Two incumbents, a former trustee and three challengers enter the Nov. 3 race
Helendale, Calif. (High Desert News Online) –Six individuals are campaigning for three openings in the Helendale School District Governing Board, a race that features two incumbents, one former board member and three challengers.
According to the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters’ Aug. 21 unofficial candidate list update, Hensley and Frank M. Melendez are incumbents campaigning for reelection, while former trustee Les Kaye and challengers Rebekah Laurel Esquivel, Erik R. Jacobson and Barbara Rodriguez have all declared their candidacy. County election materials show all six have filed declarations of candidacy and are currently listed as potential candidates for ballot placement.
The upcoming election will decide who will fill three of five seats on the governing board in a small High Desert school district that now identifies itself as covering transitional kindergarten through 12th grade at four schools. The district currently has 1,092 students across four schools and more than 70 years of operations in Helendale, according to district website information.
Three board openings are currently held by Hensley, Melendez and Amy Thomas, who has served as Vice President from 2022 to 2026. The 2026 election will leave President Heather Allgood and Board Clerk Jeremy Silver with four-year terms from 2024 to 2028.
Because election materials from the county remain preliminary, candidate designations, ballot status and other election information is subject to final processing. The 2026 Voter Information Guide provided by the county had not yet been posted as of Aug. 23.
2026 candidates
Cindy Hensley – Incumbent
Cindy Hensley receives incumbent designation in this profile because she currently holds one of the seats on the Helendale School District Governing Board.
Hensley serves her first term elected to the board from 2022 to 2026. In November 2022, Hensley won one of three board seats with 916 votes, or 25.40% of votes cast in the four-way race.
Her 2026 ballot designation is Incumbent. Her county declaration of candidacy filing was filed on July 29.
Hensley came into the 2022 campaign with significant knowledge of how the district operates. According to her voter guide filing from 2022, Hensley was a retired school secretary with experience working for the Helendale district and parent-teacher organization activities.
Public contact information:
Mailing: P.O. Box 1350, Helendale, CA 92342
Trustee email: c_hensley@helendalesd.com
District/Board telephone: (760) 952-1180
No separate campaign telephone number, campaign email address, website or social media were listed in the Registrar’s candidate filing.
Frank M. Melendez – Incumbent
Frank M. Melendez receives incumbent designation in this profile because he currently holds a seat on the Helendale School District Governing Board.
Based on the election records reviewed for High Desert News Online, Melendez is the longest serving trustee among the 2026 candidates.
Melendez won one of three board seats in the first short-term Helendale board election of 2012 with 1,298 votes, or 62.49% against Donald Langille. Melendez also appears among the winning candidates in the 2018 board election, receiving 1,050 votes and was reelected in 2022 with 1,043 votes, or 28.92%, the largest number of votes in the four-way race that year.
That gives his term total to be close to 14 years since his initial election in 2012 to the end of his current 2026 term.
His 2026 ballot designation is Incumbent and the county filing records show he filed his declaration of candidacy Aug. 3.
Public contact information:
Mailing: P.O. Box 934, Helendale, CA 92342
Trustee email: fmelendez@helendalesd.com
District/Board telephone: (760) 952-1180
No separate campaign telephone, campaign email, website or social media were listed in the Registrar’s candidate filing.
Les Kaye – Former Helendale trustee
Kaye enters the 2026 race with previous board experience, a position that distinguishes him from the other non-incumbent candidates.
County election records show Kaye was one of the candidates elected to the board in 2018, when he received 782 votes. The Helendale district board minutes from 2019 also show Kaye serving as a trustee along with Melendez and other trustees.
His 2026 ballot designation is Teacher / CPA. His earlier election materials also showed that his professional background was teaching and accounting.
Kaye filed his 2026 declaration of candidacy Aug. 12.
Public contact information:
Mailing: P.O. Box 1391, Helendale, CA 92342
Telephone: (714) 299-5260
Email: kayelescpa@yahoo.com
No campaign website or social media account was listed in the county candidate report reviewed by High Desert News Online.
Rebekah Laurel Esquivel – Challenger
Esquivel’s ballot designation is Business Owner / Parent. She filed her declaration of candidacy Aug. 4.
Unlike five of the six candidates, the Registrar’s Aug. 21 report indicates that Esquivel did not submit a candidate statement for the county voter guide.
Previous experience serving on the Helendale school board was not located for Esquivel in the reviewed records.
