DEARBORN — Voters living within the Dearborn Public Schools district will elect four trustees to the seven-seat Dearborn Board of Education on Nov. 3. The filing period for prospective candidates remains open through July 11.

This year’s election will be divided into two separate contests. One race will fill three seats with full six-year terms, while a second contest will fill a single seat for a two-year partial term to complete the remainder of an unexpired term that runs through the end of 2028.

Trustees of the Dearborn Board of Education, which oversees both Dearborn Public Schools and Henry Ford College, are generally elected to six-year terms. However, when a vacancy occurs because of a resignation or death, the board appoints an interim trustee until the next election, when voters select a candidate to complete the remainder of the original term.

As a result, voters in the school district, which includes all of Dearborn and a portion of Dearborn Heights, will elect three trustees to full six-year terms for seats currently held by Adel Mozip, Mary Petlichkoff and Ali K. Bazzi. Bazzi was appointed in September 2025 to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former trustee Irene Watts, whose term expires at the end of this year.

In a separate race, voters will elect a fourth board member to complete the remainder of the term originally won by former trustee Hussein Berry, which expires at the end of 2028. The seat is currently being held by interim trustee Nasri Sobh pending the election.

The three candidates receiving the highest vote totals in the race for the full-term seats will serve from January 2027 through December 2032. The winner of the partial-term election will serve through the end of 2028.

Although the field of candidates has yet to fully take shape, Mozip, Petlichkoff and Bazzi are expected to seek new terms, while Sobh is expected to run in the partial-term race to retain his seat for the remainder of the term.

According to information available so far, the only announced candidates from outside the current board are Mohammad Ali Hammoud and Malak Anani. Anani recently launched her campaign focused on strengthening public education, citing her professional and academic background in law, public policy and educational achievement, according to her campaign website.

To qualify for the ballot, candidates must reside within the Dearborn Public Schools district, be U.S. citizens at least 18-years-old, have no disqualifying criminal convictions and submit the required filing paperwork. Candidates must also either collect between 40 and 100 signatures from registered voters in the district or pay a $100 filing fee in lieu of signatures.

In addition to the four members whose seats are up for election, the board currently includes trustees Jamal Aljahmi, Amer Zahr and Patrick D’Ambrosio.