David Peercy

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David Peercy

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education District 7

Successor: Courtney Jackson

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David Peercy was a member of the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education in New Mexico, representing District 7. He assumed office in 2010. He left office on December 31, 2021.

Peercy ran for re-election to the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education to represent District 7 in New Mexico. He won in the general election on February 7, 2017.

Elections

2017

See also: Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2017)

Four of the seven seats on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on February 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to District 3, incumbent Lorenzo Garcia defeated challengers Ali Ennenga, Amy Legant, and Charles White. District 5 incumbent Steven Michael Quezada and District 6 incumbent Don Duran did not file to run for re-election, leaving both seats open for newcomers. Four candidates—Annie Bell-Rahman, Rachel Gonzales, Kayla Marshall, and Candelaria Patterson—ran for the District 5 seat, and Patterson won the race. Six candidates—Abbas Ali Akhil, Elizabeth Armijo, C. Douglas Brown, Melissa Finch, Paula Maes, and Paul Sievert—ran for the District 6 seat, and Armijo won. The race for the District 7 seat featured incumbent David Peercy and challengers Ian Burch, William Steinberg, and Brian Tierney. Peercy won re-election to the board. A total of six candidates withdrew from the race before their names were put on the ballot: R. Jason Vaillancourt in District 3, Than-Lan Sena, Alex Villanueva, and Anne Young in District 5, Stephen Verchinski in District 6, and Sina-Aurelia Pleasant-Soul in District 7.

Results

Albuquerque Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2017
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
David Peercy Incumbent	64.04%	4,219
Brian Tierney	26.85%	1,769
William Steinberg	4.58%	302
Ian Burch	4.52%	298
Total Votes		6,588
Source: Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election February 7, 2017," accessed February 22, 2017 and Bernalillo County Clerk, "APS/CNM School Board Election was certified Friday, Feb. 10th, 2017," February 13, 2017

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Albuquerque Public Schools election

Peercy reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Mexico Secretary of State in the election.

Endorsements

Peercy was endorsed by the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, the Albuquerque Educational Assistants Association, the Weekly Alibi, and the Progressive Champions PAC.

2013

Albuquerque Public Schools, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	David Peercy Incumbent	56%	2,170
	Nonpartisan	Larry A. Langley	44%	1,708
Total Votes				3,878
Source: Bernalillo County Bureau of Elections, "APS/CNM ELECTION February 05, 2013: Official Results," accessed December 16, 2014

Campaign themes

2017

Peercy participated in a questionnaire provided by the Albuquerque school district. The district's questions are shown in bolded text, and Peercy's answers follow below.

1. Why do you want to be a board member for Albuquerque Public Schools?

“	Having been an APS Board member for the past eight years has enabled me to understand the key Board responsibilities. For the next four years I’d like to expand the improvement we have accomplished in student learning with the existing APS Academic Master Plan so that learning is evidenced in appropriate improved measures of achievement: student proficiency, graduation rates, achievement gap. In addition, I look forward to facilitating enhanced community/parent involvement in our schools through the community schools initiative and expanded educational relationships with other school districts and universities within New Mexico.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

2. What is your interest in education?

“	Education, and in particular public education, is the foundation for our democracy. We must provide the best possible opportunity for our students to become educated to sustain that democracy. I believe public education is perhaps the most important function of our city, state, and country governments. Personally, education has also been an important part of my whole life. My parents were educators in the public school system. I went through the same public education system and received a PhD in mathematics from New Mexico State University. I've taught at the University level and also in a private preparatory school. My two sons obtained an exceptional education through the APS public schools and both now have college degrees. My wife has a Masters degree in Speech Language Pathology (SP) and is the recently retired SLP Liaison for APS. I strongly support music and the arts in the schools as well as a well-rounded educational foundation that builds a student with a love for learning, good teaming and social skills, academically sound, with strong character. In short summary - I'd enjoy being a part of making the Albuquerque Public Schools educational process as important for all our students as it has been for me.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

