LWSD school board director Cassandra Sage running for re-election

Lake Washington School Board Director Cassandra Sage is running for a second term in LWSD district three, with plans to continue improving equitable access to high quality K-12 education and to focus on COVID-19 recovery.

“Every student must have the opportunity to access effective supports to recover academically, socially and emotionally from the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Sage. “As education leaders, we need to build upon the that we offer students. We must innovate our approaches to lead students to successful outcomes in a changed world,” she added.

Nationally, the pandemic exposed widening gaps in access and achievement across demographics such as race, income, ability and language. This held true for LWSD as well. As a school board member, Director Sage is helping create an equity policy to close those gaps within LWSD.

“An equity policy at the board level will guide the work of the district as a whole, with accountability measures more clearly defined, leading to an increase in successful outcomes for students,” Sage stated.

Sage devotes personal time every week to help produce Spanish-language video newsletters for both LWSD and the Bellevue School District. She does so as a member of Eastside Pathways, which is a collective impact network dedicated to attaining better outcomes for children, cradle to career. The are in a culturally relative format and allow opportunity for two-way dialogue.

“Immigrant families have a great advocate in LWSD, said Liliana Medina, Director and Co-Founder of Sistema Escolar USA. “So do special needs families and every other minority group. Thanks, Cassandra Sage, for your hard work and advocacy for minority groups,” she added.

As the legislative representative for the LWSD school board, Director Sage spent the past year

working for student needs in an unpredictable pandemic environment. She collaborated with a variety of elected officials at every level of government—city, county, state and federal—to best serve students and families.

“Cassandra’s steady, calm leadership throughout the COVID-19 pandemic has helped LWSD re-open schools with safety mitigation in place and student well-being and learning at the forefront,” said State Representative Amy Walen of the 48th Legislative District.

Director Sage was first elected to the LWSD School Board in 2017. As a community servant, she has served on local PTSA boards for almost 30 years; she has served in five different advisory capacities for Seattle Children’s Hospital; and she is a board member for the Eastside Human Services Forum. Sage also has a degree in early childhood education. She is a longtime Kirkland resident, with three LWSD graduates and a current high school student. To learn more, visit https://www.cassandrasage.com/.

Editor’s note: This is a press release from the candidate’s campaign.