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Deborah Hunter-Harvill
Deborah Hunter-Harvill was an at-large member of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in Michigan. Hunter-Harvill assumed office in 2017. Hunter-Harvill left office on December 31, 2022.
Hunter-Harvill ran for re-election for an at-large seat of the Detroit Public Schools Community District in Michigan. Hunter-Harvill lost in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Biography
Hunter-Harvill earned her Ed.D. from Wayne State University. She began working as a high priority schools consultant in 2010. Hunter-Harvill previously served as a principal with Detroit Public Schools from 2000 to 2008 and superintendent of Westwood Heights Schools from 2008 to 2010.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Detroit Public Schools Community District, Michigan, elections (2022)
General election
General election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | LaTrice McClendon (Nonpartisan) | 10.3 | 42,780 | |
| ✔ |  | Iris Taylor (Nonpartisan) | 8.8 | 36,502 |
| ✔ |  | Corletta Vaughn (Nonpartisan) | 8.1 | 33,395 |
| ✔ |  | Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry (Nonpartisan) | 7.4 | 30,475 |
 | LaMar Lemmons (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 28,676 | |
 | Deborah Hunter-Harvill (Nonpartisan) | 6.5 | 27,097 | |
 | Monique Bryant (Nonpartisan) | 6.4 | 26,663 | |
| Regina Ann Campbell (Nonpartisan) | 6.2 | 25,782 | ||
| Bessie Harris (Nonpartisan) | 6.0 | 24,815 | ||
| Aliya Moore (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 19,687 | ||
| Jamaal Muhammad (Nonpartisan) | 4.7 | 19,481 | ||
| Georgia Lemmons (Nonpartisan) | 4.7 | 19,261 | ||
| Patrice Douglas (Nonpartisan) | 4.2 | 17,309 | ||
 | Ida Carol Short (Nonpartisan) | 3.6 | 15,007 | |
| John Telford (Nonpartisan) | 3.3 | 13,537 | ||
| Ridgeley Hudson Jr. (Nonpartisan) | 2.8 | 11,639 | ||
 | Richard Clement (Nonpartisan) | 2.7 | 10,994 | |
| Reba Neely (Nonpartisan) | 2.7 | 10,985 | ||
| Total votes: 414,085 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
General election
General election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large (2 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Detroit Public Schools Community District, At-large on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Deborah Hunter-Harvill (Nonpartisan) | 16.4 | 44,212 |
| ✔ | | Corletta Vaughn (Nonpartisan) | 13.7 | 36,894 |
| David Murray (Nonpartisan) | 13.1 | 35,223 | ||
| Shannon Smith (Nonpartisan) | 13.1 | 35,197 | ||
| Terrell George (Nonpartisan) | 10.6 | 28,635 | ||
 | Britney Sharp (Nonpartisan) | 9.9 | 26,533 | |
| Deborah Lemmons (Nonpartisan) | 9.4 | 25,320 | ||
| Natalya Henderson (Nonpartisan) | 8.7 | 23,538 | ||
| M. Murray (Nonpartisan) | 4.2 | 11,217 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.9 | 2,511 | ||
| Total votes: 269,280 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- LaMar Lemmons (Nonpartisan)
2016
- See also: Detroit Public Schools elections (2016)
Seven seats on the Detroit Public Schools Community District Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary. A total of 63 candidates filed for the election including 10 of the 11 incumbent board members. The top two vote recipients will serve six-year terms, the next three winners will serve four-year terms, and the remaining two winners will serve two-year terms.[2][3] The winning candidates were Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry, LaMar Lemmons, Georgia Lemmons, Sonya Mays, Misha Stallworth, Deborah Hunter-Harvill, and Iris Taylor.
A June 2016 state reorganization bill split Detroit Public Schools into two entities. The existing district will collect taxes to pay down debts, while a new district overseen by the school board was created to oversee school operations. This bill reduced the school board's membership from 11 to seven after the November 2016 election. The state-appointed Detroit Financial Review Commission will oversee the new district's financial dealings.[2]
Results
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[4]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[5]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $164,533.68 and spent a total of $100,234.02 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Wayne County Clerk.[6] Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry led the field with $57,980.00 in contributions and $40,364.82 in expenditures for the reporting period. Her biggest donor through October 28, 2016, was the United Auto Workers Michigan V-PAC, which contributed $27,500.00 to her candidate committee. Sixteen of the 63 candidates filed campaign finance statements by October 30, 2016. The remaining candidates had not filed their reports or qualified for exemption from reporting.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tawanna Simpson | $1,200.00 | $996.38 | $203.62 |
| Ida Carol Short | $1,409.15 | $975.00 | $434.15 |
| Herman Davis | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Angelique Nicole Peterson-Mayberry | $57,980.00 | $40,346.82 | $17,633.18 |
| Kevin Turman | $5,038.99 | $3,555.84 | $1,483.15 |
| Deborah Hunter-Harvill | $3,950.00 | $4,387.83 | -$577.83 |
| John Telford | $19,000.00 | $5,341.52 | $13,658.51 |
| Markita Meeks | $100.00 | $25.00 | $75.00 |
| Mary Kovari | $14,383.54 | $16,883.54 | $4,315.86 |
| Ben Washburn | $500.00 | $0.00 | $500.00 |
| Iris Taylor | $10,725.00 | $6,311.16 | $4,413.84 |
| Sonya Mays | $20,935.00 | $15,450.49 | $0.00 |
| Charmaine Johnson | $0.00 | $1,939.68 | $0.00 |
| Phillip Caldwell II | $2,915.00 | $2,713.37 | $201.67 |
| Leslie Andrews | $16,114.00 | $0.00 | $6,500.00 |
| Penny Bailer | $10,283.00 | $1,307.39 | $8,975.61 |
Endorsements
Hunter-Harvill was endorsed by the Metro Detroit AFL-CIO.[7]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Deborah Hunter-Harvill did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Deborah Hunter-Harvill 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 August 31, 2016:
| “ | My top priorities to achieve as a School Board Member will be to enhance the lives of the children that attend our district. Our teachers will be happy again and with well-provided professional development, they will teach our children. Our administrators and support staff will know they are valued and we must re-create with innovation, transparency and hope the best district that ever existed. We will achieve together a change in how all perceive. Our district and we will have waiting lines again from students, parents, support staff, educational partners, teachers, administrators and more.[8][9] | ” |