A California business record listing compiled from Secretary of State filings identifies a Rebekah Laurel Esquivel as the manager associated with Helendale-based Fireside Company LLC, a business that has existed since 2019. The full name and Helendale location coincide with the candidate’s public business owner designation, even though the Registrar does not consider the business record as campaign information.
The Registrar’s candidate report did not list a campaign mailing address, telephone number, email address, website or social media account for Esquivel.
Erik R. Jacobson – Challenger
Jacobson’s 2026 ballot designation is College Professor. He filed his declaration of candidacy Aug. 6 and submitted a candidate statement according to the county’s unofficial candidate report.
No previous experience serving on the Helendale governing board was found in the public records.
Current Chaffey College faculty directory lists an Erik Jacobson as Professor of Cinema, coinciding with the college professor occupation shown in the ballot filing. Since the Registrar does not associate this college listing to the campaign, it should be considered a professional rather than campaign contact.
Public contact information:
Candidate mailing: P.O. Box 1205, Helendale, CA 92342
Professional listing: Chaffey College, Professor of Cinema
Professional telephone: (909) 652-8023
Professional email: erik.jacobson@chaffey.edu
No separate campaign telephone, email, website or social media account was listed by the Registrar.
Barbara Rodriguez – Challenger
Rodriguez filed her declaration of candidacy Aug. 6 and is designated Product Manager II. According to the Registrar, she submitted a candidate statement for the voter guide.
Previous experience serving on the Helendale school board was not found in the records reviewed.
The Registrar did not provide a candidate mailing address, telephone number, email address, website or social media account for Rodriguez in the Aug. 21 report. Search results that might indicate similarly named person could not be reliably linked to this Helendale candidate and are not considered.
No public information was found on this candidate.
Helendale School District at a glance
The district’s current public website describes a small TK-12 system built around the Helendale and Silver Lakes community along the historic Route 66 between Victorville and Barstow.
Locally presented schools of the district are:
Helendale Elementary School
Riverview Middle School
Academy of Careers and Exploration, or ACE
Independence Charter Academy, or ICA
The district currently reports 1,092 students, four schools, TK-12 service and more than 70 years of Helendale service. Administrative office is located at 15350 Riverview Road, Helendale, CA 92342, telephone (760) 952-1180.
Federal 2024-25 education records list Helendale as a regular local school district with four schools, kindergarten-through-12th-grade service and 1,085 students for that reporting year. Those records report 108.92 full-time equivalent employees, including 49.58 classroom teachers. The figures are historical FTE statistics rather than current personnel headcount.
Geographic Helendale Elementary School District boundary covers approximately 97 square miles. San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools boundary map had placed it at approximately 98 square miles historically, while the latest Census-based geographic profile puts it at about 96.9 square miles.
There is an important caveat when reviewing government education databases. While the Helendale district name in California’s administrative directory is the same as the federal, there is an important difference in reporting scope. That directory includes several independent charter schools located outside Helendale district under its code as authorizer-related schools. That creates a substantially different reporting scope. For that reason, this article will use the four-school and 1,092-student figure provided by Helendale district when describing its local operations rather than making comparison with statewide administrative enrollments.
District leadership
Dr. Will Laird serves as the current superintendent, according to both the California Department of Education directory and the district’s current superintendent page.
Other district leadership according to district records includes:
Matthew Berryman – Assistant Superintendent, Human Resources
Kelly Henderson – Chief Business Official
Viviana Bravo – Director of Educational Services
Andrew Hay – Director of ACE and Principal of Riverview Middle School
The superintendent’s office, business services, educational services and other central operations are located at the Riverview Road district office.
District that grew beyond its elementary-school roots
Government education records still refer to the district as Helendale Elementary School District, a legacy of the district’s history as a smaller elementary system. Currently, however, the district serves through 12th grade and brands itself as the Helendale School District.
The district says it has been serving Helendale for over 70 years. The community itself has much deeper roots along the Mojave River transportation corridor. The area was known as Point of Rocks historically, became a railroad stop called Helen in 1897, was renamed Helendale in 1918 and became part of the Route 66 corridor beginning in 1926.
California school records show both Helendale Elementary School and Riverview Middle School with administrative opening dates of July 1, 1980. The system later expanded its secondary education offerings.
Academy of Careers and Exploration opened Aug. 25, 2008, providing a locally based charter high school program with a focus on careers and technical education. Independence Charter Academy opened Aug. 1, 2014, adding another K-12 educational option.
Currently, Riverview Middle School and ACE share the secondary campus on Rivers Edge Road, enabling the district to provide educational path from the elementary grades to high school graduation.
