Dolly Joseph
Dolly Joseph was a candidate for at-large representative on the Albemarle County School Board in Virginia. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1] Dolly Joseph lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
Biography
Joseph earned a B.A. in studio art (1997), a master's degree in elementary education (2000) and a Ph.D. in instructional technology (2005) from the University of Virginia. She has worked as a technology coordinator for Peabody School (2005-2008) and a lead designer for webinars at Wiggle Learning as well as a science and language arts teacher for Walker Upper Elementary School (2000-2001). She was a program director for Computers4Kids in 2008-2014. Joseph founded and has been the chief facilitator at an education nonprofit organization called Building Experiences since 2014.[2][3]
Organizations and affiliations
- CLAW-USA Board
- CLAW Lead Organizer
- NASAGA Board[3]
Elections
2015
The Albemarle County School Board is a seven-member board with six members elected by district and one member elected at-large. The seats of Rivanna District incumbent Jason Buyaki, Scottsville District incumbent Stephen Koleszar, White Hall District incumbent Barbara Massie Mouly, and at-large incumbent Ned Gallaway were up for election on November 3, 2015.[4] Jonathan Alcaro defeated fellow newcomers Dolly Joseph and Catherine Lochner for the at-large seat. The White Hall District race featured challengers Caroll Hatcher and David Oberg; Oberg won the open seat. Incumbents Buyaki and Koleszar ran unopposed and won re-election to their Rivanna District and Scottsville District seats, respectively.
The Samuel Miller District seat, vacated by Eric Strucko's resignation on April 29, 2015, was up for special election on November 3, 2015. Michael Basile, Graham Paige, and Brian Vanyo filed for the special election. Paige won the remainder of Stucko's term.[5][6]
Results
| Albemarle County School Board, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jonathan Alcaro |
50.3% | 9,184 |
| Catherine Lochner | 26.8% | 4,890 |
| Dolly Joseph | 22.1% | 4,036 |
| Write-in votes | 0.81% | 148 |
| Total Votes | 18,258 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 3, 2015 | ||
Funding
Joseph reported $230.94 in contributions and $55.94 in expenditures to the Virginia State Board of Elections, which left her campaign with $175.00 on hand as of October 28, 2015.[7]
Endorsements
Joseph did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
Campaign themes
2015
Joseph issued the following statement regarding her bid for office:
| “ | I believe strongly in Education-- in the sense of "leading out" each individual's talents and skills. I believe that each child in the Albemarle County school system should graduate with hope, and realistic, positive options for their future. Students should be prepared to seek and keep a job, and have access to further appropriate educational opportunities, whether its vocational training, 2-year or 4-year college. Young people should have a network of support of non-family adults that begins in grade school, and continues through these transitional years. We are a community, and our health and well-being of our youngest members is critical to the continued health of Central Virginia. As a School Board Member I will advocate for all our students, to have the best, most appropriate, educational opportunities, that efficient and effective use of our resources can provide. | ” |
| —Dolly Joseph, [3] | ||
Ballotpedia survey responses
Joseph 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:
| “ |
My top priority would be to ensure our schools are preparing students for a successful and happy life once they complete their grade school career. [8] |
” |
| —Dolly Joseph, (2015), [9] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate 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 Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate 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 |
|---|---|
| "They should not be implemented." | |
| "Depending on the mission of the charter school, including the targeted population." | |
| "No." | |
| "No." | |
| "Each student deserves the most appropriate educational interventions. This requires making sure that we maintain low student-teacher ratios, and that we do not mandate one lockstep method of teaching for all students, and allow different systems of teaching, and evaluation." | |
| "Practices such as positive behavior strategies should be used before expulsion is considered." | |
| "If "failing" means that they are not maintaining AYP on standardized testing, then the school board should continue to support the teaching and learning of basic skills by students, make sure that they have strong leadership, and teachers, and have plenty of opportunities to achieve success outside of standardized tests." | |
| "No." | |
| "Set up mentoring programs, offer professional development, determine the reason for underperforming." | |
| "I believe that our community should be more invested in the schools. People should be encouraged to visit the schools, donate to the schools, and take an interest in the children of the community." |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Dolly Joseph' OR 'Albemarle County Public Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Albemarle County Public Schools, Virginia
- Albemarle County Public Schools 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
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Dolly Joseph, "Resume," accessed September 11, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information submitted through Ballotpedia's biographical submission form on September 16, 2015
- ↑ Albemarle County Public Schools, "School Board," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Charlottesville Tomorrow, "Samuel Miller applicants outline positions for School Board," June 8, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Dolly Joseph's responses," September 16, 2015
