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Donald Neri
Donald Neri was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Paradise Valley Unified School District school board in Arizona. Neri was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Elections
2016
Three of the five seats on the Paradise Valley Unified School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Sue Skidmore, Nancy Case, and Anne Greenberg filed for re-election and face challengers Stephanie Washington and Donald Neri. All three incumbents defeated the challengers and won additional terms on the board. There was no primary.[1][2]
Results
| Paradise Valley Unified School District, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Nancy Case Incumbent |
23.88% | 39,138 |
| Sue Skidmore Incumbent |
22.62% | 37,071 |
| Anne Greenberg Incumbent |
21.53% | 35,284 |
| Stephanie Washington | 17.05% | 27,944 |
| Donald Neri | 14.93% | 24,473 |
| Total Votes (100) | 163,910 | |
| Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Arizona were not required to file a campaign finance report if they did not raise or spend more than $500. If they planned to stay under this threshold, they were permitted to file an exemption statement. This rendered them exempt from all other campaign finance reporting, provided they did not exceed the $500 threshold. Otherwise, candidates were not required to file any report until they raised or spent more than the threshold limit. At that point, they had to file a Statement of Organization within five business days from when the threshold was reached. The pre-general campaign finance report was due November 4, 2016. All campaign finance filing was handled by the Arizona Secretary of State.[3]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Donald Neri 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 October 16, 2016:
| “ | My focus is on creating an environment where every child has the opportunity to succeed, no matter what their individual success looks like. I strongly support traditional post-secondary education, but I will challenge conventional paradigms which dictate that every student's path to success passes through a four year university. I believe technical and trade education are terrific alternatives to a traditional degree and I will support the availability of such educational opportunities in PVUSD. I also support STEM and other enrichment programs to give our children a competitive edge. I hope that I can earn your support. I have a detailed plan outlining these and other specific issues we currently face in PVUSD, as well as common sense solutions, which I encourage voters to read firsthand at www.neri4pvusd.com.[4][5] | ” |
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 Arizona. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | N/A[5] | ” |
| —Donald Neri (October 16, 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. |
| 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? |
| Yes. Standardized testing could be an accurate metric for student achievement, when paired with other measurements or when compared to initial assessments. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| With the passage of ESSA, Common Core should be reevaluated on it's educational merit before any further decisions are made regarding implementation. |
| 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? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. Parents should be given as many options as possible to educate their children or that they believed voucher school programs could reduce state education costs. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used for serious offenses in order to ensure student safety and the integrity of education in the district. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Donald Neri Paradise Valley Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Paradise Valley Unified School District, Arizona
- Paradise Valley Unified School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Maricopa County Education Service Agency, "Current Governing Board Candidates," accessed August 11, 2016
- ↑ Maricopa County Recorder, "General Election Results," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Arizona Campaign Finance Guide, "Questions & Answers," accessed October 6, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Donald Neri's responses," October 16, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Paradise Valley Unified School District Elections | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Sue Skidmore • Incumbent, Nancy Case • Incumbent, Anne Greenberg • Stephanie Washington • Donald Neri |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
