Controversy sparked at a Board meeting focused on interviewing the candidates for office when Theresa Landon, a teacher at Granite Bay, was asked how she planned on balancing, among other things, being a mother. She took offense to this, especially since fellow female candidate Rachelle Price (also a mother) was not asked the same question.

The school board’s statement to KCRA claimed it was a reasonable question and each candidate was given a set of personalized questions, this being one of hers. 

“I had my phone out, trying to defend my calendar to them . . . I’m also disappointed with the district’s response to say ‘We hired a woman, therefore it was ok to ask that question.’ That’s separate from the gender-biased action,” Landon said. 

The board spent the most time talking about Price after the interviews, which Landon saw as favoritism. She believes the board made a distinction between Price and the other candidates by not asking them the same questions.  

Checking into the background of candidates and overall being an informed voter is essential. The district maintains that there was no favoritism.