Elk Grove Unified School District elections (2014)
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Three seats on the Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014.[1][2] Incumbent Bobbie Singh-Allen from Trustee Area 4 ran unopposed and won re-election. Incumbents Priscilla Cox and Jeanette J. Amavisca did not file to run for re-election, leaving Trustee Areas 2 and 5 open to newcomers.[3][4]
Candidates Nicholas Aaron Webster, James Letoa, Tim Gorsulowsky and Crystal Martinez-Alire ran for election to the Trustee Area 2 seat, which Martinez-Alire won. Elizabeth Marie Albiani ran unopposed and won election to the Trustee Area 5 seat. [5]
About the district
Elk Grove Unified School District is located in Sacramento County, California. The county seat is Sacramento. Sacramento County was home to 1,462,131 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6] In the 2011-2012 school year, Elk Grove Unified School District was the fifth-largest school district in California and served 62,126 students.[7]
Demographics
Sacramento County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 27.9 percent of Sacramento County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.5 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Sacramento County was $55,846 compared to $61,400 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level for Sacramento County was 16.5 percent while it was 15.3 percent statewide.[6]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education consists of seven members elected to four-year terms to specific geographic districts. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Three seats were up for election in 2014, and four seats will be up for election in 2016.[2]
In order to get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file a media sheet, declaration of candidacy, ballot designation worksheet and statement of economic interests with the Sacramento County Registrar of Voters during the nomination period, which began July 14, 2014, and ended August 8, 2014. In addition to the required nomination documents, candidates could choose to submit and pay for a candidate's statement in order to give voters more information on their qualifications. After filing their nomination documents, candidates were required to file campaign disclosure statements reporting all contributions received and expenditures made related to their campaign.[1]
Voting in the election
In order to vote in this election, voters had to register with the Sacramento County Voter Registration Office by October 20, 2014.[9] To be eligible to register, an individual must be a U.S. citizen, resident of California, at least 18 year old, not in prison or on parole for conviction of a felony and not have been judged mentally incompetent by a court. The state allows its citizens to register online, which can be done here.[10]
Elections
2014
Candidates
Trustee Area 2
- Tim Gorsulowsky
- Graduate, East Texas Baptist University
- Business security consultant
- James Letoa
- Educator
- Crystal Martinez-Alire
- Graduate, California State University at Sacramento
- Educator/Counselor
- Nicholas Aaron Webster
- Graduate, California State University at Sacramento
- Manager
Trustee Area 4
- Bobbie Singh-Allen[11]
- Incumbent
- Graduate, California State University at Sacramento and Lincoln Law School
- Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, The California Lodging Industry Association
- Member, Elk Grove Teen Center’s Board of Directors
Trustee Area 5
- Elizabeth Marie Albiani[3]
- Graduate, California Polytechnic State University
- Former teacher, David Reese Elementary School
- Member, Elk Grove Unified School District Finance Committee
- PTA president, Pleasant Grove Elementary School
Election results
Trustee Area 2
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Crystal Martinez-Alire |
50.8% | 26,601 | |
| Nonpartisan | James Letoa | 19.9% | 10,436 | |
| Nonpartisan | Nicholas Aaron Webster | 16.6% | 8,697 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tim Gorsulowsky | 12.2% | 6,381 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 217 | |
| Total Votes | 52,332 | |||
| Source: Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "Official Results: General Election - November 4, 2014," accessed December 22, 2014 | ||||
Trustee Area 4
This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Trustee Area 4 incumbent Bobbie Singh-Allen was re-elected by default.[12]
Trustee Area 5
This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Elizabeth Marie Albiani was elected to Trustee Area 5 by default.[12]
Campaign finance
