Qasim wins open school board seat in Beaverton

Technology consultant Syed Qasim has won an

open seat

on the Beaverton School Board, beating community volunteer Erin Hatch to represent Position 5, which covers schools in the district’s southwestern corner.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, Qasim was leading Hatch with 52% of the vote to her 48%. Early returns on Election Day placed Hatch in the lead, but that soon flipped, with Qasim gaining votes in successive counts.

He will replace outgoing board member Ugonna Enyinnaya.

Qasim was endorsed by the Beaverton Education Association, part of a slate of candidates that the union was hoping would provide greater scrutiny and oversight into the financial decisions of the state’s third largest school district. Two of his slate-mates lost their bids, however, while another, incumbent Sunita Garg, had no opponent and was reelected easily.

Qasim joins a board that is grappling with declining enrollment and whether to close some schools, as well as overseeing an overhaul of early literacy and major construction projects including the rebuilding of Beaverton High School and Raleigh Hills PK-5.

Qasim, who has three children in the school district, has

said