Debra Cook-Lewis
Debra Cook-Lewis was a candidate for Trustee Area 1 representative on the Lancaster Board of Education in California. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1] She lost the election.[2]
Cook-Lewis participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. To read her responses, check out her 2015 campaign themes.
Elections
2015
Opposition
Two of the five seats on the Lancaster School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The election was held by district.[3][4] The seats of incumbents Merle "Mel" Kleven and John Lee Miller from Trustee Areas 1 and 3, respectively, were on the ballot.[5]
Kleven ran against five challengers: Debra Cook-Lewis, Susan Corso, Cheryl Gayfield, Keith Giles and George Chris Zelazo. Giles won the seat. Miller did not file to run for the Trustee Area 3 seat. The race featured five candidates: William "Bill" Buck, Antoine Hawkins, Shannon Renee McDonald, Chuck Simons and Gregory Tepe. Tepe won the election.[6][2]
Kevin Fryer and Brett Sinclair Hitchcock originally filed to run for the Trustee Area 1 seat and Jayson Stonne filed for the Trustee Area 3 seat, but all three of them withdrew from the race.[7]
Results
| Lancaster School District, Trustee Area 1, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Keith Giles |
27.2% | 215 |
| Merle "Mel" Kleven Incumbent | 22.8% | 180 |
| Susan Corso | 19.9% | 157 |
| Debra Cook-Lewis | 13.6% | 107 |
| Cheryl Gayfield | 11.2% | 88 |
| George Chris Zelazo | 5.3% | 42 |
| Total Votes | 789 | |
| Source: "Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Results," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[8][9][10]
The first campaign finance reporting deadline was September 24, 2015, and the second one was October 22, 2015. If candidates raised or spent more than $1,000 from a single source, including their own funds, between August 5, 2015, and November 2, 2015, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours.[11]
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
Cook-Lewis was endorsed by the California School Employees Association.[12]
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Cook-Lewis participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Seeking to understand the needs and concerns of the students/parents in my Trustee Area in order to serve as their advocate on the Board.[13] | ” |
| —Debra Cook-Lewis (2015)[14] | ||
Ranking the issues
Cook-Lewis was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
Positions on the issues
Cook-Lewis was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "Modifications are required before they are implemented." | |
| "Yes" | |
| "No" | |
| "Standardized tests alone are not an accurate measure of student achievement. They should be used in conjunction with other measures for a more complete picture of student achievement." | |
| "Resources must be allocated to develop and support programs to serve both high and low achieving students." | |
| "Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools." | |
| Candidate did not respond to this question. | |
| Candidate did not respond to this question. | |
| "Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district." | |
| "I would make myself accessible to the community by attending school functions and community events and talking with community members, and make my e-mail address available to the community." |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Debra Cook-Lewis' 'Lancaster School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Lancaster School District, California
- Lancaster School District, California elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 14, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Semi-Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 5, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “Running for Office,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Lancaster School District, "Meet the Board," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 14, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections: Final List of Qualified Candidates to Appear on the Ballot," accessed October 28, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Debra M. Cook-Lewis: Candidate for Governing Board Member; Lancaster School District; Trustee Area 1," accessed October 28, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Debra Cook-Lewis responses," October 13, 2015
| 2015 Lancaster School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Incumbent, Merle "Mel" Kleven • Debra Cook-Lewis • Susan Corso • Cheryl Gayfield • Keith Giles • George Chris Zelazo Trustee Area 3: • William "Bill" Buck • Antoine Hawkins • Shannon Renee McDonald • Chuck Simons • Gregory Tepe |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
