Fired Salt Lake City school administrator with suspended license runs for school board

Sandra Buendia, a former Salt Lake City School District administrator who was fired and later had her educator's license suspended for two years, is running for the district's school board, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. She is challenging incumbent Annie Romano for the Precinct 5 seat, which covers parts of the Ballpark, Liberty Wells and 9th and 9th neighborhoods. ^[1]

Buendia was the district's executive director of Educational Equity and Student Support. In 2024 she was one of three district witnesses at a hearing on an employee's appeal of a reduction-in-force decision. She wrote on her campaign website that she could not remember some things during the hearing and "unknowingly provided inaccurate information." The district fired her the following month and filed a complaint with the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission, which investigates allegations of educator misconduct. The complaint ended in a two-year suspension of her license, and state records confirm it, the Tribune reported. ^[1]

Buendia has discussed the suspension on her campaign website and calls the move "egregious," the Tribune reported. Her platform emphasizes student-focused spending and judging programs by their effectiveness, and she says school closures "should not be treated as a simple numbers exercise." ^[1]

Romano says she is running on fiscal responsibility and transparency and that she would weigh enrollment, finances and community input in any closure decision. The election is Nov. 3. ^[1]