Candidates had to file contribution reports within 24 hours of receiving an aggregate total of $1,000 or more from a single source. The first scheduled pre-election report filing deadline was October 6, 2014. If candidates raised or spent less than $1,000 during the 2013 and 2014 calendar years, they had to file Form 470 at that time. If candidates raised or spent more during that time, they had to file Form 460 by the pre-election report filing deadline.[13]
Candidates required to file Form 460 also had to file a second pre-election report on October 23, 2014, and they had to file termination reports by December 31, 2014. If a termination report was not filed, candidates had to file a semi-annual report by February 2, 2015.[13]
Reports
The Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. Ballotpedia staffers directly requested this information, but the municipal office refused those requests to make that information public.[14]
Endorsements
- Trustee Area 2 candidate Tim Gorsulowsky received endorsements from the Sacramento County Republican Party and Sacramento Republican Women Federated.[15][16]
- Trustee Area 2 candidate James Letoa received endorsements from the California School Employees Association (CSEA) Chapter 831, the community organization Evolve and current Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education members Carmine Forcina and Steve Ly.[17][18]
- Trustee Area 2 candidate Crystal Martinez-Alire was endorsed by the Elk Grove Education Association, AFSCME Local 258, Evolve and the Latino Democratic Club. She was also endorsed by current Elk Grove Unified Board of Education members Bobbie Singh-Allen, Chet Madison Sr., Carmine Forcina and Anthony Perez.[19][20]
- Trustee Area 2 candidate Nicholas Aaron Webster received the endorsement of former Elk Grove Unified Board of Education member Kay Albiani.
- Trustee Area 4 incumbent Bobbie Singh-Allen was endorsed by the following organizations and state officials:[21]
- California Correctional Peace Officers Association
- American Sikh PAC
- Sacramento County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association
- California Commissioner of Insurance Dave Jones
- State Senator Darrell Steinberg
- Assemblyman Roger Dickinson
- Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada
- Trustee Area 5 candidate Elizabeth Marie Albiani received an endorsement from former Trustee Area 5 board member Priscilla Cox.[3]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2012Trustee Area 1
Trustee Area 3This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Chet Madison Sr. was re-elected to his seat by default.[22] Trustee Area 6
Trustee Area 7
2010Trustee Area 2This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Jeanette J. Amavisca was re-elected by default.[23] Trustee Area 4This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Pollyanna Cooper-Levangie was re-elected by default.[24] Trustee Area 5This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Priscilla S. Cox was re-elected by default.[25] Trustee Area 7This election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Incumbent Alfred "Al" Rowlett was re-elected to a two-year term by default.[26] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Issues in the election
The Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education was guaranteed to have a newcomer represent its Trustee Area 2 after the 2014 general election as incumbent Jeanette Amavisca did not file for re-election. The four candidates vying for that position met at a forum on October 16, 2014, to discuss their ideas for the district.
Some of the candidates spent time praising the district during the forum. Nicholas Aaron Webster said he planned to rely on the expertise of administrators and staff in the district, and Crystal Martinez-Alire said she was running for a seat on the board out of gratefulness for the district, as she had attended Elk Grove Unified schools herself.
Tim Gorsulowsky, however, believed the district had room to improve, especially in regards to its achievement gap. He thought career-technical education programs would be helpful in efforts to close the gap. While Martinez-Alire agreed that the district's achievement gap needed to improve, she suggested reviewing school attendance, transportation and other barriers for students.
James Letoa also offered criticisms of the district, specifically mentioning a former board decision to lay off bilingual translators due to budget concerns. More than 80 languages are spoken in the district, and the translators were originally hired to help bridge the language barrier for students. Letoa said he would have approached the community about the issue and would not have voted to lay off the translators.
