BENICIA — Two long time Benicia residents, Barbara Jones and Dan Smith, are competing to serve on the Benicia Board of Education as the Trustee Area 1 representative. The winner will replace Sheri Zada, who is not seeking reelection after serving on the board for two terms starting in 2019. Area 1 is located south of E 2nd Street and Lake Herman Road.
Jones is new to Benicia politics, having never run for elected office before. Smith served one term on Benicia’s city council in the early 2000s.
The Vallejo Sun interviewed Jones and Smith about why they’re running, their backgrounds, and how they think their experience has prepared them to serve on the board.
The candidates also discussed the district’s finances, including compensation for teachers. Like other districts across California, the Benicia Unified School District has taken a financial hit as one-time COVID-19 funds have ceased and it’s lost about 10% of its enrollment since 2015, although enrollment has remained roughly the same since 2021. Last year, the district reduced hours for 14 workers, laid off two workers, and made about $1.7 million in cuts.
Additionally, the candidates also discussed ways to protect students from inappropriate teacher behavior. The Benicia school community was shaken when five students alleged that their former elementary teacher, Matthew Shelton, sexually abused them during the 2022-23 school year at Benicia’s Robert Semple Elementary. That same school year, former middle school math teacher Kurt ‘Mike’ Sindel was accused of inappropriate sexual communications with a student. Sindel eventually pled no contest to a misdemeanor charge related to the incident.
How to vote: Ballots will be mailed to voters this week, and the completed ballots must be signed and postmarked before the polls close at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Voters can also vote in person on Nov. 3, Election Day.
How we reported this story: We solicited questions from our audience and attended community forums to find out what questions mattered most to Benicia voters. We then interviewed each of the candidates to learn more about their positions and what they plan to do in office. You can find out more about how we cover elections on our FAQ.
Barbara Jones
Barbara Jones grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has lived in Benicia for 35 years. She’s the mother of three children who all attended Benicia public schools.
Jones just ended a 38-year career of teaching elementary school, along with middle and high school math. For about 22 years, she taught in the Benicia school district, and she also taught in the Contra Costa school district.
Although mostly retired, she still works part time as an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, educating aspiring math teachers. She’s also active with the California Teachers Association.
Jones said she has “a soft spot” for and a deep understanding of the Benicia school community.
“I just get the big picture of education,” Jones said. “I have a wide range of knowledge of curriculum. And I understand how district and board decisions affect the classroom.”
Jones thinks her experience working with students from elementary school all the way to college has been beneficial for serving educators that teach at all levels.
“Teaching middle school is very different from teaching elementary and high school,” Jones said. “So their needs can be very different.”
When dealing with the district’s budget, Jones said she wants the district to invest in “longterm infrastructure and systems that students can reap benefits from for years to come.” She said she would prioritize listening to the school community to “make sure they have the programs and materials they need.”
“It can be very easy to get far away from the day-to-day,” Jones said. “As a school board member, I would do my best to work collaboratively and make thoughtful and informed decisions.”
Jones thinks the current compensation teachers receive is “middle of the road.” She thinks “there’s room for improvement if there’s room in the budget,” but said that she’d “have to look at the whole picture first.”
Regarding student safety, and specifically the matters of Shelton and Sindel, Jones said that “all employees need to be aware of solid boundaries with students.” Jones said teachers need more trainings and reminders about acting professionally, in addition to the ones they already receive.
Jones also said that to improve student safety and protect staff, she’d want to look into instituting a rule that would ban staff from taking photos of students with their personal cell phones. The district already requires parental permission if a teacher or the district wants to use photos of students on its website or on social media. But Jones thinks these photos should only be taken with cameras that belong to the district.
“When teachers take photos of students, almost always I think there’s no ill intent,” Jones said. “But I think they really put themselves at risk if they do that with private phones.”
Jones said that the students, and being careful with district funds, are her top priorities.
“My main goals are kids come first and fostering that collaboration between the board, the teachers, the staff, the parents, the community,” Jones said. “And being fiscally responsible, that stewardship is really important too.”
Jones is endorsed by some of her former students, including Ryan Harrison, an attorney, and Chelsea Joy Thompson, a doctor.
Dan Smith
Dan Smith was born in Anaheim and has lived in Benicia with his wife and two daughters for almost 40 years. His two daughters both attended Benicia public schools. Smith was a journalist for 25 years, and was drawn to Benicia after being assigned to cover it.
In addition to his term as a city councilmember, he also served for eight years in the 1990s as a member of Benicia’s Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Commission.
In 2012, after retiring from journalism, he switched his career to education. He was a substitute teacher in Benicia and Vallejo, and taught full-time for one year each in both the Vallejo and Mount Diablo school districts.
Smith said he thinks his experience as a teacher and a city councilmember helped prepare him to be a school board member.
“I think my combination of classroom experience and government budgeting would be valuable to the school board,” Smith said.
These days, he substitute teaches part-time in the Mount Diablo area. He’s also chairman of Solano Open Space, a member of Solano County SolTrans’ Public Advisory Committee, and a board member of the Benicia Tree Foundation.
Smith described the current state of Benicia schools as “kind of tricky” because the district has lost enrollment over the last decade, but he thinks that planned housing projects like Rose Estates will bring more students to the district. The Rose Estates project is set to add over 1,500 housing units.
“Once the homes are built, I assume we will get more school-aged children,” Smith said. “So I think it would be a mistake to react to the declining enrollment too drastically.”
Smith said he thinks the cuts last school year were necessary, but he doesn’t anticipate deep cuts coming in the near future.
Smith thinks the current pay rate of Benicia teachers is “good enough,” but he wants healthcare for teachers’ family members to improve. He thinks improving healthcare benefits for family members would help the district “retain quality staff.” While he’s not positive the district can afford it, he wants to look into the matter to see if it’s doable.
On the matter of student safety, Smith is disappointed in how the district handled Shelton’s hiring, as Shelton had been arrested for inappropriately touching students when he worked for the Napa Unified School District in 2007. He was acquitted in 2008, but Napa’s school district fired him.
“He had already been fired for similar behavior,” Smith said. “I don’t know how he slipped through the cracks. We could have caught Shelton with better screening.”
If elected, Smith said he will ask more about the district’s screening process to see if there are any improvements that need to be made.
Smith said that although problems occurred with Shelton and Sindal in the 2022-23 school year, he isn’t aware of other similar incidents since he moved to Benicia. He thinks that the district and its staff is doing a good job overall, and is responsive to student needs and desires. He praised how the district recently added Mandarin classes in response to requests from students and families.
“I think we have a quality school district,” Smith said. “I want to maintain that and avoid any rash mistakes. I don’t really have an agenda if elected. I want to put students first, but also consider the needs of our faculty.”
Smith is endorsed by the Democratic Central Committee of Solano County, Progressive Democrats of Benicia, Mayor Steve Young, council members Terry Scott and Kari Birdseye, and Benicia school board member Mark Meselli.
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