Chino Valley Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the five seats on the Chino Valley Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Irene Hernandez-Blair, Andrew Cruz, and James Na defeated challengers Joe Schaffer, Don Bridge, Lily Valdivia-Rodriguez, and Mia Ontiveros.[1][2] Cruz, Na, and Ontiveros ran together as a slate called "Strong Family Value Candidates."[3] On top of choosing members for the board of education, citizens of the school district also voted on a $750 million bond measure in this election.[4]
For the first time in recent election years, all of the incumbents whose seats were on the ballot ran for re-election. In 2012 and 2014, incumbents left seats open for newcomers to win. Click here to see how else this race compared to past elections in both the district and the state.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Chino Valley Unified Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Two seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and three seats were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[5]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 12, 2016. If incumbents did not file by that deadline, the filing deadline was extended for non-incumbent candidates until August 17, 2016. In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[6][7]
To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[8] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[9]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Chino Valley Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Andrew Cruz Incumbent |
18.06% | 24,086 |
| Irene Hernandez-Blair Incumbent |
17.61% | 23,489 |
| James Na Incumbent |
17.21% | 22,945 |
| Don Bridge | 16.65% | 22,202 |
| Joe Schaffer | 14.19% | 18,916 |
| Mia Ontiveros | 12.02% | 16,022 |
| Lily Valdivia-Rodriguez | 4.26% | 5,687 |
| Total Votes | 133,347 | |
| Source: San Bernadino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "Final Certified Election Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Andrew Cruz 
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Irene Hernandez-Blair
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James Na
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| Don Bridge | Mia Ontiveros | ||
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| Joe Schaffer | Lily Valdivia-Rodriguez | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with a bond measure for the district, a number of statewide ballot measures, and elections for the following offices:[4][10]
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Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[11][12]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| August 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 10, 2016 - November 8, 2016 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| August 12, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| August 17, 2016 | Extended filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates for open seats |
| September 29, 2016 | First pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 27, 2016 | Second pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 8, 2016 | Election Day |
| January 31, 2017 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
The Associated Chino Teachers and the Concerned Parents and Citizens of CVUSD both endorsed incumbent Irene Hernandez-Blair and candidates Joe Schaffer and Don Bridge.[13] CCSA Advocates endorsed incumbent James Na.[14]
Hernandez-Blair was also endorsed by the HONOR PAC and the community organization Evolve.[15][16] Bridge was additionally endorsed by the San Bernardino County Democratic Party.[17]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates in this race were required to file two pre-election reports. The first was due on September 29, 2016, and the second was due on October 27, 2016. If candidates received more than $1,000 from a single source between August 10, 2016, and November 8, 2016, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours of receiving the contribution.[12]
Candidates who did not raise or spend more than $2,000 on their campaigns had to file an exemption form by September 29, 2016. They did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[12]
Candidates who had a remaining balance from previous campaigns or who had raised or spent money on their campaigns prior to the candidate filing deadline had to file a semi-annual campaign finance report by August 1, 2016. The next semi-annual campaign finance report was due January 31, 2017.[12]
Reports
Candidates received a total of $63,310.00 and spent a total of $55,368.50 in the election, according to the San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters.[18]
| Candidate | Existing balance | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andrew Cruz | $0.00 | $2,666.00 | $2,593.60 | $72.40 |
| Irene Hernandez-Blair | $140.15 | $16,759.00 | $16,896.96 | $2.19 |
| James Na | $4,016.10 | $24,921.00 | $18,486.41 | $10,450.69 |
| Don Bridge | $0.00 | $5,996.00 | $5,996.00 | $0.00 |
| Mia Ontiveros | $0.00 | $3,669.00 | $3,669.00 | $0.00 |
| Joe Schaffer | $0.00 | $9,299.00 | $7,726.53 | $1,572.47 |
| Lily Valdivia-Rodriguez | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2016
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2014
The Chino Valley Unified School District's 2016 board of education election saw all three incumbents whose seats were on the ballot win additional terms. In the district's 2012 and 2014 elections, newcomers were guaranteed seats due to incumbents not running for re-election.
The district's 2016 election also had enough challengers run to have the chance for all three seats go to newcomers; however, none of them could defeat the incumbents. In 2014, the one newcomer who won election to the board took an open seat. In 2012, however, one newcomer was elected to the board by defeating an incumbent.
