Voters Flip Two Chino Valley Unified School Board Seats in Tentative Upset
With ballots still being counted, educators Frank Gerdine and Meagan Lichthart hold commanding leads in the Chino Valley Unified School Board races, putting them in position to break up the 5-0 majority behind the district’s divisive policies, lawsuits and culture-war fights.
With ballots still be counted Wednesday, two new candidates for Chino Valley Unified School Board held commanding leads and were positioned to shift the direction of a 5-0 extremist board that has made headlines for passing discriminatory policies and creating chaos and division across the district and community.
In Trustee Area 3, educator, coach and union organizer Frank Gerdine was leading construction manager Chris Shaw 55.67% to 44.31%. Shaw is the husband of current School Board President Sonja Shaw, who did not run for re-election to focus on her bid for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. Preliminary counts show she lost the state race to Richard Barerra, 57.1% to 42.9%.
In Trustee Area 4, teacher Meagan Lichthart defeated incumbent Shaun Smith, 56.3% to 43.6%. Smith, a cybersecurity professional and personal friend of the Shaws, was appointed to the board in September 2025 after trustee Jon Monroe resigned.
“Voters were fed up with the focus on culture war issues and taxpayer dollars going toward lawsuits to defend political policies that targeted teachers and LGBTQ+ students,” said Naomi Minogue, co-founder of Chino Valley Defenders of Public Education. “Over and over again, voters told us they want our school board to focus on real issues around academics that will help students succeed.”
At the Dec. 17 school board meeting, the two new members will be installed, and the board will vote on who takes the reins as president, vice president and clerk. Sonja Shaw has held the presidency since her election in 2022.