Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland on Wednesday, July 22, 2026. (Daryn Slover/Staff Photographer)

All three open seats on the Portland school board this November are likely to be filled by newcomers, as none of the incumbents took out papers for reelection.

In addition, none of the races will be contested. There is only one declared candidate each for District 4, District 5, and the at-large seat currently held by Sarah Brydon, who initially took out paperwork to run but then withdrew her name.

The deadline for nomination papers was Monday.

This year’s low-participation races continue a trend on the education board, where all three seats last year were won by unopposed incumbents. It represents a stark contrast, however, to the Portland City Council, where 10 candidates have thrown out their names for three seats.

Following a school year marked by budget challenges and a surge in immigration enforcement that deeply affected the district’s substantial immigrant community, the uncontested candidates say they’re focused on easing the burden on taxpayers and making school a safe and stable environment for students to grow academically and emotionally.

The Portland Press Herald spoke with the three candidates, who in all likelihood will be school board members after November. 

AT-LARGE

Lucia Rico is the only candidate vying for an open seat that covers the whole city of Portland.

Rico, 53, has lived in the city for 26 years and has three adult children who all attended Portland schools. She previously worked as a substitute Spanish teacher in the district, a job she said brought her to every single city school, and also is a board member of the Foundation for Portland Public Schools. 

Rico said she decided to run for office now because her children are all grown up — her youngest graduated in 2024 — and she feels connected to the district and its employees because of her work and her role with the foundation. She wants to be a voice for those who don’t feel represented.

She has never run for elected office before.

Rico said she believes education is important for everyone, not just for learning but for emotional and physical development. She supports all students having the resources they need, like curricula and tools, to thrive in a safe and stable environment and be prepared for the future, regardless of their economic background.

Once elected, she hopes to improve the budget process to ease the burden on local taxpayers by advocating for changes to the funding formula and leveraging more federal money. She’ll also advocate for higher pay for teachers, who she said are members of one of the most important professions and are often taken for granted.

Rico is poised to take over the at-large seat held by Usira Ali, a Portland Public Schools and Bowdoin College graduate who won the seat three years ago. Ali is not seeking reelection.

DISTRICT 4

Alexandra Reissman is the sole candidate running for the District 4 seat that encompasses East Deering and parts of the Back Cove, Deering Center and North Deering neighborhoods.

Reissman, 44, is a mother of three Portland students, an incoming Lincoln middle schooler and two Longfellow elementary schoolers. She is a stay-at-home mom and works part time as a Reiki practitioner and teacher.

As a parent who has paid close attention to school board meetings, Reissman said she noticed that nobody had taken out papers to run for her district’s seat and didn’t want it to remain vacant. She has never run for office before, but was encouraged by family and friends.

Reissman said her main goal is to help the board continue to make Portland a successful and equitable place for all students.

“There’s a lot of work to be done, and I want to help make this a really awesome school district for everyone, not just the kids that my kids go to school with,” Reissman said.

She does have two children in special education programs, she said, so that is an important issue to her.

Reissman grew up in Philadelphia, and her family lived in Austin, Texas, before buying a house in Portland in 2019.

The District 4 seat is currently held by Fatuma Noor, who won the seat in 2023 and did not file to seek reelection.

DISTRICT 5

In the city’s northernmost district, which includes the Riverton neighborhood and parts of North Deering, newcomer Rich Leone is running unopposed. Leone, 45, is a father of a 3-year-old future Portland student, and wanted to get involved because of her.

Leone said he’s looking forward to bringing fresh eyes to the board as a relatively recent Portland resident, and as a homeowner attuned to concerns about rising valuations and property taxes, a topic he said came up often while he collected signatures. It’s not that homeowners don’t want to pay taxes, he said, but rather, they want the district to be creative and smart with its dollars.

He said he’d like to see the Foundation For Portland Public Schools, the independent fundraising arm of the district, increase its fundraising efforts to support the budget.

Leone also said he’s concerned about safety, including the ongoing threat of shooting violence in schools, and new issues like police and immigration enforcement efforts near school district property, which he said he does not support.

Leone said his goal is to listen to constituents in his district and beyond to make Portland schools a good experience for students, and an institution respected by the community.

“I truly will be a voice for everybody,” he said.

Originally from Concord, New Hampshire, Leone first moved to Portland in 2004 to attend law school, then spent many years in Old Orchard Beach before returning to Portland in the summer of 2024. He works in compliance at The Hartford, an insurance company. 

Leone has never held public office before, but did run unsuccessfully for a seat on the Old Orchard Town Council in 2020.

Current District 5 board member Sarah Brydon, who has served two terms and chairs the board’s Finance, Personnel and Operations Committee, originally filed to run for reelection but withdrew from the race before the deadline.

She told the Press Herald that she originally pulled nomination papers because contributing to progress in the district has been meaningful to her, but because of changes in her personal life, she won’t have the capacity next year to devote the required time and energy to the role.