Cynthia L. Vaillancourt
Cynthia L. Vaillancourt (also known as Cindy) was an at-large member of the Howard County Public Schools Board of Education in Maryland. Vaillancourt assumed office in 2010. Vaillancourt left office on November 1, 2018.
Vaillancourt ran for election to the Howard County Public Schools Board of Education to represent District 5 in Maryland. Vaillancourt lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.
Biography
Vaillancourt earned a B.A. in English and history from Denison University in 1983. She has worked as a project manager for a real estate firm as well as the owner of a pottery studio. Vaillancourt and her husband have two children who have attended district schools.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: Howard County Public Schools, Maryland, elections (2020)
General election
General election for Howard County Public Schools Board of Education District 5
Yun Lu defeated Cynthia L. Vaillancourt in the general election for Howard County Public Schools Board of Education District 5 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Yun Lu (Nonpartisan)  | 64.7 | 22,871 |
 | Cynthia L. Vaillancourt (Nonpartisan) | 34.9 | 12,321 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 142 | ||
| Total votes: 35,334 | |||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Howard County Public Schools Board of Education District 5
Yun Lu and Cynthia L. Vaillancourt defeated Gene Ryan and Saif Rehman in the primary for Howard County Public Schools Board of Education District 5 on June 2, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Yun Lu (Nonpartisan) | 36.9 | 6,126 |
| ✔ | | Cynthia L. Vaillancourt (Nonpartisan) | 23.5 | 3,907 |
| Gene Ryan (Nonpartisan) | 23.1 | 3,841 | ||
 | Saif Rehman (Nonpartisan) | 16.5 | 2,743 | |
| Total votes: 16,617 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2014
The June 24, 2014, primary ballot included incumbents Sandra H. French and Cynthia L. Vaillancourt as well as challengers Bess I. Altwerger, Corey Andrews, Tom Baek, Zaneb K. Beams, Olga Butler, Allen Dyer, Maureen Evans Arthurs, Dan Furman, Leslie Kornreich, Christine O'Connor and Mike Smith. French, Vaillancourt, Altwerger, Beams, Dyer, Furman, O'Connor and Smith faced off in the general election on November 4, 2014.
Results
General
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Cynthia L. Vaillancourt Incumbent |
15.9% | 44,142 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sandra H. French Incumbent |
15.4% | 42,810 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bess I. Altwerger |
13.6% | 37,774 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christine O'Connor |
13.5% | 37,561 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dan Furman | 11.9% | 33,114 | |
| Nonpartisan | Zaneb K. Beams | 10.6% | 29,548 | |
| Nonpartisan | Allen Dyer | 9.9% | 27,663 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Smith | 8.8% | 24,449 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 1,152 | |
| Total Votes | 278,213 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial General Election Results for Howard County," December 2, 2014 | ||||
Primary
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Cynthia L. Vaillancourt Incumbent |
13.5% | 15,851 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sandra H. French Incumbent |
12.5% | 14,688 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bess I. Altwerger |
10.9% | 12,733 | |
| Nonpartisan | Dan Furman |
10.1% | 11,880 | |
| Nonpartisan | Zaneb K. Beams |
8.6% | 10,042 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christine O'Connor |
7.2% | 8,477 | |
| Nonpartisan | Allen Dyer |
6.6% | 7,724 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Smith |
5.7% | 6,730 | |
| Nonpartisan | Leslie Kornreich | 5.4% | 6,388 | |
| Nonpartisan | Olga Butler | 5% | 5,849 | |
| Nonpartisan | Maureen Evans Arthurs | 4.9% | 5,752 | |
| Nonpartisan | Corey Andrews | 4.9% | 5,744 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tom Baek | 4.7% | 5,482 | |
| Total Votes | 117,340 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2014 Gubernatorial Primary Election results for Howard County," accessed October 18, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Vaillancourt began the race with an existing account balance of $90.00 from her previous campaigns. She reported no contributions or expenditures to the Maryland State Board of Elections, which left her campaign with $90.00 on hand as of August 19, 2014.[2]
Endorsements
Vaillancourt was endorsed by the Howard County Education Association (HCEA), The Baltimore Sun and Parents Choice of Maryland.[3][4][5]
2010
| Howard County Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2010 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Frank Aquino Incumbent |
17.7% | 49,207 | |
| Nonpartisan | Sandra H. French Incumbent |
