# Santa Barbara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 5 Compare records and positions simply between Griselda M. Ruiz or Judy Frost for Santa Barbara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 5 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds one of seven seats on Santa Barbara's County Board of Education. The board sets policy for the County Education Office. That office runs special and alternative education programs and supports local school districts. It also hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals, and the term is four years. - Jurisdiction: School District - Election: November 3, 2026 California general election - Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements. - Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/santa-barbara-boe-area-5 - Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/ - Sources last retrieved: September 7, 2026 - Source-objectivity score: 93 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Griselda M. Ruiz** — Business Owner/Mom - **Judy Frost** — Incumbent A nonpartisan office: candidates do not run as Democrats or Republicans, and no party appears on the ballot. Santa Barbara County's Board of Education has a contested race for its Trustee Area 5 seat on November 3, 2026. Incumbent Judy Frost faces first-time challenger Griselda M. Ruiz. It is one of only two contested county Board of Education seats this cycle. Area 1's incumbent drew no opponent and will not appear on the ballot. The winner serves a 4-year term on the county's 7-member Board of Education, one of seven trustee areas. The board sets policy for the County Education Office, which runs the county's special-education and alternative-education programs, supports local school districts, and hears expulsion and inter-district-transfer appeals. Area 5 covers Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley. The choice is between an eight-year incumbent's finance-and-nonprofit-leadership background and a first-time challenger about whom little beyond their ballot designation, "Business Owner/Mom," could be independently confirmed in this pass. ## Judy Frost Judy Frost is the incumbent Area 5 trustee, first elected in 2018. Her area covers Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley. She worked as a controller for Orange County technology companies. She then served as managing director of the Pacific Conservatory Theater at Allan Hancock College. She holds a B.S. in Accounting from CSU Long Beach. She serves in board leadership roles across several Santa Maria-area arts and education nonprofits. **Strengths:** Eight years on the board since 2018. A finance background as a former corporate controller. Board leadership roles across several Santa Maria-area arts and education nonprofits. **Trade-offs:** Her active 2026 campaign committee carries no itemized 2025-2026 disclosure on file with the state. **Keep in mind:** She also filed a committee for this same seat in 2022, since terminated. No independent news coverage of her specific board votes surfaced. ## Griselda M. Ruiz Griselda M. Ruiz is a first-time candidate. They are challenging incumbent Judy Frost for the Area 5 seat. They filed under the ballot designation "Business Owner/Mom." No campaign website, public platform statement, or news coverage of their candidacy was found. No campaign-finance committee is registered under their name with the state. **Strengths:** A "Business Owner/Mom" ballot designation. It is distinct from the incumbent's institutional and nonprofit-board background. It is the only difference available from the public record. **Trade-offs:** No campaign website, public statement, prior public role, or news coverage was found. No state campaign-finance committee is on file under their name. **Keep in mind:** The county's own filing record gives their name, city, and ballot designation. No independent information about their background or priorities was found. That is an absence, not a judgment. ## Sources 1. [Santa Barbara County Elections Division -- "Qualified Off Ballot Contest/Candidate List for Schools and Special Districts, November 3, 2026 General Election" (CFMR001, printed 8/17/26): County Board of Education Trustee Area 1 shows exactly one qualified candidate, incumbent Marybeth Carty, and is marked NOT ON BALLOT -- filled by acclamation, not decided by voters this cycle. Trustee Areas 5 and 7 do not appear anywhere in this off-ballot document](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/68de6016-df0c-423c-85f5-d67e98023e7a) 2. [Santa Barbara County Elections Division -- "Qualified On Ballot Contest/Candidate List for Schools and Special Districts, November 3, 2026 General Election" (CFMR001): County Board of Education Trustee Area 5 shows two qualified candidates -- incumbent Judith Ann Frost (Judy Frost) and Griselda M. Ruiz ("Business Owner/Mom") -- and Trustee Area 7 shows two -- incumbent Vedamarie (AIL) Alvarez-Flores and Sally E. Lopez ("Business Development Manager") -- both ON BALLOT](https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/1c1115e9-7446-48b3-9cea-5ad1eb88b2e6) 3. [Santa Barbara County Education Office -- "Board Members & Area Maps": the county Board of Education's own page, naming each of the seven trustee-area members and their year elected/appointed and term-expiration year -- Marybeth Carty (Area 1, elected 2013, term expires 2026), Judy Frost (Area 5, elected 2018, term expires 2026), and Vedamarie Alvarez Flores (Area 7, Board Vice President, appointed 2024, term expires 2026) among them](https://www.sbceo.org/about/board/board-members-area-maps) 4. [Santa Barbara County Education Office -- Judy Frost board-member bio: began serving May 2018, represents Trustee Area 5 (Orcutt and the Santa Maria Valley); two decades as a controller for Orange County technology companies, then managing director of the Pacific Conservatory Theater at Allan Hancock College (retired 2007); B.S. in Accounting, CSU Long Beach; active volunteer leadership across several local arts and education nonprofits](https://www.sbceo.org/about/board/board-members-area-maps/judy-frost) 5. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Frost": "FROST FOR BOARD OF EDUCATION 2026" (Filer #1493686), status ACTIVE, distinct from a prior, TERMINATED "FROST FOR SBC BOARD OF EDUCATION AREA 5 2022" committee -- confirming she also sought this same seat in 2022](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Frost) 6. [California Secretary of State CAL-ACCESS -- filer search for "Griselda Ruiz": no results -- no campaign committee registered with the state under her name](https://cal-access.sos.ca.gov/Misc/filerSearch.aspx?SEARCH=Griselda%20Ruiz) 7. [Santa Barbara County -- "Candidate Filing Information for November 3, 2026 General Election": the county's own 'Offices to be Filled' table lists Board of Supervisors, 5th District and County Board of Education Trustee Areas 1, 5, and 7 as the four county-section seats with terms expiring this cycle -- confirming which seats are up, not who filed or whether each reaches the ballot](https://www.countyofsb.org/acr-elections-candidate-filing-information-for-november-3-2026-general-election) ## The rest of the ballot Santa Barbara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 5 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/ ## How to cite this page Vote or Else, "Santa Barbara County Board of Education, Trustee Area 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/santa-barbara-boe-area-5 (sources last retrieved September 7, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.