3. In what ways will you support the mission and vision of the district?

“	Superintendent Reedy and the Board have established new Goals for education around early learning, career and college readiness, and whole child (social-emotional learning). These goals have numerous actions that need to be completed in order to support the overall mission of the district – which is to educate every student to the best of their abilities. These goals involve core values in academic excellence, diversity and inclusion, integration and partnerships, and leadership. The district must ensure educational success within the district. Success must be measured by evidencebased data that not only establishes milestone criteria, but progress toward those milestones. Although reading and mathematics seems to be the primary focus, there are many other subject areas of excellence that also need focus, as well as the social-emotional learning addresses many of the root causes of delayed learning. As a quality engineer and PhD Mathematician I have been involved with successful quality programs with well-defined measurement processes and improvement strategies for organizations as well as project processes and products. I have been a key leader in many improvement efforts where the balance between cost, schedule, and performance has been critical. This requires negotiation, teaming, a commitment to flexibility, and at times compromise. I have applied this experience base effectively over the past eight years and believe this experience will continue to enable me to be an effective part of the APS Board's support and oversight of the District’s Goals and their successful implementation.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

4. How will you work with the superintendent?

“	The Superintendent and Board of Education should be a co-operative, integrated, but a somewhat independent team. Since the Board hires, retains, and replaces the Superintendent there is an employeremployee relationship. The Board provides oversight and fact-finding, deliberative information, and advice to the Superintendent. The Superintendent uses the Board for advice concerning general policy, financial, capital expenditures, and regulatory audits. I believe their needs to be a continuing Board planned training and board/superintendent retreats for understanding the role and responsibilities of effective school boards and superintendents in order to always improve this relationship.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

5. What is your past and current involvement with Albuquerque Public Schools?

“	For the past eight years I have been the APS Board of Education representative for District 7. This involvement has included being Chair of the Policy and Instruction Committee for the first seven years, as well as the Board President this past year. I have been a strong advocate providing oversight for the completion of significant construction efforts such as for nex+Gen Academy high school, Del Norte high school, Georgia O’Keeffe elementary school, and EG Ross elementary school. I’ve also been a sponsor with my wife of the fourth grade honor choir productions over the past eight years. Both my sons completed their 1-12 education through the APS system. My wife retired three years ago after being an SLP employee of the APS district for over 32 years and the SLP Liaison for the district for the last nine years of her service. I have volunteered for science fair and science expo judging for many years. During my sons' high school participation in soccer at Sandia High School I was the chair of the Soccer Booster Club for several years. I support Sandia National Laboratories' commitment to science fair awards and scholarships such as the $500K provided to nex+Gen Academy for their staff training. I have also mentored a special project in mathematics for a high school student in the past, and mentored the computer implementation of the PARCC test at a couple of our elementary schools.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

6. What should be the relationship between the superintendent and Board of Education?

“	See answer to question number 4.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

7. What qualities and skills would you bring to the Board of Education?

“	As a trained scientist and PhD mathematician I have brought and hope to continue to bring sound logic, measurement strategies, and quality organizational skills to the Board of Education team. As a proponent of public education and a problem solver from my mathematics background, I provide concepts, strategies, and implementation guidance for APS problems and issues as they arise. As a research scientist and proponent of well-defined plans that include sustainment strategies, I influence an educational approach that has an achievable vision with an improvement strategy to ensure the vision is systematically implemented. I believe in strong teaming and team accountability. I hope to continue to strengthen these traits within the APS Board of Education and its relationships with other groups. I also have a strong background and experience in music, athletics, and teaching that will continue to provide insight and support for a well-rounded student education. The implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will be a significant challenge requiring strongly educated Board members to both understand and lead the implementation.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