17.3% | 48,202 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian Meshkin |
11.4% | 31,707 | |
| Nonpartisan | Cynthia L. Vaillancourt |
11.1% | 30,990 | |
| Nonpartisan | David E. Proudfoot | 11% | 30,597 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert D. Ballinger, II | 10.7% | 29,627 | |
| Nonpartisan | Leslie Kornreich | 10.6% | 29,375 | |
| Nonpartisan | Larry Walker | 9.9% | 27,546 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 877 | |
| Total Votes | 278,128 | |||
| Source: Maryland State Board of Elections, "Official 2010 Gubernatorial General Election results for Howard County," accessed June 4, 2014 | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Cynthia L. Vaillancourt did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2014
Vaillancourt explained her themes for the 2014 race on her campaign website:
| “ | 1. The Board of Education must provide active direction of the HCPSS As the elected representatives of our community, our Board of Education must assert its' statutory and practical authority to actively direct the direction and operations of the Howard County Public Schools. Our incumbents consistently lament the "loss of control" over the schools to the state and federal governments - however, it is clear that they have effectively surrendered control voluntarily. Sadly, the majority of incument Board Members hold fast to an antiquated and obsolete philosophy of their role as Board of Education members. After nearly four years serving on this Board it has become clear to me that the problem lies in the lingering remnants of the time when the Howard County Board of Education was an Appointed Board. When it was an appointed board, the public looked to their elected officials in County Government for accountability. Now, in the 21st Century, the citizens, students and voters of Howard County have every right to expect their elected representatives - who are entrusted with more than half of the County budget, and more importantly, the education of our children - to exercise leadership in the performance of their sworn duty, and to be accountable and responsive to the citizens of this County. That is how I see my duty to the citizens and students of Howard County, and how I fight to honor that obligation. We can and must say NO to focusing our education on state mandated testing. Certainly we want the students to do well on these tests, but this should be the result of good teaching and a rich and full curriculum --- not the point of our focus. This is still true. And your elected representatives should be doing more to stand up for what is best for our students, and what our County and Community expect and deserve. 2. Assert a leadership position instead of waiting to be directed by the state or federal government Howard County must assert a leadership position in curriculum, testing and teacher evaluation processes - and not merely wait to be directed by the government. State and Federal mandates are MINIMUM requirements necessitated by inadequate or failing systems in other parts of the state and country --- not Howard County. It is imperative that we stop allowing our programs to be diluted to these minimum standards --- and instead set our own higher standards, processes and curriculum. Time will tell if we "race to the middle" while adapting to the "Common Core." A set of minimum standards is not inherently bad - the question is what WE do with them. 3. Implement a foreign/world languages program in elementary school Howard County MUST immediately implement foreign/world languages into our elementary school curriculum. We should all be embarrassed that this is not the current situation, and in spite of the incumbents' claims that they have finally formed a task force - 4 years after finally deciding it should be done - there is no sense of urgency, nor is confidence high that any substantive steps will be taken in a timely way. They incumbents continue to insist we already have foreign language in our middle schools - though any parent of a middle school child can confirm that these opportunities are limited to select students. It is hardly an open offering for our students. It was a long, hard fight - but once we reached the tipping point, we were able to make serious progress on the World Language front. There have been some stumbles, and there will likely be more, but we are stumbling in the right direction. 