City of Sumner

Trish Crocker is challenging Republican incumbent Joseph Romero for Puyallup School Board, Director Position 2. Crocker has worked in health and human services for nearly 25 years, including in grants management for the county. She currently serves on the executive board for the local district Democrats and volunteers with the Waller Road Parent Teacher Organization. Through both her professional and volunteer work, Crocker has dedicated herself to bringing resources and services to community members who need them the most.

Crocker is running a community-focused campaign to bring the best opportunities and learning environments to Puyallup students. If elected, she would focus on creating a positive work environment for teachers that results in a better education for students; in this vein, she wants to raise wages, limit class sizes, and ensure adequate levels of staffing. As a parent and volunteer with the school district herself, Crocker’s campaign ideas are grounded in community needs, and she has earned endorsements from many community leaders.

Real estate broker and incumbent Joseph Romero is the current president of the Puyallup School Board where he has been serving since 2019. Romero is associated with Moms for Liberty, a far-right group that seeks to impose their agenda on our schools and take away parents' decisionmaking ability for their families. He attended a Moms for Liberty event this summer when attendees applauded being labeled a hate group. The extent of his conservative beliefs is not readily apparent in his vague campaign platform, though he prides himself on challenging Gov. Inslee’s leadership during the height of the coronavirus pandemic and re-opening public schools in Puyallup early.

Puyallup students, teachers, and families deserve school board leadership that trusts science, invests in all students, and keeps extremist ideas out of public curriculums. Trish Crocker is the clear choice in this race for Puyallup School Board, Director Position 2.
 

Early learning coach Amanda Cuthbert is running for Puyallup School Board, Director Position 3. Cuthbert works for an early learning organization focused on providing a kid-centric, inclusive education. She also currently serves on the Puyallup Public Library board, as board secretary for the Washington Child Care Centers Association, and as a member of the Two-Way Racial Healing Project board. 

Cuthbert has been involved with the school district as a parent, PTA member, and parent volunteer. With her professional background in early learning education and her extensive public service experience, Cuthbert is strongly qualified to bring community solutions to the school board that help students, teachers, and families thrive.  

Cuthbert is running on a platform focused on creating safe and welcoming schools. If elected, Cuthbert hopes to continue rebuilding a positive relationship between district teachers and the school board. She recognizes that all students deserve to learn in environments free from gun violence, and she wants to focus on safety measures that address persistent fears of school shootings.  

Cuthbert is facing Gretchen Miles, a social worker at a nonprofit and a Moms for Liberty candidate. Like other far-right candidates running for school board this year, she would try to impose a top-down political agenda on our kids' education. She would prevent parents from deciding which books their children should read or what health information is available to students.  

Our schools need leaders with local experience who will put the needs and safety of students before politics. Amanda Cuthbert is the clear choice in this race for Puyallup School Board, Director Position 3. 
 

Educator and community leader Davida Haygood is running for Puyallup School Board, Director Position 5 to replace Turan Kayaoglu, who is not seeking re-election. Haygood has more than 25 years of experience in education and currently works at Pierce College as the interim director of education programs. She is also a community leader in diversity, equity, and inclusion and previously organized the Two-Way Racial Healing Project. Now, Haygood also serves on the Design Review & Historic Preservation Board.

As both an educator herself and a parent, Haygood would bring an important perspective to the school board. Her priorities are centered around connecting both students and teachers to the resources they need to succeed. Haygood wants to lead with an equity lens and is determined to make sure that every student, regardless of their background, has the same support and opportunities at school. She wants to invest in student mental health and special education, while also strengthening the pathways to college and vocational schools for all students. Haygood has received an impressive slate of endorsements in this race including from elected leaders, local educators, unions, and local Democratic groups.

Haygood is running against Shannon Burch, who works in sales and analysis in the private sector. Burch is a parent to students in the district and has served as an active PTA and PTSA member. Her platform aligns with a sharply more conservative agenda in school board leadership. Burch and some fellow Puyallup school board candidates are running as a slate associated with Moms For Liberty, a far-right group that's trying to impose their agenda on public schools. They would take away the freedom for parents to choose what's best for their kids and have sought to ban books in school libraries. Burch even joined an event over the summer hosted by Moms for Liberty, which created serious concerns about what agenda she would pursue if elected. 

Davida Haygood is the best candidate in this race and deserves your vote for Puyallup School Board, Director District 5.