While there is a slew of first-time candidates who filed to run for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education in July, sitting board chair Rani Dasi also entered the race in the final 24 hours to seek another term.

Dasi, who was elected to the school board in 2015 and 2019, said she is looking to continue the recent work CHCCS’ leaders have been doing and to maintain continuity to help support the district’s latest strategic plan. The board chair also said she aims to serve another term to keep the consistent implementation of policies amid a political climate in North Carolina that leaves her “deeply concerned about the future of education.”

“Policies which support teachers and staff are especially critical,” Dasi shared with Chapelboro. “One [achievement] that specifically comes to mind is the policy to implement paid family leave. CHCCS was the first district in the state to implement such a policy and I’m excited to see that the state has implemented paid leave following our action.”

Dasi earned the most votes of the seven candidates who ran in 2019, as she was the lone incumbent of the race. She credits her participating in several volunteer activities, like serving on PTA and School Improvement Teams, as formative to her wishes of initially joining the school board and ensuring public education is properly invested into.

“This engagement made me aware of the challenges teachers and staff faced with inconsistent access to resources and the resulting impact to students,” said Dasi. “I saw the opportunity to build stronger foundations in areas such as: implementing consistent curriculum across schools and levels, investing in PreK, increasing compensation for teachers and staff, and collaboration with community partners to support the success of all students in our district.”

In her professional life, Dasi works as a senior director of corporate finance for RTI International, a nonprofit research institute in the Research Triangle Park.

The field in 2023 will be very different from the others Dasi has faced, solely for the fact that 19 people filed to run for CHCCS’s Board of Education. Dasi joined several others in a flurry of filings toward the end of the period in July and is running against two other incumbents — Ashton Powell and Deon Temne — and 15 other challenger candidates. One school board candidate, Madison Garcia, is alerting news outlets and the public that she is withdrawing her name from consideration.

Early voting for the fall local government elections begins on Thursday, October 19, while Election Day is Tuesday, November 7.

For a full list of races Chapelboro is covering this 2023 local election cycle, click here. Additional coverage on candidates can be found on the Local Elections page, as well as other updates in the races as the election cycle continues this fall.

 

Photo via Dasi for School Board.

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