8. What school or community volunteer activities have you participated in related to the community?

“	I am an active member of Sandia Presbyterian Church. I have been a member of the Long Range Planning Committee for the church. I have been a long-time member of the choir and accompanist for several church vocal groups, and a participant in choir orchestras for major church productions playing the clarinet. I was the referee commissioner for our church Upward Basketball Program for several years and continue to referee in this program. In the past I've been a soccer coach for over 15 years with several state championship club teams. I also developed the first (in the country) automated official's scheduling program for NMAA in the early 1980s and worked to support the evolution of that unique program for over 20 years on an essentially volunteer basis. I have been on the Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program Board of Directors as a representative of APS for the past eight years and assisted in the completion of a new Memorandum of Understanding between APS and AYS that continues and enhances a strong musical relationship. I am also participating on a Chamber of Commerce partnership with community stakeholders on Entrepreneurship strategies for Albuquerque. I was also recently appointed to and completed several sessions with the Public Education Department task force reviewing the School Grade measures for Opportunity to Learn and English Language Learners. I was also a member of the leadership group of education partners that sponsored the New Mexico Ethnic Studies Summit on November 19, 2016. As Board President, I also serve on the APS Education Foundation board of directors and support such great community events as A is for Art and the Fourth/Fifth Grade Honor Choir performances. I have also been an active participant in the Water and Energy Conservation Committee (WECC) partnership between APS, PNM, Sandia National Laboratories, Intel, Santa Fe Public Schools, and other interested business partners – with the purpose of reducing energy costs of the district. I have also been very active with the New Mexico School Board Association (NMSBA), serving as its Secretary-Treasurer in 2015, and providing several research presentations concerning the effect of M&O new schools/refurbishment on school attendance and academic achievement. I am an NMSBA Master Board Member. I have also been very active participant with the Council of Great City Schools (CGCS), and also provided similar research presentations and facilitation support to several of the education sessions during their fall conferences. In 2013 I was one of five finalist for the prestigious CGCS Green-Garner Board Member of the Year during their fall conference held in Albuquerque, NM.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

9. How do you plan to work with constituents?

“	I have already been deeply involved with district constituents about many of the district initiatives as well as individual District 7 concerns over the past eight years. For the district initiatives, the new goals have involved and will involve many more district community meetings. Meetings with school PTA/PTO/parent organizations to explain the district initiatives, impact if any on District 7 schools and students, and soliciting constituent comments are important. District initiatives such as the implementation of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) will require significant interaction, planning, and working with constituents. Awareness and coordination on district initiatives that are not specific to District 7 are also important. In addition, there are specific District 7 initiatives such as potential boundary changes, overcrowding concerns, and so forth that require constant constituent interactions. In the recent past, I helped coordinate the required boundary change between Double Eagle ES and North Star ES, but also put in place student registration guidelines that are district-wide. In particular these guidelines have been used at other schools around the district to ensure proper student registration within the correct district. Reviews of budget every year is a required activity for engagement with constituents. On occasion I have held District 7-specific meetings to discuss particularly relevant subjects – for example one was held to discuss Common Core State Standards, the PARCC assessment, testing in general, and other related subjects. Individual constituents frequently contact me for understanding of a policy or APS position. Sometimes the questions/concerns can be answered directly, sometimes it requires connecting the constituent with APS staff personnel, and sometimes requires joint meetings to discuss the concerns and potential solutions.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