| School board election trends | |||||
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| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Chino Valley Unified School District | |||||
| 2016 | 2.33 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2014 | 2.50 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| 2012 | 3.67 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 66.67% | |
| California | |||||
| 2014 | 1.91 | 25.18% | 79.00% | 38.14% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.57% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
Issues in the election
Bond measure
In addition to choosing their next board members, citizens in the Chino Valley Unified School District passed Measure G, a repair and safety measure, on November 8, 2016. The measure asked for $750 million in bonds to upgrade school facilities. It required a 55 percent majority to pass, and it passed with 55.99 percent.[2][4] The measure appeared on the ballot as follows:
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CHINO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, REPAIR AND SAFETY MEASURE. To upgrade neighborhood schools and retain/attract quality teachers by repairing deteriorating classrooms/restrooms; replacing deteriorating, rusty pipes/ensuring dafe drinking water; removing asbestos/lead paint; upgrading fire safety, science/computer labs, wiring, classroom technology; repairing, constructing, acquiring educational facilities, sites, equipment; shall Chino Valley Unified School District issue $750,000,000 in bonds, at legal interest rates, requiring annual audits, independent citizens' oversight, no money for administrators' salaries/pensions, all funds used locally?[19] |
” |
| —Chino Valley Unified School District (2016)[20] | ||
Issues in the district
Court rules test scores not required in teacher evaluations
Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode ruled in September 2016 that the Chino Valley Unified School District, along with 12 other school districts, could not be required to use student test scores in teacher evaluations. Goode's ruling went against a lawsuit filed by the group Students Matter, which sought to mandate the use of student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations. Students Matter argued that the districts' teacher contracts violated California's 1971 Stull Act, which requires school districts to evaluate teachers in a manner related to student performance. Goode concluded that all of the school districts in question were meeting their legal obligations.[21]
“The Legislature endorses many uses of those tests, including evaluating pupils, entire schools and local educational agencies,” Goode wrote in his opinion. “But it does not say the results should be used to evaluate individual teachers.”[21]
Marcellus McRae, who represented the plaintiffs, said he was surprised by the ruling. “If you really think about it, this is such a basic concept that the goal of teaching is for students to learn,” McRae said. “It is, to me, axiomatic that teacher evaluations have to be based at least in part over whether students have learned.”[21]
Students Matter won a similar case in 2012. That lawsuit had been filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the school district was ultimately required to include test scores in its teacher evaluations. In the 2016 case, however, Goode ruled that school districts were allowed to decide how to use test results. “There are serious questions about whether, and the extent to which, a pupil’s standardized test score is ‘reasonably related’ and ‘applicable’ to the performance of a given teacher,” Goode said.[21]
Teachers unions supported Goode's ruling. They argued that standardized test scores overlooked external factors that inhibited student learning, such as poverty.[21]
“Every day teachers across California use a variety of benchmarks, including in-class quizzes, tests, projects, and personal observation to fine-tune their approaches with their students,” said California Federation of Teachers President Joshua Pechthalt. “There is no single method for assessing progress that is ideal or that should be used to the exclusion of all others.”[21]
Recall attempt
The possibility of recalling Andrew Cruz, an incumbent who ran for re-election in 2016, was discussed in July 2015, but the effort was ultimately abandoned. The recall discussion started after Cruz, who served as board vice president in 2015, made comments against school vaccinations, undocumented immigrants, and adoption rights for same-sex couples at a school board meeting. Those comments included calling mandatory vaccinations "un-American,” blaming "illegal aliens" for bringing infectious diseases to the U.S., and saying that the "gender of parents matter for the development of healthy children.”[22][23]
The group Concerned Parents & Citizens of CVUSD (CPC) was formed to oust Cruz from his seat. Nicole Gockel, a district parent and organizer of CPC, said that the group talked to San Bernardino County election officials about the recall process, but that they had hoped Cruz would step down instead. They did not want the district to pay for a recall election.[23]
In response to the calls for his resignation, Cruz made a public apology for his remarks at a school board meeting in August 2015. He said it was not his intention to "victimize" anyone and that he sincerely apologized if he had done so. He also said, “It may have been misguided, but it was from my heart, of the things I had seen and the direction of this country that it’s going towards. And you may not accept that.”[23]
Cruz was voted board president by his fellow board members for 2016.[24]
Candidate survey
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About the district
The Chino Valley Unified School District is located in San Bernardino County in southern California. The county seat is San Bernardino. San Bernardino County was home to 2,128,133 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[25] The district was the 31st-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 30,206 students.[26]
Demographics
San Bernardino County underperformed compared to California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 18.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for San Bernardino County was $54,100, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 20.4 percent, while it was 16.4 percent statewide.[25]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Chino Valley Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Chino Valley Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Bernardino County Elections, "Candidate List," August 13, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "Final Certified Election Results," accessed December 7, 2016
- ↑ Chino Valley Connect, "Strong Family Value Candidates," accessed October 17, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "2016 Presidential General Election - Measures," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ Chino Valley Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed July 5, 2016
- ↑ Chino Valley Unified School District, "Bylaws of the Board BB 9220(a): Board of Education Elections," accessed July 5, 2016
- ↑ California Elections Code, “Part 5, Section 10600-10604: School District And Community College District Governing Board Elections,” accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "California Online Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "2016 Presidential General Election - November 08, 2016: Candidate List," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Tyra Weis," August 7, 2016
- ↑ CCSA Advocates, "Our Endorsements: November 2016 Elections," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ HONOR PAC, "Our Work," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ San Bernardino County Democratic Party, "2016 Candidate Endorsements & Phone Banks," accessed October 14, 2016
- ↑ San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "County of San Bernardino Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 8, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ San Bernardino County Elections Office of the Registrar of Voters, "Chino Valley Unified School District Full text of ballot measure," accessed October 3, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 21.4 21.5 Los Angeles Times, "Court refuses to mandate use of test scores in teacher evaluations," September 22, 2016
- ↑ Raw Story, "Calif. school board member faces recall after bizarre homophobic anti-vaxxer rant," July 27, 2015
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 Reveal, "Embattled school board under fire again after leader’s divisive rant," August 21, 2015
- ↑ Chino Valley Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed October 17, 2016
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 United States Census Bureau, "San Bernardino County, California," accessed July 5, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, "Past Election Archives," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, "Past Elections: 2007-1996," accessed July 14, 2014
| 2016 Chino Valley Unified School District Elections | |
| San Bernardino County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Andrew Cruz • Incumbent, Irene Hernandez-Blair • Incumbent, James Na • Don Bridge • Mia Ontiveros • Joe Schaffer • Lily Valdivia-Rodriguez |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
