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Contra Costa County Board of Education, Area 2

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School District

Contra Costa County Board of Education, Area 2

This person holds the Area 2 seat on the 5-member Contra Costa County Board of Education. It sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs and supports and hears appeals from the county's public school districts. The term is four years.

Contra Costa County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Area 2 seat. That vote is on November 3, 2026. Incumbent Sarah Butler, the board's 2026 president, faces two challengers. They are small business owner and former Orinda school trustee Pamela West, and school psychologist Sibyl Minighini. It is the only county Board of Education seat with real competition this cycle. Areas 4 and 5 also have expiring terms, but each drew a single, unopposed candidate.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 5-member Board of Education, one of five geographic areas. The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs and hears appeals from the county's public school districts. Area 2 covers Canyon, Concord, Lafayette, Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, and parts of Alamo, El Sobrante, and Kensington.

The choice is between continuity and two different kinds of outside experience: Butler points to nearly eight years on the board and its current presidency, West offers eight years on a city-level school board plus a business background, and Minighini brings a school psychologist's classroom-adjacent perspective after an unsuccessful 2024 run for a different district's board. None of the three has held elected office above the school-board level.

Sarah Butler

Sarah Butler is the incumbent Area 2 trustee, on the board since 2018 and its 2026 president. They hold a degree in Environmental Planning and Management from UC Davis. They previously served on the Orinda Union School Board from 2012 to 2016. Their stated priorities include school safety and expanded mental health resources. They also want equal access to a quality education for every student.

Pamela West

Pamela West is a small business owner challenging Butler for the Area 2 seat. West spent eight years as a trustee on the Orinda Union School District board. They hold a degree in economics and an MBA. They say they want a collaborative, results focused approach on the county board. They are endorsed by Sue Severson. Severson is Orinda's former mayor and a past Orinda Union School District board president.

Sibyl Minighini

Sibyl Minighini is a school psychologist for San Francisco Unified School District. She is challenging for the Area 2 seat. She ran for two Acalanes Union High School District seats in 2024 and did not win. She competed against five other candidates. No campaign website or public platform statement for this race was found.

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A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot.

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