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School District · Statewide General Election

San Bernardino County Board of Education, Area B

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 the Area B seat on the 5-member San Bernardino County Board of Education: it sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's own special-education and alternative-education programs and supports and hears appeals from the county's 33 local school districts. A 4-year term.

San Bernardino County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Area B seat on November 3, 2026: two-term incumbent Rita Fernandez-Loof faces Miki R. Inbody, Fontana Unified's outgoing superintendent, and retired educator Kimberly L. Watson. It's the only county Board of Education seat with a real contest this cycle -- Areas A and D also have expiring terms, but neither drew a single candidate and won't appear on the ballot at all.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 5-member Board of Education, one of five geographic areas (A through E). The board sets policy for the County Superintendent of Schools' office, which runs the county's own special-education and alternative-education programs and supports and hears appeals from the county's 33 local school districts. Area B covers western San Bernardino Valley communities including Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Montclair, and Upland.

The choice weighs board-level continuity against a fresh administrative resume: Fernandez-Loof points to two terms already on this board, while Inbody argues her three decades leading one of the county's largest school districts translate to countywide oversight, though she has never held elected office herself. Watson, a retired educator making her first bid for office, offers a classroom-level perspective distinct from either administrator's record, though she has said little publicly about her own priorities.

Rita Fernandez-Loof

Rita Fernandez-Loof is the incumbent Area B trustee, first elected in 2018 and reelected in 2022, whose ballot designation lists her as a Trustee, Engineer, and Parent. She says her priorities are community involvement at every level of government, school safety, and expanding career and college readiness. She won her second term with a plurality, not a majority -- 42.5% in a three-candidate field.

Strengths

Two terms of board experience since 2018, reelection in 2022, and specific stated priorities: community involvement, school safety, and career and college readiness.

Trade-offs

Her 2022 reelection was a plurality, not a majority, in a three-way race, and her 2026 committee has not filed a campaign-finance disclosure as of this writing.

Keep in mind

Her ballot designation combines three roles -- Trustee, Engineer, Parent -- and no independent news coverage of her specific board votes or record surfaced this pass; her platform points here come from a single civic-club listing, not a campaign statement of her own.

Miki R. Inbody

Miki R. Inbody is the outgoing Superintendent of Fontana Unified School District, a 35-year public-education veteran retiring from that post in December regardless of this race's outcome. She's running on collaborative, transparent leadership and says the best decisions come from listening to the people a board serves. During her three years as superintendent, the district expanded career-technical education to 56 pathways and passed a $408 million facilities bond.

Strengths

Three decades in public education capped by three years running one of the county's largest districts, with a $408 million bond and a 56-pathway CTE expansion to show for it.

Trade-offs

She has never held elected office, and the superintendency her campaign leans on ends this December regardless of how the election turns out.

Keep in mind

Her 2026 committee has not filed a campaign-finance disclosure as of this writing. No independent coverage evaluates her fit for a countywide board seat specifically, as distinct from running a single district.

Kimberly L. Watson

Kimberly L. Watson is a retired educator and first-time candidate for the Area B seat. She has not published a platform: no campaign website, social-media presence, or candidate statement for the county's voter guide was found in this pass. She's the only one of the three candidates with no campaign committee registered with the state, per Secretary of State filer records checked August 31, 2026.

Strengths

A different kind of experience than her two opponents: a career spent in the classroom rather than district or county administration.

Trade-offs

No campaign website, statement, or committee was found, and she did not file a candidate statement for the county's own voter guide -- voters have markedly less to evaluate her by.

Keep in mind

Beyond her ballot designation as a retired educator, this dataset found no independent information about her background or priorities as of this pass -- an absence, not a judgment.

Source review: Strong (88/100) · 12 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: San Bernardino Republican Women -- Sept. 12, 2026 meeting notice naming Rita Fernandez-Loof as the incumbent Area B candidate ("community involvement at all levels of government, school safety, increased career and college readiness") and Cali Binks as a County Superintendent of Schools candidate and Miki Inbody for San Bernardino County Board of Education -- campaign site (voteinbody.com): her own platform statement for the Area B race -- collaborative, transparent, accountable leadership and local control may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- "Offices Up for Election, November 3, 2026, General Election": lists County Board of Education Areas A, B, and D (under the School category) as the county's only expiring-term seats this cycle -- no Board of Supervisors, row office, or Superior Court seat appears anywhere in the 11-page document
  • uploads.rov.sbcounty.gov (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters -- statewide "Report_CandidateList.pdf" candidate-filing report linked from the county's own November 3, 2026 candidates page: within the San Bernardino County section, only Area B carries any candidates (Rita Fernandez-Loof, Miki R. Inbody, Kimberly L. Watson); Areas A and D, both confirmed expiring this cycle by the county's own Offices Up for Election document, have no candidates anywhere in the report and will not appear on the November ballot
  • sbcboe.org (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Board of Education -- Trustee Areas page: the board's 5 lettered areas (A-E) and the communities each covers; Area B includes Alta Loma, Central, Chaffey Joint Union High, and Etiwanda
  • sbcboe.org (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino County Board of Education -- About the Board page: names all five sitting members by trustee area, confirming Rita Fernandez-Loof as the Area B member
  • ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia -- Rita Fernandez-Loof: first elected to San Bernardino County Board of Education Area B in 2018 (defeated incumbent Sherman Garnett, 55.9%-44.1%), reelected 2022 with a 42.5% plurality in a three-candidate field (Robert H. Bennett 35.3%, J. Steve Garcia 22.2%)
  • sbsun.com (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino Sun -- "Fontana Unified superintendent will retire in December" (Jordan B. Darling, July 2, 2026): Miki R. Inbody's 35-year career, appointment as Fontana Unified superintendent in Feb. 2023, the district's 56-pathway CTE expansion and $408 million facilities bond during her tenure, and her December 2026 retirement, announced independent of this race
  • aasa.org (opens in a new tab)AASA, The School Superintendents Association -- Miki Inbody professional bio: career path from classroom teacher through district leadership, including a 2020 Assistant Superintendent role at the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools' office supporting the county's 33 school districts
  • voteinbody.com (opens in a new tab)Miki Inbody for San Bernardino County Board of Education -- campaign site (voteinbody.com): her own platform statement for the Area B race -- collaborative, transparent, accountable leadership and local control
  • sanbernardinorepublicanwomen.com (opens in a new tab)San Bernardino Republican Women -- Sept. 12, 2026 meeting notice naming Rita Fernandez-Loof as the incumbent Area B candidate ("community involvement at all levels of government, school safety, increased career and college readiness") and Cali Binks as a County Superintendent of Schools candidate
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "FERNANDEZ-LOOF, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION 2026; RITA" (Filer #1493577), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- "INBODY FOR COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD 2026" (Filer #1493946), status ACTIVE; no Form 460/461/450 electronically filed for the 2025-2026 cycle as of this retrieval
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Kimberly Watson": the only match is an unrelated major donor filer ("WATSON, KIMBERLY J", #1483998); no campaign committee registered under her name for this race

Last updated August 31, 2026.