10. What do you see as opportunities and challenges to the district?

“	Opportunities: (1) Significant improvement in academic results can be accomplished with the implementation of the new APS Academic Master Plan. During the past eight years, APS operational and capital financial management has been integrated and significantly improved. This past year, with the integration of the Academic Master Plan with the Finance and Capital Master Plans, there is a significant opportunity to leverage the prioritization of educational programs for significant academic improvement. (2) The diversity within the district is a great opportunity for APS and New Mexico to be a national leader of educational programs that develop successful students and reduce the opportunity gap. New Mexico has a great cultural history that can be the foundation for showing how educational excellence can be attained in a multi-cultural environment. The community schools, dual language, ethnic studies greatly support the opportunity for building educational capacity with the community. (3) I believe the teachers are the strength of the Albuquerque Public Schools. Their dedication to the students and their education is incredible in the face of nearly constant change, disruptions, and state mandated activities that distract from their direct teaching duties. There is a great opportunity for teacherled professional development to achieve high quality education within our schools. Challenges: (1) The non-value distractions in our schools need to be reduced. Teachers and students need to have more time on task – the task of learning using a variety of media and assessment methods. With the leverage as a large urban district, APS can meet this challenge. (2) I believe the coordination among the APS administration, APS Board of Education, APS teachers, APS students and perhaps most importantly - the APS parents and community is improving, but is still a challenge and needs on-going attention and improvement. However, the opportunity for this improvement is strongly reflected in the new district goals and the community schools partnership with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County. (3) Adequate recruitment and retainment of high quality (regular and special) education staff will be a significant challenge in the coming years along with addressing the significant budget challenges facing New Mexico.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

11. What do you think is the best way for the district to accomplish the three academic goals?

a. Early learning - Early learning begins with expecting parents, is nurtured as children develop language and number skills in elementary school, and grows with students as they mature in supportive classrooms becoming adept at using these skills in a variety of contexts.

“	Response: Involve parents and the community through community schools that build capacity in social-emotional learning areas such as social skills (how to share), health services, pre-natal care, pre-K interaction with parents, and early K-5 engagement. Allow the teachers to teach ageappropriate educational materials that is what they as professionals already know how to do. Reduce non-value-added mandates/activities that take time away from teachers teaching and students learning. Provide as many experiential learning opportunities as possible – to build language, vocabulary, and creative/innovative thinking at an early age. Reduce suspensions – in particular eliminate as much as possible any out-of-school suspensions.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

b. College and Career Readiness - Students acquire skills which support formal and informal life-long learning to adapt and remain productive through changing economic and job market landscapes. All students will be prepared for postsecondary opportunities (college and/or career) without the need for remediation.

“	Response: Provide exceptional experiential learning environments where hands-on, real-life creative thinking can be learned and applied. For example, financial literacy is critical to all students and should be a high-priority “mathematics/economics” experiential learning opportunity. Within the experiential learning environments – high academic expectations should be nurtured around student projects and portfolios of work that demonstrate in multiple media ways what a student knows, as well as how a student works in a team and individually. Developing the profile of what each individual student is capable of being as a high school graduate – is all part of the educational process. Developing relationships with businesses to provide internship opportunities will aid in the career decision process, and what type of on-going educational needs should be attained.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

c. Developing the Whole Child - APS will ensure each child is safe, engaged, challenged and supported through programs and practices focused on removing social, emotional and physical barriers to learning and increased health literacy.

• Safe and welcoming environment
• Whole Child includes ... physical, mental, emotional, social, intellectual
• Remove barriers to learning
• Discover and develop individual gifts and talents
• Use skills to better the community

“	Response: APS is currently developing several ways to support this area, and I support those initiatives. Some of the initiatives include: ethnic studies, community schools, schools of choice and choice within schools (such as project-based learning, STEAM, Dual Language, art/music), restorative justice, and truancy/absenteeism. There are excellent frameworks for Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) with specific activities that address all of the bullet items. APS is pursuing many of the above initiatives.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

12. If elected, how will you work with the current board?

“	Collaboratively with leadership: Individual Board members represent the best interests of their specific district, interact with their district constituents to understand potential issues and concerns that may need to be addressed by the Board, and provide essential communication back to their district constituents. Board members capture the will of their constituents, provide courageous leadership for the vision of a superior education for every child, are stewards of the public funds and trust, and provide transparent and inclusive decision-making processes that instill this trust. However, each board member must also represent the best interests of the whole district in order to provide the required equity of educational opportunities – and this requires collaboration and on occasion compromise for all members.	”
—David Peercy (2017)

See also

• Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
• Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2017)

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