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Dennis Secrest
Dennis Secrest ran in a special election to the David Douglas School District to represent Position 5 in Oregon. Secrest lost in the special general election on May 20, 2025.
Elections
2025
See also: David Douglas School District, Oregon, elections (2025)
General election
Special general election for David Douglas School Board Position 5
Thomas Stephenson defeated Dennis Secrest in the special general election for David Douglas School Board Position 5 on May 20, 2025.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Thomas Stephenson (Nonpartisan) | 69.8 | 3,595 |
 | Dennis Secrest (Nonpartisan) | 29.5 | 1,521 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 32 | ||
| Total votes: 5,148 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Secrest in this election.
2017
Four of the seven seats on the David Douglas School District school board in Oregon were up for by-district general election on May 16, 2017. In the race for Position 1, newcomer Ana del Rocio defeated incumbent Cheryl Scarcelli Ancheta and candidate Timothy Crawley. Stephanie Stephens defeated Joshua Gray to win the open Position 2 seat. In her bid for re-election, Position 3 incumbent Christine Larsen defeated challengers Mike Ewald and Dennis Secrest. Position 6 incumbent Andrea Valderrama filed for re-election and won another term after running unopposed.[1]
Results
| David Douglas School District, Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Christine Larsen Incumbent |
57.58% | 3,255 |
| Mike Ewald | 21.42% | 1,211 |
| Dennis Secrest | 20.29% | 1,147 |
| Write-in votes | 0.71% | 40 |
| Total Votes | 5,653 | |
| Source: Multnomah County, "Multnomah County Election Results May 16, 2017 Special District Election," accessed June 12, 2017 | ||
Funding
The filing deadline in Oregon for a campaign transaction is typically no later than 30 calendar days. However, beginning on the 42nd day before an election day and through the date of the election, a transaction is due no later than seven calendar days after the date it occurred. The dates for the beginning and ending of the seven-day reporting period for the 2017 Oregon school board elections were:[2]
- April 4, 2017 (Seven day campaign finance reporting begins)
- May 16, 2017 (Seven day campaign finance reporting ends)
A school board candidate in Oregon must form a candidate committee unless he or she meets all of the following conditions:[3][4]
- The candidate elects to serve as his or her own treasurer.
- The candidate does not have an existing candidate committee.
- The candidate does not expect to receive or spend more than $750 during a calendar year (including personal funds).
A candidate committee must file a Statement of Organization with the Elections Division of the Oregon Secretary of State within three business days of first receiving or spending money. A form including campaign account information must accompany the Statement of Organization.[3][5]
Candidate committees that expect to receive or spend $3,500 or more in a calendar year are required to report all transactions. A committee that does not expect to receive or spend this much is still required to file a Statement of Organization and designate a campaign bank account, but does not have to file transactions. Instead, they must file a Certificate of Limited Contributions and Expenditures.[3][6]
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Dennis Secrest did not complete Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Dennis Secrest participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[7] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on May 8, 2017:
| “ | I want to help kids, first and foremost and provide back up to our embattled teachers. I want healthier food in our cafeteria's. I want to help balance the budget while helping improve the imbalance in the classroom. Most of all, I want to provide a voice to those that don't have one.[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 Oregon. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | It is really hard to rank these. All of these I find so important to the health of our children and our community. I would like to see all these accomplished but I believe you must accomplish some things first and that will feed into the others.[9] | ” |
| —Dennis Secrest (May 8, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. I answer yes and I believe it would be conditional on the involvement of the school district. Charter schools must be paired with a public school and not independent unto itself. They need to follow the same requirements (assessments, credits to graduate) that a public school is expected to follow. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. In some cases, language may be a barrier to understanding the question. I believe in evaluating each student by the people that know them best, the teacher. Consideration should be taken into account based on the background of the student. |
| 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. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Excelling in your profession could offer you a chance to mentor a teacher and this provide a stipend but I think merit based pay can lead to cheating or the student not actually learning. We are here for the students and I don't want them passed just because the teacher wants the pay. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I don't support this idea at all. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| It should be used obviously on a case by case basis. I don't believe in a zero tolerance policy so I'd want to evaluate each case on its merits. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement While the teacher is obviously important and extremely valuable, the parent involvement I believe is key. I've seen it change a child's success or negatively impact a student based on the level of involvement of the parent. |
Candidate questionnaire
Secrest participated in a candidate questionnaire conducted by VOTE411 Voter Guide. The tables below detail his responses and compare them to those of one of his opponents in this race.[10] Note: No responses by Mike Ewald had been published on the website as of May 3, 2017.
| Significant policy changes in public education are being considered at the federal and state level. Describe a change that you agree or disagree with and explain your position. | |
|---|---|
| Christine Larsen | Dennis Secrest |
| "One of the policy changes being considered at the federal level is the school voucher program. I do not agree that a voucher program is the way to go when trying to provide students the best education possible for Oregon or the country. This kind of system will create inequities where public schools are even more underfunded than they are now. There are so many other things we could focus on to make public education better."[10] | "School choice. I don't agree with taking money from our much needed public schools for charter schools or whatever Mrs. DeVos has in mind. I would support charter schools if they were working hand in hand with an affiliated public school but our schools--public--must come first. The idea of a public school loosing funding in favor of a private or charter school sends shivers up my spine."[10] |
| What do you think are the top three equity issues in the district and how will you address them? | |
|---|---|
| Christine Larsen | Dennis Secrest |
| "I think the top three are financial inequity, racial discrimination and gender issues. To address inequity issues I believe that students need to be treated as individuals who are welcome, respected and safe at school. Students need to be academically supported at all levels including struggling students and students who excel. Services to eliminate barriers such as stable housing, food insecurity and healthcare are also important in keeping all children coming to school ready to learn."[10] | "1st, preschool should be offered at all our elementary schools. Every child deserves free preschool, no matter their social or economic background. To solve this problem, I'd like to see more money allocated through grants or bond measures. 2nd, the teacher to student ratio is bad. More IA's or student teachers would be immensely helpful. Expanding our partnerships with our universities could solve this problem. 3rd, 1 middle school offers a health class whereas all MS's should offer it."[10] |
| What principles will you apply to evaluating recommendations from the superintendent with regard to which programs to reduce in a time of constrained funding? | |
|---|---|
| Christine Larsen | Dennis Secrest |
| "It is unfortunate that we are back in a place of having constrained funding be a topic, since the previous reductions from the economic crash are still fresh in the memory. If we have to reduce again we would need to discuss the cuts that were made last time and then evaluate if those were the best places to reduce or if other types of reductions should be considered based on what was learned from last time."[10] | "I would begin by asking the superintendent these questions before approving any cuts: 1. How does it hurt our community? 2. How does it help our community? 3. How many kids will be negatively affected? Then, taking in to account the voices of the community, I'd make my decision factoring in these answers and feedback."[10] |
See also
2025 Elections
External links
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Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Multnomah County, "Multnomah County Election Results May 16, 2017 Special District Election," accessed May 17, 2017
- ↑ Oregon Secretary of State, "Oregon Elections Calendar," accessed April 17, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Oregon Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance Manual - 2014," accessed January 13, 2014
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 043," accessed January 13, 2014
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 039," accessed January 13, 2014
- ↑ Oregon Revised Statutes, "Chapter 260, Section 057," accessed January 13, 2014
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Dennis Secrest's responses," May 8, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 VOTE411 Voter Guide, "All Races," accessed May 3, 2017
