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Bruce Fox (California)
Bruce Fox was a candidate for the Trustee Area 3 seat on the Saugus Union School District school board in California. Fox was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Fox participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the five seats on the Saugus Union School District Board of Education were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. The Trustee Area 3 and 4 seats were up for election to regular four-year terms, and the Trustee Area 5 seat was up for election to an unexpired two-year term due to an appointment on the board. Trustee Area 4 incumbent David Powell and Trustee Area 5 incumbent Chris Trunkey ran unopposed and won re-election by default. Candidates Bruce Fox and Julie Olsen ran for the open Trustee Area 3 seat, and Olsen won the election.[1][2]
Results
| Saugus Union School District, Trustee Area 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Julie Olsen |
55.34% | 4,261 |
| Bruce Fox | 44.66% | 3,439 |
| Total Votes | 7,700 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results," accessed December 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.[3]
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2017 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[4][5]
Campaign website
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Bruce Fox participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 28, 2016:
| “ | I want to work to make sure that our campuses are safe, our board actively engages in public policy issues and that we become more collaborative.[6][7] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I would like to add improving school safety[7] | ” |
| —Bruce Fox (September 28, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. Maybe, it depends on whether or not the charter organization has a sound management plan, is fiscally sound and brings an option not currently available in our traditional schools. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Yes to some degree, but success when moving on to junior high is also an important component. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| It is here and is linked to funding, so we have to support our teachers and get them the training and resources they need to use it effectively. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Maybe, it would depend on the specifics in the agreement. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Absolutely last resort, when the safety of other students is in peril. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Bruce Fox Saugus Union School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: General Election 11/8/16," accessed August 18, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Los Angeles County Election Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Disclosure Information," accessed October 7, 2016
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Bruce Fox's responses," September 28, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Saugus Union School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 3: • Bruce Fox • Julie Olsen Trustee Area 4: • Incumbent, David Powell Trustee Area 5: • Incumbent, Chris Trunkey |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