District record during the current 2022-26 board term
The following accomplishments and institutional developments have taken place during the current four-year board term. They are district and school-site accomplishments during the period and should not be considered as achievements of any particular trustee.
Expansion of transitional kindergarten and after-school services
District planning documents indicate expansion of transitional kindergarten eligibility starting in the 2023-24 period, along with additional instructional aide support.
The district has also developed an Expanded Learning Opportunities Program serving TK through sixth grade, thus providing educational and enrichment activities beyond the regular school day.
Local enrollment growth
According to the 2025-26 Local Control and Accountability Plan, the district reported nearly 2% enrollment growth since 2023-24 in the traditional district program described in the plan.
ACE continues state and national recognition
ACE has earned several notable distinctions.
According to the district, ACE is a California Distinguished School, and the school’s Honor Guard was chosen to lead the state’s Distinguished School ceremony for three consecutive years.
In 2025, an ACE career program was named to the National Industry Certified Programs of Excellence Hall of Fame, providing ACE with national career education recognition.
In 2026, ACE was also included as a SkillsUSA California Chapter of Distinction Gold Medalist, an award connected with career and technical education, student leadership and workforce preparation.
School-by-school recognitions and achievements
Helendale Elementary School
Helendale Elementary is the foundation of the district’s traditional school system, serving the district’s elementary grades.
Most recent distinction is the California PBIS Platinum recognition. Helendale Elementary has also been developing AVID instructional practices, according to the district with more than 80% of teachers receiving AVID training. Additionally, the district has expanded transitional kindergarten and expanded TK-6 expanded learning program during the current board term.
High school graduation statistics are not applicable to the elementary school.
Riverview Middle School
Riverview serves the district’s middle grades and shares the secondary campus with ACE. State school directory lists the school at 13943 Rivers Edge Road.
Helendale Secondary Schools campus has received PBIS Bronze recognition for 2022-23. Shared-campus model allows for students to transition to the ACE’s high school and career technical and extracurricular programs.
Graduation statistics are not applicable to Riverview as it is a middle school.
Academy of Careers and Exploration
ACE is the district’s principal locally based high school program and has a charter designation in California’s school directory. The school opened in 2008 and shares the Rivers Edge Road campus with Riverview Middle.
Recent distinctions include California Distinguished School recognition, repeated Honor Guard role at state ceremonies, the 2025 national industry program Hall of Fame recognition and 2026 SkillsUSA California Gold-level Chapter of Distinction award.
Latest populated school-level graduation figure in the district-posted accountability report reviewed by High Desert News Online indicates ACE four-year cohort graduation rate of 98.3% for 2023-24, up from 95.2% for 2022-23.
The school field for 2024-25 is not populated in the report reviewed, so this article does not substitute a statewide figure or make a state-to-district comparison.
Independence Charter Academy
Independence Charter Academy opened in 2014 and provides the district with flexible K-12 option in the locally presented four-school system.
District accountability documents indicate ICA has been continuing to offer career and technical education. Its 2024-25 program information identified certification opportunities in areas including architecture and construction, family services, business and marketing, and public safety for qualifying older students.
ICA’s school only four-year cohort graduation rate was 86.2% for 2023-24, compared to 86.7% in 2022-23. As with ACE, 2024-25 school-level field is not populated in the accountability report reviewed, and no statewide graduation figure is substituted in this article.
What voters are deciding
The Nov. 3 election will give Helendale voters a choice of continuity and change in board membership.
Hensley is running for reelection to the board. Melendez is campaigning for reelection to extend service that began with his first election in 2012. Kaye brings his previous governing board experience to the race but runs as a non-incumbent. Esquivel, Jacobson and Rodriguez are all new board members if elected.
Three candidates will win seats.
This race also takes place at the end of the period when the district saw expanded TK and after-school programs, school-wide behavioral support recognition, continued career technical education development and multiple ACE recognitions. At the same time, the next board will continue overseeing academics, school safety, employee relations, enrollment, facilities, charter relationships, budgeting and long-term educational planning.
Election dates to know
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters lists Nov. Date of Election: Nov. 3, 2026
County voter guides are expected to start mailing out from Sept. 29. Voting by mail and early voting are expected to start on Oct. 5, with the voter registration deadline falling on Oct. 19. Official canvassing will begin after Election Day, with the certification deadline being Dec. 3.
The San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters office is at 777 E. Rialto Avenue, San Bernardino, CA 92415 and can be contacted at (909) 387-8300 regarding elections and voter registration.
