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School District · Statewide General Election

Oakland Unified Board of Education, District 2

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds your area's seat on the Oakland Unified school board: district policy, the budget, and hiring the superintendent.

Board President Jennifer Brouhard, the incumbent, faces Arielle Fleisher on the ranked-choice ballot for the District 2 seat on the Oakland Unified school board. The Oaklandside calls this year's OUSD board contests the most competitive local offices on Oakland's ballot.

The winner holds one of seven seats governing Oakland Unified: district policy, the budget, and hiring and overseeing the superintendent. Trustee areas share the city council's district lines by charter. A four-year term.

One issue dominates: OUSD is trying to close a roughly $100 million budget gap, and the board's choices about loans and state control follow from it. Brouhard has led that effort as president; Fleisher's platform opens by promising to fix the budget "for real this time" (per the Oaklandside) — a direct challenge to the incumbent's handling of it. Ranked-choice voting lets you rank the field in order of preference rather than picking one name.

Jennifer Brouhard

The incumbent District 2 director and the board's president, on the ballot as a Retired Educator. She taught history and special education for 27 years at Glenview Elementary and Melrose Leadership Academy. She has led OUSD through its roughly $100 million budget gap and has consistently said the district should not take another loan or return to state receivership (per the Oaklandside).

Strengths

27 years teaching in OUSD classrooms plus the board presidency, and a stated line against new loans or a return to state receivership.

Trade-offs

She presides over a board that has not yet closed the roughly $100 million gap; the record she runs on is an unfinished repair.

Keep in mind

Her no-loans, no-receivership position is a real constraint, not a slogan — it rules out the easier exits, which means the cuts or revenue have to come from somewhere she has to name.

Arielle Fleisher

On the ballot as a Parent/Policy Director. A parent of a Crocker Highlands student, she works on transportation policy for Waymo, is a PTA member, co-leads her neighborhood council, and has been involved with the advocacy organization Empower Oakland. The first item on her platform is fixing OUSD's budget "for real this time" (per the Oaklandside).

Strengths

Policy-professional experience plus school- and neighborhood-level engagement as a PTA member and neighborhood council co-lead.

Trade-offs

No governing experience in the district she would help run, and her budget promise is framed as a critique rather than a stated plan.

Keep in mind

Her involvement with Empower Oakland places her in an organized advocacy current in city politics — worth knowing when weighing whose agenda a seat advances.

Financial info

Jennifer Brouhard

$4,384raised
  • Small donors$3348%
  • Individuals$4,05092%

Arielle Fleisher

$32,297raised
  • Small donors$2,6258%
  • Individuals$27,13284%
  • PACs & committees$1,8006%
  • Self-funding$6002%

Figures are CA Form 460 filings through 2026-06-30, per the Oakland Public Ethics Commission's e-filed transaction exports, retrieved 2026-08-22.

Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

Last updated August 22, 2026.