4. Implement a true vocational training program Although we have many wonderful programs and teachers - and arguably most of our students are being well served with a solid and appropriate education - we are failing to adequately serve large numbers of our students. We are desperately in need of true vocational programs for hands on training in the trades and other non-college required careers. This is NOT to say that every Howard County student should not receive a college preparatory education --- the notion that the two are mutually exclusive is a by-product of ignorance and out dated thinking. There are wonderful vocational and technical schools throughout this country that manage to provide a full college bound curriculum and the training necessary to earn a good and satisfying living as a carpenter, electrician, or any number of other honorable professions. We are failing our students who are not currently interested in immediate full time college education experiences after high school, or who need to earn their own livings, or who are simply passionate about working in the trades. If we can get them through high school with their love of learning intact and a satisfying path to independence, they can keep their options open for lifelong learning opportunities. If they drop out of school because they cannot find meaningful pathways - then they have truly cut off their options. We are also failing to adequately prepare our most vulnerable non-college bound students for meaningful self sufficient lives. We could be providing much more appropriate and ultimately satisfying programs at less cost than our current array of interventions and social services. There are wonderful programs like those in the Christiana School District in Delaware that provide practical career training for students with special needs we can use as a model. I think we are making some progress at least in softening previously hard lines about vocational opportunities. 5. Capitalize on economies of scale and use of technology We MUST capitalize on the economies of scale and use of technology that will free up resources, enhance opportunities, and close the existing gaps in our current programs. Just this past few weeks, as my high school age child has been unable to start school due to an injury, it has become clear that with a very limited investment in technology, he could have been watching his classes online instead of waiting to be cleared to go back to school and start off behind. Fortunately all of his teachers are actively using the internet tools available to keep us posted on assignments - but this is not the best we can be doing. Students who are out of school, or even in school but removed from the classrooms could be utilizing this technology. Students whose schools do not offer certain classes due to lack of interest could be included via the internet from other schools. I am so excited to be able to report that in spite of the usual chorus of naysaying and resistence - this year we implemented a truly wonderful program to allow students from all High Schools to take a most advanced math class (Differential Equations) that was previously only offered in one school (sometimes 2). It has been an unqualified success - and I think it is fair to say that it is because of my efforts and those of Brian Meshkin. We are currently spending over $1 million per year on home/off site education for sick, suspended and expelled students. We can do more with less in this area by utilizing available technologies. There is a lot of room to grow with these programs, but we are actually making progress here, too. We are missing many, many opportunities to truly provide a world class education to all of our students. "A truly World Class Education" was a big part of my "campaign" in the 2010 election. I still have a gross of reusable grocery bags with that and my globe logo. We are still missing too many opportunities to do better. I think I am going to raise my sights higher than "World Class".... we need a truly American Class education. Don't let the "facts" and "data" from around the world fool you. America still does smart, and creative, and industrious as well as or better than anyone else - and we need to keep it that way! Thank you for your time and interest.[6] |
” |
| —Cynthia L. Vaillancourt's campaign website, (2014)[7] | ||
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cindy Vaillancourt, "About," accessed June 4, 2014
- ↑ Maryland Campaign Reporting Information System, "View Filed Reports," accessed October 20, 2014
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Teachers union announces recommendations for Howard Board of Ed. race," April 24, 2014
- ↑ The Baltimore Sun, "Howard County Times' endorsements for school board race in the primary election," June 18, 2014
- ↑ Parents Choice of Maryland, "Voting Guide for Howard County," accessed October 20, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Cindy Vaillancourt, "Positions," accessed June 4, 2014
| 2014 Howard County Public Schools Elections | |
| Howard County, Maryland | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Bess I. Altwerger • Corey Andrews • Tom Baek • Zaneb K. Beams • Olga Butler • Allen Dyer • Maureen Evans Arthurs • Sandra H. French • Dan Furman • Leslie Kornreich • Christine O'Connor • Mike Smith • Cynthia L. Vaillancourt |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
