Three candidates for the Rancho Santa Fe School District board disagreed on artificial intelligence in classrooms and whether to broadcast board meetings at an Oct. 7 voter forum.

Incumbents Jee Manghani and Paul Seitz faced newcomer Bow Ruggeri at R. Roger Rowe School in a forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of North County San Diego, as first reported by the San Diego Union-Tribune's Karen Billing. Two of the board's five seats are on the ballot. A fourth candidate, Jared Khan, appears on the ballot but is not actively campaigning.

A clear policy difference emerged on AI. The district adopted a staff AI policy last year but has no student policy yet. Ruggeri, a technology executive, said the school is falling behind.

"Personally I think we're a little behind as a school, but that's one of the reasons why I'd love to join and help," Ruggeri said.

Seitz, a Marine veteran who owns a horse farm in the Covenant, said students need to learn problem-solving before the district hands them AI tools. Manghani, who has served on the board since 2018 and is its current president, said kids are already using AI at home and the district needs to teach responsible use, not let students treat it as a shortcut.

The candidates also split on whether board meetings should be recorded. The board recently voted to stop live-broadcasting meetings on Zoom, ending a practice that began during the pandemic. Manghani and Seitz said they did not support recording meetings.

Ruggeri said he did.

The Union-Tribune reported that when Seitz proposed ending Zoom access in August, he called the livestream "more hassle than it is benefit." Board Vice President Kerry Vinci said at most two people tuned in, typically a reporter.

Asked to name two things they would change over the next four years, the candidates zeroed in on facilities and student outcomes. Both Manghani and Seitz pointed to the school gym, which lacks air conditioning. During a recent heat wave, PE and school sports could not be held there. Ruggeri said he wanted the district to communicate its AI plans and address chronic absenteeism.

All three candidates said they supported the board's recent decision to add an American flag to the school's new logo. Ruggeri noted his wife, Erina, designed the logo.

Manghani, the longest-serving board member, said this would be his final term if re-elected. He pointed to three years of administrative stability as his top accomplishment, the first such stretch in a decade after repeated leadership turnover. Seitz, elected in 2022, is the only candidate without a child currently in the district. Ruggeri, a Rancho Santa Fe Community Center board member who moved to the community in 2023, has two boys in kindergarten and second grade at Rowe.

Mail ballots may be submitted through Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 3.