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Charlene West
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Charlene West is the Trustee Area 5 representative on the Modesto City Schools school board in California. West won a first term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
West participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2017
- See also: Modesto City Schools elections (2017)
Four of the seven seats on the Modesto City Schools Board of Education in California were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Cindy Marks and Chad Brown ran unopposed for the Trustee Area 1 and 3 seats, respectively. Those races did not appear on the ballot, and the two incumbents won re-election by default. Rickey McGill, Michael Scheid, and Charlene West ran for the open Trustee Area 5 seat, and West won election to the board. The race for the open Trustee Area 7 seat included Matthew Harrington, Adolfo Lopez, and Ryan Schambers, and Lopez won election to the board.[1][2][3]
The 2017 election was the first time the school district used the by-district election method. Prior to 2017, school board members were elected at large.[4]
Results
| Modesto City Schools, Trustee Area 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Charlene West |
58.05% | 2,365 |
| Rickey McGill | 22.46% | 915 |
| Michael Scheid | 19.05% | 776 |
| Write-in votes | 0.44% | 18 |
| Total Votes | 4,074 | |
| Source: Stanislaus County Elections Office, "Official Results," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Funding
The Stanilaus County Registrar of Voters does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
West was endorsed by the Modesto Teachers Association.[5]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Charlene G. West participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[6] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 20, 2017:
| “ | I would like to use my 35 years in education, as well as my experience as a current school counselor to help guide our school board to making decision based on what students, teachers, and families need in today's educational climate. I am aware of the challenges faced today, I can view situations from both a staff and parent perspective, and I feel I am qualified to make decisions to best benefit our students.[7][8] | ” |
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 |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I believe we need to help close the achievement gap and make sure to be fiscally responsible in balancing the school district's budget.[8] | ” |
| —Charlene G. West (October 20, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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.) |
|---|
| No. We already have some excellent charter schools in place. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests are but one of many tools used to assess student achievement. I believe we sometimes place too much emphasis on standardized tests, when they do not give us the whole picture. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Most teachers are passionate about what they do and should not be rewarded nor penalized based on student outcome. Too many other factors are involved which may influence student achievement. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used after all other interventions have been tried. I believe we should look at the root of misbehavior to try to resolve the problem. However, safety must come first. If anyone on campus is in danger due to a student's actions, that must be dealt with swiftly. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. I definitely believe building relationships is the key to student success. Some students will succeed with or without that relationship with an adult on campus, but for some students, they will not care about school until they feel someone at school cares about them. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Charlene West Modesto City Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Modesto City Schools, California
- Modesto City Schools elections (2017)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Stanislaus County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated District Election - Tuesday, November 7, 2017: Unofficial Candidate List," accessed September 20, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Stephanie Lopez, Modesto City Clerk," August 14, 2017
- ↑ Stanislaus County Elections Office, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Modesto Bee, "Measure F wins approval, gives Modesto schools option to elect by area," June 7, 2016
- ↑ Modesto Teachers Association, "MCS Board Elections," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Charlene G. West's responses," October 20, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Modesto City Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Stanislaus County, California | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Incumbent, Cindy Marks Trustee Area 3: • Incumbent, Chad Brown Trustee Area 5: • Rickey McGill • Michael Scheid • Charlene West Trustee Area 7: • Matthew Harrington • Adolfo Lopez • Ryan Schambers |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
