There are nine candidates in the Antioch school board race; including incumbents Diane Gibson-Gray and Claire Smith, and seven challengers, Linda Anderson, Randy Benevides, Barbara Cowan, Zandra Raphael, Synitha Walker, Debra Vinson and Jack Yeager.

Diane Gibson-Gray

  • Age: 56

  • Occupation: Executive Director of Arts and Cultural Foundation of Antioch, retired telecommunications executive

  • Relevant experience: Antioch school board 2008 to present

  • Website: www.dianegibsongray.com

    Claire Smith

  • Age: 58

  • Occupation: Community volunteer

  • Relevant experience: Antioch school board 1995 to present

    Linda Anderson

  • Age: 63

  • Occupation: Retired school nurse

  • Relevant experience: Antioch Education Association member, past member of Antioch Unified's disaster, discipline and budget committees, attends all school board meetings

    Randy Benevides

  • Age: 62

  • Occupation: School maintenance worker in the Castro Valley Unified School District; worked in tire business for 29
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    years

  • Relevant experience: Classified union representative in Castro Valley on personnel commission and negotiating committee

    Barbara Cowan

  • Age: 65

  • Occupation: Retired teacher/administrator for 39 years

  • Relevant experience: Her past as a middle school principal and administrator in four school districts in California, Arizona and Oregon

  • Website: www.facebook.com/BarbaraJCowan

    Zandra Raphael

  • Age: 61

  • Occupation: Retired worker at Delta Diablo Sanitation District after 19 years

  • Relevant experience: Involvement in science education program for Antioch's fifth-graders, volunteering with other local organizations

    Synitha Walker

  • Age: 46

  • Occupation: Case manager with the U.S. District Court of Appeals

  • Relevant experience: Director of local education nonprofit Parents Connected, chair of school site council at Dozier-Libbey Medical High School

  • Website: www.synithawalker.org

    Debra Vinson

  • Age: Declined to say

  • Occupation: Psychotherapist and school counselor

  • Relevant experience: Antioch High School site council, Healthy Community and School Climate committee, Youth Intervention Network Advisory Board

  • Website: home.comcast.net/~debravinsonschoolboard2012/site/?/home

    Jack Yeager

  • Age: 64

  • Occupation: Educator for more than 20 years, owner of Antioch small business Future-Connect

  • Relevant experience: Experience as a teacher and knowledge of the needs of employers

  • Website: www.future-connect.biz/?q=node/6