Sara Ruth Epstein

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Sara Ruth Epstein

Nonpartisan

David Douglas School Board Position 3

Tenure

2025 - Present

Term ends

2029

Years in position

0

Predecessor

Hoa Nguyen

Report an officeholder change

Elections and appointments

Last elected

May 20, 2025

Education

High school

Lincoln High School

Bachelor's

University of Oregon, 2009

Graduate

Portland State University, 2013

Personal

Religion

Jewish

Profession

Program manager

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Sara Ruth Epstein is a member of the David Douglas School District in Oregon, representing Position 3. She assumed office on July 1, 2025. Her current term ends on June 30, 2029.

Epstein ran for election to the David Douglas School District to represent Position 3 in Oregon. She won in the general election on May 20, 2025.

Epstein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Sara Ruth Epstein earned a high school diploma from Lincoln High School, a bachelor's degree from the University of Oregon in 2009, and a graduate degree from Portland State University in 2013. Her career experience includes working as a program manager.

Elections

2025

See also: David Douglas School District, Oregon, elections (2025)

General election

General election for David Douglas School Board Position 3

Sara Ruth Epstein defeated Deian Salazar and Dylan Souders in the general election for David Douglas School Board Position 3 on May 20, 2025.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Sara Ruth Epstein (Nonpartisan)	52.8	2,805
		Deian Salazar (Nonpartisan)	28.5	1,514
		Dylan Souders (Nonpartisan)	18.1	961
		Other/Write-in votes	0.6	32

---

	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 5,312
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Gregory Grisham (Nonpartisan)

Endorsements

Epstein received the following endorsements. To view a full list of Epstein's endorsements as published by their campaign, click here.

• East County Rising

Campaign themes

2025

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Sara Ruth Epstein completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Epstein's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

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Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

I live in SE Portland with my husband and two kiddos. Our eldest is currently a student at Earl Boyles, and our younger one will be an incoming kindergartener in the fall. In my free time I like to walk, run, garden, and hang out with family and friends. I also enjoy volunteering in the classroom to help students with reading/writing skills, and coaching an afterschool Run Club at Earl Boyles. In my professional life, I work in public health as a Sr. Program Manager for a large health system. I help develop the tools in the electronic medical record to support clinical and operational improvement and also develop trainings for physicians and teams to have conversations with patients around serious illness. If you are interested in my research and academic history, you can look on my website at schoolboardsara.com.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• I recognize the influence that school boards have in shaping the education that our students receive, and I want to ensure our community has a voice and an opportunity to participate in those decisions. We are entering the 2025-26 school year with a budget deficit, making the decisions around what to prioritize even more crucial. I want to be a person that our community sees at events, and knows I am safe to come to with questions, challenges, and issues that need to be addressed. I also want to increase the transparency and communication between the school board and all of our community.
• I will advocate for our elementary teachers to be supported by receiving high-quality training in literacy programs. When speaking with instructors from our DDSD elementary schools, this is what they are asking for! Research has allowed us to better understand how our children's brains learn letters, phonetics, and sentences. We want to bridge the gap between the instruction that our teachers receive in their university teaching programs, and the skills they would like to have based on more recent best practices in literacy needs.
• Continuing our strong partnerships between David Douglas School District and community organizations is essential! These partnerships provide the best wrap-around support for students before, during, and after school. Programs like SUN, food pantries, health fairs, and cultural events not only enrich our students' educational experiences but help support families in critical areas of need like childcare, health needs, food security, and community connection. David Douglas has already developed excellent relationships with our community orgs, and I plan to continue that legacy.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

-Keeping all of our families safe regardless of immigration status. If you are a DDSD student or family, you belong here.

-Literacy and Math quality instruction requirements that lay out standards but do not overburden our teachers with testing, so they have more time to instruct our kiddos!
-Students of all gender/sexual identity should feel safe and welcome at DDSD.
-Smart phone policies that keep our students safe.
-High quality sex education in schools matters.

-I believe people have the right to make decisions about their own body. I respect traditions and religious beliefs that do not, but my personal values lead me to be a card-carrying member of Planned Parenthood.

Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?

Tearing Down the Gates: Confronting the Class Divide in American Education by Peter Sacks. Thank you, Professor Bob Leibman, for requiring this reading!

What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?

Collaborative, thoughtful, and even measured. This position is to be on the DDSD Board- not an isolated position. Our existing members work well together in a respectful manner, and I plan to continue having respectful discourse, even when we might not agree.

What do you believe are the core responsibilities for someone elected to this office?

-Be a channel of communication between the community and the decision makers.

-Be well informed in city, state, and national policies.
-Understand current best practices in education based on research and teacher experience.

-Make decisions that keep our students safe, supported, and confident.

What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?

9/11 was pretty impactful. I was a freshman in high school and remember it very well.

What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?

-Collaborate well with others

-Be willing to listen
-Be an excellent communicator with our district parents and students.
-Be open for input

-Make decisions that are in alignment with our vision, values, and mission statement.

Who are your constituents?

The David Douglas School District. Students, parents, community members.

How would you support the diverse needs of your district’s students, faculty, staff, and community?

We support needs by understanding them first. We have a very diverse community, so my first period as part of the board will include a lot of listening and observing.

How will you build relationships with members of the broader community? Which groups, organizations, stakeholders will you specifically target?

A parent told me the other day that she felt as a Spanish-speaking person, she does not know what is going on, and that she feels like she misses out on what is happening with the board.

This was a hint to me that we need to improve visibility of the board, decisions/needs of the board, and the channels in which we communicate to parents. We have a large percentage of Spanish-speaking parents, so that is a community I want to target. Although I speak Spanish, I would lean on our community organizations like Latino Network and El Programmo Hispano to help inform our strategy for communication.

In what areas would you like to expand curriculum? For example, do you see a need for advanced technical training or apprenticeships? What sort of innovative programming would you advance if given the opportunity?

David Douglas High School has done an excellent job underscoring the value of trade jobs, apprenticeship programs, and alternative paths if University is not a fit. I will continue to support this.

What strategies or plans would you advance to ensure the schools are properly funded?

We are entering the year with a budget deficit, so we are already thinking about ways to continue our course, maintain staff, and not impact programs. Advocating for public schools is going to be challenging in our current presidential administration, but we can lean on our policy experts for best practices.

What organizations or individuals have endorsed your campaign?

• Andrea Valderrama, State Representative HD 47

• East County Rising PAC
• Elana Pirtle-Guiney, Portland City Council President
• Heather Franklin, DDSD School Board Vice Chair Position 6
• Hoa Nguyen, State Representative HD 48, incumbent DDSD Board Position 3
• Judy Strand, CEO Metropolitan Family Service

• United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 555

Describe your ideal learning environment for students.

SAFE, supportive, fun, enriching. An environment where students can be themselves, and feel honored and valued for that.

What will you do to build a relationship with parents in the district?

Being someone that parents can come and talk to is my style. I love to attend events in the community, and I will continue to do so. It is really important for parents to feel that they are able to not just speak to me, but they can count on me to know what is going on, and that I will reliably continue to communicate BACK to them the decisions and happenings of the Board.

What are your preferred strategies for faculty, staff, and administration recruitment?

Recruitment from the David Douglas Community that is diverse culturally, linguistically, ethnically, and racially. Training for those who are already part of the DDSD team so that they have avenues for professional growth.

What are your views on financial transparency and government accountability?

Be transparent.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

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