Measure K on the ballot this year. He said, over the years, several similar measures have resulted in major infrastructure improvements.
These include the new cafeteria at Shackleford Elementary and the transformation of Tuolumne into a TK–8 STEM-focused school with new classrooms, a gym, cafeteria, office, and safer traffic and drop-off design. He ties these investments to district gains like graduation rates and dropout reduction.
“So being able to be there to show the investment that we’ve done in our community through these bonds, and keeping a close eye on ensuring that the schools with the most outdated facilities get first priority,” he said.
Despite those advances, he said the district still has issues to address, One point of contention is a large raise for incoming board members.
“I originally voted no because I also knew that in our community there’s also the sentiment that the timing was off,” he said.
Regardless of whether he is reelected, he said he will remain in the neighborhood as a homeowner and continue organizing and supporting bond measures to address ongoing facility needs for future generations.
Lopez is endorsed by the Modesto Teachers Association and the Stanislaus County Democratic Party.
Find out more at Adolfo Lopez MCS Board Trustee Area 7.
Stephanie Poulsen, Area 3 unopposed candidate
Stephanie Poulsen, 46, was surprised to learn that she is assured her seat on the board. Today she works part-time with a local interior designer.
“It’s a relief to be running unopposed because I can just kind of concentrate on what I’m going to do when I get there,” she said.
Poulsen said she fully prepared to campaign against several other people when she decided to submit her candidate paperwork.
She had heard through the grapevine that someone whose children played baseball with her kids was planning to submit paperwork to run in Area 3, representing northeast Modesto. But the would-be opponent dropped out leaving the seat open to her.
Poulsen attended Chico State, where she earned a biology degree. She and her husband, an athletic director for Modesto City Schools, have three children, ages 20, 18, and 14, who have attended local public schools in both Sylvan and Modesto City Schools.
Since her husband is a union employee, she would have to abstain from any board vote when the MTA and district reach an agreement.
Her background blends regulation, education and community work. She previously was a health inspector in Santa Clara County, where she learned regulatory enforcement and community education.
Poulsen has spent a lot of time in classrooms as a substitute teacher, gaining empathy for teachers, paraprofessionals and students. These experiences gave her firsthand knowledge of what goes on in classrooms.
“When my youngest went to school I started subbing, so I could be flexible with all of their schedules,” she said, “and I know people kind of look down on subs sometimes, but that was a really sweet time in my life because it gave me a lot of empathy for teachers and paras, and the people that are in the classrooms every single day.”
She is endorsed by the North Valley Labor Federation, MTA and more.
Find out more at Poulsen4MCSBoard.org.
Vivienne Aguilar is a reporter for The Modesto Focus, a project of the Central Valley Journalism Collaborative. Contact her at vivienne@themodestofocus.org.