Skip to main content

School District · Statewide General Election

Placer County Board of Education, Trustee Area 1

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 would hold the Trustee Area 1 seat on Placer County's 7-member Board of Education: it sets policy for the County Office of Education, decides countywide school budget and property matters, and acts as an appellate body for interdistrict transfers, expulsions, and charter school appeals. A 4-year term, decided outright by whoever gets the most votes in November -- there is no primary for this office.

Placer County's Board of Education has a genuine three-way race for its Trustee Area 1 seat on November 3, 2026: incumbent Sergey Terebkov faces two first-time challengers, Sue Debey and Nora Parella. It's a direct November election with no June primary for this office -- whoever gets the most votes wins outright.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education. The board sets policy for the County Office of Education, decides countywide school budget and property matters, and acts as an appellate body for interdistrict transfers, expulsions, and charter school appeals. Two of the county's other trustee-area seats up this cycle, Areas 4 and 6, each drew only a single qualified candidate and are not on the November ballot at all -- Area 1 is the only contested Board of Education race in the county this cycle.

The choice weighs an incumbent's board experience against two challengers with different backgrounds in education: Terebkov, appointed to the seat in 2021 and elected in 2022, argues for continuity and his charter-school and community-relations background; Debey, a retired accountant, centers her campaign on academic basics and school safety; Parella, a state education-policy administrator, brings direct experience inside California's education bureaucracy.

Sergey Terebkov

Sergey Terebkov is the Area 1 incumbent, appointed to the seat in 2021 and elected to it in 2022. A 22-year Roseville resident, he holds an MSW from Dubna University in Moscow and works as Director of School, Parent and Governmental Relations at Gateway Community Charters. He founded and leads the Slavic American Chamber of Commerce and previously chaired Roseville's Transportation Commission.

Strengths

One full term of board experience plus a charter-school career touching the same K-12 landscape the board oversees, and civic involvement beyond it (Transportation Commission, chamber of commerce).

Trade-offs

His platform favors school choice and charter-friendly policy, a stance not every district voter shares; no independent news coverage of his board votes surfaced.

Keep in mind

His biography here is sourced to his own campaign site and the county board's own Board Members page, not an independent news profile.

Sue Debey

Sue Debey is a first-time candidate, a California native who has lived in Roseville since 2018. A retired accountant with a Corporate Financial Management degree from San Jose State University, she is campaigning on 'academic basics' (reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and the arts), school safety and nutrition, age-appropriate curriculum content, and cost-conscious budgeting.

Strengths

A financial background relevant to overseeing a countywide school budget, and a specific, plainly stated platform filed directly with the county as an official Candidate Statement of Qualifications.

Trade-offs

As a first-time candidate she has no prior public-office record to evaluate, and no independent news coverage of her campaign surfaced this pass.

Keep in mind

Her platform language on keeping 'discussions on sexuality and alternate lifestyles' out of the public-school years signals a specific curriculum-content stance voters may weigh alongside her other priorities.

Nora Parella

Nora Parella is a first-time candidate who has spent more than a decade working in California education policy, currently serving as a Policy Administrator of Special Education at the California Department of Education. She runs an active campaign site and Facebook page for the race.

Strengths

Direct, current professional experience inside California's state education bureaucracy, a background distinct from both her opponents' and directly relevant to countywide school policy.

Trade-offs

As a first-time candidate for this specific office she has no local board experience, and no independent news coverage of her campaign surfaced this pass.

Keep in mind

Her biography here is sourced to her own campaign site, Facebook page, and LinkedIn profile, not an independent news profile.

Source review: Mixed (73/100) · 7 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Nora Parella's own campaign site ('Meet Nora' page): describes over a decade working at the highest levels of California education policy, turning legislation into real programs for students; her LinkedIn profile independently lists her current role as Policy Administrator of Special Education at the California Department of Education., Nora Parella's own campaign Facebook page ('Nora Parella for Placer County Board of Education'), 89 likes and 183 people talking about it as of this pass -- corroborates active 2026 campaign activity., and Sergey Terebkov's own campaign site: a 22-year Roseville resident with an MSW from Dubna University (Moscow), Director of School, Parent and Governmental Relations at Gateway Community Charters, founder and president of the Slavic American Chamber of Commerce, former City of Roseville Transportation Commissioner (2019 Chair), and a platform of countywide literacy funding, expanded career/technical education and workforce pathways, and school choice. may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • placercountyelections.gov (opens in a new tab)Placer County Elections -- official "Offices to Appear on the Ballot for the November 3, 2026 Gubernatorial Election" document (post-primary, dated 07/10/2026): names Placer County Board of Education Trustee Areas 1, 4, and 6 as seats up this cycle, one seat each, term beginning December 11, 2026 -- but names no candidates.
  • placercountyelections.gov (opens in a new tab)Placer County Elections -- official "Candidate List" (report CFMR009, "November 3 2026 General Election," printed 8/28/2026 11:50:18AM, 29 pages) -- reached live via the "Candidate Watch" link on the county's Current Elections page (see the Roseville/Loomis entries above for how the county's usual Cloudflare/Akamai block was bypassed). Its County Board of Education section: Trustee Area 1 (Contest 4021, On Ballot: Yes, Vote For 1) lists three Qualified candidates -- Sue Debey ("Retired Accountant/Mother," filed 8/03/2026), Sergey Terebkov ("Placer County Board of Education Trustee," filed 8/04/2026), and Nora Parella ("Education Administrator/Parent," filed 7/30/2026). Trustee Area 4 (Contest 4024, On Ballot: No, Vote For 1) lists one Qualified candidate, R. Jan Pinney ("School Board President," filed 8/05/2026). Trustee Area 6 (Contest 4025, On Ballot: No, Vote For 1) lists one Qualified candidate, Renee Regacho-Anaclerio ("Placer County Board of Education Trustee Area 6," filed 8/03/2026). Areas 4 and 6 are cited here for the structural record but not built -- single filers, not printed on the ballot.
  • placercountyelections.gov (opens in a new tab)Placer County Elections -- Sue Debey's official Candidate Statement of Qualifications (report PCBOE1): a first-time candidate, a California native who has lived in Roseville since 2018, a retired accountant with a Corporate Financial Management degree from San Jose State University, running on "Academic Basics," student well-being, age-appropriate curriculum content, and cost-effective budgeting.
  • sergeyterebkov.com (opens in a new tab)Sergey Terebkov's own campaign site: a 22-year Roseville resident with an MSW from Dubna University (Moscow), Director of School, Parent and Governmental Relations at Gateway Community Charters, founder and president of the Slavic American Chamber of Commerce, former City of Roseville Transportation Commissioner (2019 Chair), and a platform of countywide literacy funding, career/technical education, and school choice.
  • placercoe.org (opens in a new tab)Placer County Office of Education -- its own Board Members page: confirms Sergey Terebkov as the sitting Trustee Area 1 member, first appointed in 2021 and elected in 2022, serving as Board Vice President and Advocacy and Charter School Liaison.
  • noraforplacer.com (opens in a new tab)Nora Parella's own campaign site ("Meet Nora" page): describes over a decade working in California education policy; her LinkedIn profile independently lists her current role as Policy Administrator of Special Education at the California Department of Education.
  • facebook.com (opens in a new tab)Nora Parella's own campaign Facebook page ("Nora Parella for Placer County Board of Education"), 89 likes and 183 people talking about it as of this pass -- corroborates active 2026 campaign activity.

Last updated September 3, 2026.