Four Applicants Seeking Appointment to Cypress School Board Seat

The Cypress Elementary School District Board of Trustees is seeking to fill a vacancy due to the recent resignation of Trustee Sandra Lee. Lee represented Trustee Area C, which includes Arnold Elementary and Landell Elementary schools. Lee “resigned for personal reasons,” said Debra Parker, a spokesperson for the district.

Last month, the district was accepting applications from candidates seeking to be appointed to fill out Lee's term, which ends in 2026.

Four candidates filed qualifying paperwork by the August 26 deadline.

They are: Steve Blount, Elizabeth Ko, Meghna Parikh and Esther Chun Poch.

The applicants will be interviewed for the appointment at a CSD board meeting scheduled for September 16, according to the district. The selected candidate will be sworn in at the same meeting.

The provisional appointee will be eligible to run in the November 3, 2026, election to seek a full four-year term.

This is the second time this year that a trustee on the five-member board has stepped down from their position. In March, Brian Nakamura resigned from his seat representing Trustee Area A.

In May, Carrie Hayashida was appointed to fill the seat and she is currently running in the November 2024 election in hopes of keeping the position. She is being challenged by Steve Shanahan.

The Cypress School District Board of Trustees governs six elementary schools and serves roughly 3,400 students in Cypress and La Palma.