San Rafael education board candidate bows out

A candidate for the San Rafael City Schools board of education has dropped out of the race, throwing her endorsement to her opponent.

Lisa Longnecker, a meditation teacher and founder of Prana Foods in San Rafael, said she made her decision after talking with the other candidate, incumbent Lucia Martel Dow.

“Lucia and I are united on three very critical issues,” Longnecker told the Independent Journal’s editorial board last week.

“One, that medical decisions are for parents, not for schools,” Longnecker said. “Two, that schools should accept medical and religious exemptions for vaccinations. And three, that there should be no coercion or bullying” about the need to follow mandates.

Longnecker was listed as a supported candidate in the online newsletter for Marin Freedom Rising, a group formed in response to vaccine and mask mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

She said she can have more of an impact in advocating on those issues “as a citizen at large” than from within the school district.

Dan Miller of the Marin County Elections Department said it is too late to remove Longnecker’s name from the ballot for the Nov. 8 election.

“But she can run a ‘don’t vote for me’ campaign, basically by word of mouth,” Miller said. “It has worked in the past for other candidates.”

Longnecker and Martel Dow were vying to represent trustee Area 2 of the school district. The area represents parts of northern San Rafael.

Martel Dow, 45, an attorney, is director of the New Americans Campaign at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, a national collaborative. She was appointed to the board in January 2021. She is running for her first full four-year term.

Martel Dow said she felt “a lot of kindness” from Longnecker and that she appreciates Longnecker’s support.

“Even though we may have some disagreement, I plan to connect with Lisa in the future,” she said. “I absolutely respect her decision.”

Martel Dow said her conversation with Longnecker only referred to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, not the traditional vaccines that all California public school children must have in order to enter kindergarten.

“There are no COVID-19 mandates right now,” Martel Dow said.

If there were, however, Martel Dow said she would continue to support the three points listed by Longnecker because they are part of state law — medical and religious exemptions, parental choice and no coercion or bullying.

“I believe in following the laws of the state of California,” she said. “For me, that’s not a difficult decision.”

At the same time, she said would continue to rely on the guidance of Marin public health officials regarding COVID-19 vaccinations and masks if the mandate question were to arise again.

“I am proud that more than 60% of our kids in Marin County are vaccinated,” Martel Dow said.

Martel Dow, previously the director of immigration and social services at Canal Alliance in San Rafael, said she is “passionate about public service” and eager to do more to support students in the district, including students of color.

“Half of our student population is Latino or immigrant Latino,” she said.

“The academic outcomes for students of color are so disproportionate to those of White students,” she said. “It’s quite telling.”

She said the district must continue to use an equity audit done in 2018 as “a road map” for helping students of color achieve more academic success.

In other issues at San Rafael schools, Martel Dow said she agreed with the district’s decision in 2020 to remove SROs, or school resource officers, from district campuses. However, she said having a “strategic partnership with the San Rafael Police Department” is still important.

“I still believe in school safety,” Martel Dow said. “We have a countywide mandate to ensure the safety of our districts.” She said the answer is not only securing windows and doors, but to “have better coordination” with first responders and “to have a more comprehensive safety plan.”

She said San Rafael schools are segregated that is it has a lot to do with housing in Marin.

“Our housing policies force people to live in congregated areas,” she said. That is important because families in general tend to want their children to attend schools closest to their homes, she said.

She said the district has a committee looking into the issue. The district has also started a dual immersion program at Venetia Valley K-8 school that could help with more integration as families from different areas of the district are attracted to enroll their children.

Martel Dow, who was born and raised in Venezuela, lives in Marinwood with her husband and 8-year-old daughter.