Reporter staff

Longtime Kent resident Bruce Elliott has taken a commanding lead over Maya Vengadasalam and Carmen Goers in the race for a spot on the Kent School Board.

In early returns from Tuesday’s primary election, Elliott received 6,015 votes or 44.40 percent of the tally. Vengadasalam (4,270 votes, 31.52 percent) and Goers (3,195 votes, 23.58 percent) followed.

Tim Clark vacated the No. 5 board seat to run for Kent mayor.

The top two vote-getters move on to the Nov. 5 general election.

Elliott says that he’s buckling down for the race against Vengadasalam.

“If I wasn’t going to make it through the primary, I wasn’t going to clutter myself with too much stuff, but I’m prepared now,” Elliott said.

While he admits he’s not too familiar with the way the school district operates, Elliott says he’s a “quick study.”

Elliott’s priorities for the district include developing a foundation to make sure students are proficient in mathematics without a calculator and to have a strong base in reading, writing and spelling by the time they finish eighth grade.

Elliott recognizes that his campaign is just beginning, saying that his 44-percent return was a start, but wants to see a solid 50 percent or higher.

Vengadasalam, meanwhile, plans to reassess her door-to-door efforts to meet with constituents. One-on-one conversation will be the best way to meet and attract voters, she says. She also hopes to have more forums where she and Elliott can present their philosophies on education to the public.

She started volunteering in the district in 2001, shortly after Sept. 11, to help teachers and students with racial tensions that flared up after the terrorist attacks. She moved on to co-chair the Alliance for Diversity and Equity in 2005, and also volunteered to help the district transition from its middle school to Junior high model. She volunteers as an advisor to the Seattle Foundation’s Small Grants Fund, which helps kick-start small programs that benefit schools, and the city of Kent’s Mayor Advisory Team.

Vengadasalam has seen the district change over 10 years and feels that she acts as a bridge between the schools and community. That theme of communication carries over to her goals as a school board member.

First, she says there needs to be a better conduit for students to report bullying based on race, religion or sexual orientation. The second issue is that she feels some schools have looser standards for students, and that all schools have to hold the same standards across the district that expect students to succeed.