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School District · Statewide General Election

San Mateo County Board of Education, Trustee Area 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 is one of five members overseeing the San Mateo County Office of Education, which runs court and community schools for youth referred by probation or their home districts, and supports the county's local school districts. A 4-year term.

San Mateo County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Area 2 seat: 37-year incumbent Beverly Gerard faces first-time candidate Dana Johnson, a social worker who has spent 16 years working with justice-involved youth in the county's own probation department.

The winner serves a 4-year term on the 5-member County Board of Education, which sets policy for the County Office of Education -- the agency that runs court and community schools for youth referred by probation or their home districts, and supports the county's local school districts.

The choice is less ideological than experiential: Gerard argues for continuity on programs she has already shepherded through years of restructuring, while Johnson argues that lived experience in the justice system gives the students these schools serve someone who has been in their position.

Beverly Gerard

Beverly Gerard is the incumbent Area 2 trustee on the San Mateo County Board of Education, first elected in 1989 and never before facing a challenger for reelection. She's running for another term against first-time candidate Dana Johnson. She currently serves as the board's Vice President and has focused recent years on restructuring Gateway, the county's community-school program for court-involved youth.

Strengths

Nearly four decades on the board, never before facing an opponent, plus recent work restructuring Gateway, the county's court-school program, now fully staffed with two special-education teachers.

Trade-offs

37 years is also a long time without a real electoral test; Johnson argues that alone is reason enough for new leadership, not a specific policy failure.

Keep in mind

No campaign committee for Gerard was found registered with the state as of this writing -- county Board of Education races often don't reach the fundraising threshold that requires one. Her platform points here come from a newspaper interview, not a campaign statement.

Dana Johnson

Dana Johnson is a community leader and social worker making a first bid for elected office, challenging 37-year incumbent Beverly Gerard for the Area 2 seat. Johnson is running on lived experience: 16 years working with justice-involved youth in the county's own probation department, plus work supporting LGBTQIA+ foster youth. Johnson currently directs a family shelter providing wraparound services and holds a master's degree, earned after a high school teacher predicted Johnson would end up in jail.

Strengths

Sixteen years working directly with the justice-involved youth these court and community schools serve, plus experience supporting LGBTQIA+ foster youth and current work directing a family shelter.

Trade-offs

No experience on any elected board; the case rests on lived experience and a stated commitment to not making the seat a career, rather than a specific administrative record.

Keep in mind

No campaign committee for Johnson was found registered with the state either -- see Gerard's note. Johnson has said publicly they don't intend to hold the seat for decades and want to help train the next generation of community leaders.

Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 6 cited sources

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

  • smcacre.gov (opens in a new tab)San Mateo County ACRE (Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder-Elections) -- Roster of Candidates, Qualified Candidates Only, November 3, 2026 General Election (CFMR009), dated 2026-08-25: the county's own certified candidate list, confirming both District 5 (Short Term) candidates and their ballot designations, and that Board of Education Trustee Area 2 is the only one of three expiring county trustee areas flagged 'On Ballot: Yes'
  • smdailyjournal.com (opens in a new tab)San Mateo Daily Journal -- "Beverly Gerard, Dana Johnson vie for San Mateo County Board of Education seat" (Ana Mata, Aug. 27, 2026): full staffed reporting quoting both candidates directly on the county's Gateway community-school program, career and technical education, and budget oversight -- the strongest independent source in this contest
  • smcoe.org (opens in a new tab)San Mateo County Office of Education -- "Meet the Board" page: names Beverly Gerard as Vice President and the sitting Area 2 trustee, confirming her incumbency independent of the candidate roster
  • accbe.org (opens in a new tab)Association of California County Boards of Education -- leadership bio for Beverly Gerard, San Mateo County: describes her as 'a veteran education leader whose decades of service reflect a deep commitment to strong' county schools -- an independent professional association's characterization, not her own campaign's
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Beverly Gerard": no results at all. A broader search for "Gerard" surfaces only unrelated filers under that surname (county supervisor and school-board candidates elsewhere in California); no committee registered for this race
  • cal-access.sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Dana Johnson": no results at all. A related search, "Johnson for Board of Education," surfaces an ACTIVE "JOHNSON FOR COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION 2024" filer (#1471633) -- checked directly and ruled out: its filer phone carries a 510 (Alameda County) area code, not San Mateo County's 650, and its cycle predates this candidacy by two years

Last updated August 31, 2026.