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 Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I believe that we should receive the information on the main focus which will be closing the achievement gap. We know that the budget must be in place to be balanced and transparent so that we can move to working on the programmatic learning thrusts that are impeding us from success. We must prioritize our issues and look at how to rectify them. Focus groups that work to elevate success on Special Education, improving post-secondary readiness, improving teacher relations, expanding the arts and expanding school choice options. We could ask teachers, administrators, parents, business partners, juniors and seniors and perhaps other interested stakeholders like clergy to become a part of our focus group(s) to get our teams up and moving. It will take before school meetings, after school meetings and in some case special professional development time to dialogue, prescribe interventions, share with the community and implement well. Commend teachers, other support staff, administrators and stakeholders for seeing these manners must be handled with a sense of urgency.[9] | ” |
| —Deborah Hunter Harvill (August 31, 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.) |
|---|
| No. At this time we have enough. We must work on cleaning up and delivering the best public school system ever. Then we can collaborate and look at the specific benefits of additional charter schools. The best is yet to come. |
| 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. We are asking that the state give Detroit Public Schools Community District an opportunity to get it right after at least 10 - 12 years of an Emergency Manager. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Standardized tests reveal accurate achievement results but do not look at the dynamics of the student groups that are taking the standardized tests. They do not take under consideration that low-income students do not have prior knowledge on most of the specifics that are tested. Thusly they are defeated before they even begin to complete the test. Students that take the test from culturally advanced areas tend to score higher. I commend them, their parents, their administrators and their teachers. They go the extra mile to make it happen. Teacher expectation can sometimes be different, parental involvement where family trips are affordable and taken are available in some districts and not others. Good rigorous teaching, time on task teaching, caring administrators, excited students, mentors for students and teachers, technology and more will make a world of difference. Subsequently, after good teaching takes place and the students begin to learn more they are prepared to test. You can use to test data to craft a yearly plan of instruction, curriculum and best practices, other specifics that poor minority children should have discussed and learned during an extended school year and/or a specialty designed summer school and yes, should be taught during the regular school year. Certainly, the notion of sustainability, improved teaching, increase in vocabulary skill usage and graphic organizer understanding will give outstanding results. Teach, Teach, Teach! |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| We should utilize the Common Core Initiative to work toward closing the achievement gap. It is imperative that teachers are trained and given reflective time so that will understand how and why to teach the Common Core. Students will learn with a smaller teacher-student ratio what is taught. Paraprofessionals are helpful in this instance to review or give supplementary assistance. Graphic Organizers are essential with the use of graphic organizers too. |
| 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. Teachers must be provided outstanding Professional Development throughout the school year. Teachers respect teachers that are exemplary and that get outstanding respect and test scores through the year. These exemplary teachers get outstanding class work all year. They should be asked to serve as mentor teachers and trained to share everything through reflective practices and demonstration lessons. The administrator of the building must be flexible and read the research on Mentoring. It works. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Yes. Merit Pay must be well researched and hopefully including in the new teachers contract commencing in the 2016-2017 school year. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. Scholarship for any student is commendable and an outstanding gesture to educate a child. Remember, Education Is a Civil Right. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion data must be shared to develop alternative education programs. In addition, if credit recovery sites are available for the student online; the information must be shared with the parent or guardian of the student(s). |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. Teachers make it happen. That is why they must be trained, have a mentor, have a great teacher- student ratio and be empowered to make learning happen in their classroom. They must know and own their craft. |
Additional themes
Hunter-Harvill answered the following questions from 482Forward:
| “ |
What are the top 3 priorities you hope to accomplish during your tenure?
What do you think the role of the school board is? What is your vision for student well-being and success? What experience do you have that prepares you for this role?
|
” |
| —Deborah Hunter-Harvill (2016), [10] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Deborah Hunter-Harvill," accessed September 20, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wayne County, Michigan, "Elections Division-Election Information," accessed August 30, 2016 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "list" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ The Detroit Free Press, "72 people seek seven Detroit school board seats," July 26, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Wayne County Clerk, "Wayne County Campaign Finance Information System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Metro Detroit AFL-CIO, "2016 Political Endorsements," accessed October 4, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Deborah Hunter-Harvill's responses," August 31, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 482Forward, "DPS Board Answers: Deborah Hunter-Harvill," accessed September 26, 2016