On the issue of implementing Common Core standards, most of the candidates agreed that they had to wait and see. Martinez-Alire thought the implementation would be beneficial to the district and allow students to reach a national level of education, but Gorsulowsky said that, as with all new things, the district would not know what worked or did not work until it was implemented.[27]
Issues in the district
Hiring a new superintendent
In June 2014, Elk Grove Unified School District Superintendent Steven Ladd announced he would be retiring on September 12, 2014, after serving the district for nine years.[28] Ladd was named Elk Grove Man of the Year 2013 for his service to the school district and the community.[29]
The Elk Grove Unified School District Board of Education began the search for the district's sixth superintendent in its 55-year history in July 2014. Out of five major search companies, the board chose McPherson and Jacobson from the California School Board Association (CSBA) to find candidates for the position.[30] The district hosted meetings and posted an online survey to their website in early August for parents, students and community members to share what characteristics they would like to see in the district's new superintendent. Members of the McPherson and Jacobson team led the public discussions and analyzed the survey results.[31][32]
Christopher R. Hoffman was named superintendent of the district in a unanimous vote by the board on September 16, 2014. Hoffman is a local resident and alumnus of the district as well as a former teacher and former vice principal. He started his new position on November 17, 2014.[33]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Elk Grove Unified School District election in 2014:[9][13]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 14, 2014 | First day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| August 8, 2014 | Last day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| October 6, 2014 | First day to request vote-by-mail ballot |
| October 6, 2014 | First pre-election report due |
| October 20, 2014 | Last day to register to vote |
| October 23, 2014 | Second pre-election report due |
| October 28, 2014 | Last day to request vote-by-mail ballot |
| November 4, 2014 | Election Day |
| December 31, 2014 | Termination report due |
| February 2, 2015 | Semi-annual report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2014
This election shared the ballot with municipal elections and other school board elections, as well as general elections for state executive offices, U.S. House seats, state Senate seats and state Assembly seats.[1][34]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Elk Grove Unified School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- California
- Elk Grove Unified School District, California
- California school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Sacramento County, California ballot measures
- California ballot measures
External links
- Elk Grove Unified School District
- Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections
- 2014 General Election Candidate's Guide
- General Election Calendar
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "Candidate's Guide General Election November 4, 2014," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Elk Grove Unified School District, "EGUSD Board of Education," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Elk Grove Citizen, "Cox to not seek re-election to school board," July 15, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "School board member to not seek re-election," July 22, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "Contest/Candidate Proof List 2014 General Election," accessed August 20, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census Bureau, "Sacramento County, California," accessed July 17, 2013
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "Results and Information from Previous Elections," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Sacramento County Voter Registration and Elections, "General Election Abbreviated Calendar: November 4, 2014," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento County Voter Registration and Election, "Registering to Vote," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Unified School District, "Bobbie Singh-Allen," accessed July 30, 2014
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 California Election Code, "Section 10229," accessed October 13, 2014
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 4, 2014," accessed August 19, 2014
- ↑ Email submitted to Ballotpedia from the Sacramento County Voter Registration Office on October 27, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento Republican Women Federated, Northern Division, "November 2014," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Tim Gorsulowsky for Elk Grove School Board, "Endorsements," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ James Letoa, "Endorsements," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 04, 2014 Election," accessed October 28, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "Election ’14: Teachers union campaigns for Martinez-Alire," October 17, 2014
- ↑ Crystal Martinez-Alire, "Endorsements," accessed October 22, 2014
- ↑ Bobbie Singh-Allen for Elk Grove Unified School District 2014, "Endorsements," accessed October 16, 2014
- ↑ Smart Voter, "School Contests for Sacramento County, CA," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Elk Grove Unified School District; Area 2 Voter Information," accessed August 4, 2014
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Elk Grove Unified School District; Area 4 Voter Information," accessed August 4, 2014
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Elk Grove Unified School District; Area 5 Voter Information," accessed August 4, 2014
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Elk Grove Unified School District; Area 7 Voter Information," accessed August 4, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "Election ’14: The race to lead the schools," October 21, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Elk Grove schools chief to retire in September," June 10, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "Man of the Year 2014: Steven Ladd, Education Doctor," December 24, 2013
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "School board begins search for new superintendent," July 15, 2014
- ↑ Elk Grove Citizen, "What is the ideal school superintendent?" July 28, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "This Week: What do Elk Grove residents want in a school chief?" August 3, 2014
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Elk Grove school district names Hoffman as new superintendent," September 16, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "A Proclamation by the Governor of the State of California," June 6, 2014
