The first Democrat to seek the Post 5 seat on the Cobb Board of Education has announced her candidacy.
On Monday, Julia Hurtado launched her campaign website and posted a brief introductory video (see below).
She is a physical therapist with the Shepherd Center, a rehabilitation facility in Atlanta for people with spinal cord and brain injuries.
Hurtado said on her campaign website that she is running “to build a coalition between teachers, parents, and students, and to help our community keep up with our changing world.”
Hurtado and her husband, David Hurtado, an attorney, moved to the Atlanta area 12 years ago to attend Emory graduate school. They have been in Cobb County for the last eight years and live in the Sedalia Park Elementary School attendance zone.
Post 5 includes the Lassiter and Pope attendance zones; Hightower Trail, Simpson and Mabry middle schools; and Davis, East Side, Eastvalley, Garrison Mill, Mountain View, Murdock, Powers Ferry, Sedalia Park, Shallowford Falls and Tritt elementary schools.
Republican David Banks is completing his third term representing Post 5 on the school board, and announced recently he is seeking re-election.
Three other Republican candidates have declared: Delta pilot Shelley O’Malley, attorney Rob Madayag and IT consultant Matt Harper (previous ECN post here).
Banks has said his goals for a fourth term include expanding STEM programs in East Cobb schools, including the addition of an arts component; continued support for the Cobb Teaching and Learning System that provides real-time assessments of academic progress; and to push for more teachers and better compensation when funding is available.
Hurtado said that in a county that’s becoming more diverse, “I want to amplify all of these voices in our community to ensure that every student’s needs are met,” and that her specific objectives will be to “focus on equal access, opportunity, and success for all students.”
Four of the seven posts on the Cobb school board are up for grabs this year; Post 5 is the only one in East Cobb. Republicans hold a 4-3 majority.
The general primary in Cobb and Georgia is May 19.
Post 5 map
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