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Fremont Union High School District elections (2016)

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Fremont Union High School District Elections

General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
10,710 students

Two of the five seats on the Fremont Union High School District board of trustees were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In his bid for re-election, incumbent Jeff Moe ran against challengers Roy Rocklin and Jenny Yuan.[1] Moe won re-election, and Rocklin won the other seat on the ballot.[2]

Elections

Voter and candidate information

Fremont Union High School District seal.png

The Fremont Union board of trustees consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Three seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and two seats were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[3]

To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 12, 2016. If incumbents did not file by that deadline, the filing deadline was extended for non-incumbent candidates until August 17, 2016. In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the Fremont Union board of trustees. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[4][5]

To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[7]

Candidates and results

At-large

Results

Fremont Union High School District,
At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Roy Rocklin 46.08% 48,032
Green check mark transparent.png Jeff Moe Incumbent 28.96% 30,188
Jenny Yuan 24.95% 26,008
Total Votes 104,228
Source: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Official Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016

Candidates

Jeff Moe Green check mark transparent.png Roy Rocklin Green check mark transparent.png Jenny Yuan

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  • Incumbent

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  • Science teacher

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  • Small business owner

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: California elections, 2016

The district's school board election shared the ballot with a bond measure for Santa Clara County, a number of statewide ballot measures, and elections for the following offices:[8]

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[9][10]

Deadline Event
August 1, 2016 Semi-annual campaign finance report due
August 10, 2016 - November 8, 2016 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period
August 12, 2016 Candidate filing deadline
August 17, 2016 Extended filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates for open seats
September 29, 2016 First pre-election campaign finance report due
October 24, 2016 Voter registration deadline
October 27, 2016 Second pre-election campaign finance report due
November 8, 2016 Election Day
January 31, 2017 Semi-annual campaign finance report due

Endorsements

The Santa Clara County Democratic Party endorsed challenger Roy Rocklin.[11]

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png
See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016

Candidates in this race were required to file two pre-election reports. The first was due on September 29, 2016, and the second was due on October 27, 2016. If candidates received more than $1,000 from a single source between August 10, 2016, and November 8, 2016, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours of receiving the contribution.[10]

Candidates who did not raise or spend more than $2,000 on their campaigns had to file an exemption form by September 29, 2016. They did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[10]

Candidates who had a remaining balance from previous campaigns or who had raised or spent money on their campaigns prior to the candidate filing deadline had to file a semi-annual campaign finance report by August 1, 2016. The next semi-annual campaign finance report was due January 31, 2017.[10]

Reports

Candidates received a total of $63,216.90 and spent a total of $61,544.78 in the election, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.[12]

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Jeff Moe $9,863.87 $9,863.87 $0.00
Roy Rocklin $21,882.19 $21,882.19 $0.00
Jenny Yuan $31,470.84 $29,798.72 $1,672.12

Past elections

What was at stake?

2016

Issues in the district

Court rules test scores not required in teacher evaluations
StudentsMatter logo.jpg

Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barry Goode ruled in September 2016 that the Fremont Union High School District, along with 12 other school districts, could not be required to use student test scores in teacher evaluations. Goode's ruling went against a lawsuit filed by the group Students Matter, which sought to mandate the use of student standardized test scores in teacher evaluations. Students Matter argued that the districts' teacher contracts violated California's 1971 Stull Act, which requires school districts to evaluate teachers in a manner related to student performance. Goode concluded that all of the school districts in question were meeting their legal obligations.[14]

“The Legislature endorses many uses of those tests, including evaluating pupils, entire schools and local educational agencies,” Goode wrote in his opinion. “But it does not say the results should be used to evaluate individual teachers.”[14]

Marcellus McRae, who represented the plaintiffs, said he was surprised by the ruling. “If you really think about it, this is such a basic concept that the goal of teaching is for students to learn,” McRae said. “It is, to me, axiomatic that teacher evaluations have to be based at least in part over whether students have learned.”[14]

Students Matter won a similar case in 2012. That lawsuit had been filed against the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the school district was ultimately required to include test scores in its teacher evaluations. In the 2016 case, however, Goode ruled that school districts were allowed to decide how to use test results. “There are serious questions about whether, and the extent to which, a pupil’s standardized test score is ‘reasonably related’ and ‘applicable’ to the performance of a given teacher,” Goode said.[14]

Teachers unions supported Goode's ruling. They argued that standardized test scores overlooked external factors that inhibited student learning, such as poverty.[14]

“Every day teachers across California use a variety of benchmarks, including in-class quizzes, tests, projects, and personal observation to fine-tune their approaches with their students,” said California Federation of Teachers President Joshua Pechthalt. “There is no single method for assessing progress that is ideal or that should be used to the exclusion of all others.”[14]

Candidate survey

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Click here to view or fill out the survey.

About the district

See also: Fremont Union High School District, California
The Fremont Union High School District is located in Santa Clara County, California.

The Fremont Union High School District is located in Santa Clara County in central California. The county seat is San Jose. Santa Clara County was home to 1,918,044 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[15] The district was the 152nd-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 10,710 students.[16]

Demographics

Santa Clara County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2010 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 47.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for Santa Clara County was $93,854, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 8.5 percent, compared to 16.4 percent statewide.[15]

Racial Demographics, 2015[15]
Race Santa Clara County (%) California (%)
White 55.7 72.9
Black or African American 2.9 6.5
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.3 1.7
Asian 35.6 14.7
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander 0.5 0.5
Two or more races 4.1 3.8
Hispanic or Latino 26.3 38.8

Presidential Voting Pattern,
Santa Clara County[17]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 450,818 174,843
2008 462,241 190,039
2004 386,100 209,094
2000 332,490 188,750

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.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Fremont Union High School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

Fremont Union High School District California School Boards
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External links

Footnotes

  1. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 22, 2016
  2. Santa Clara County, "November 8, 2016 Presidential General Election Summary," accessed November 9, 2016
  3. Fremont Union High School District, "2016 Board Members," accessed July 19, 2016
  4. Fremont Union High School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: board of trustees Elections," accessed July 19, 2016
  5. California Elections Code, “Part 5, Section 10600-10604: School District And Community College District Governing Board Elections,” accessed June 15, 2016
  6. California Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
  7. California Secretary of State, "California Online Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
  8. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List: Presidential General Election," accessed September 26, 2016
  9. California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed July 27, 2016
  11. Santa Clara County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 17, 2016
  12. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "County of Santa Clara Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 17, 2017
  13. Smart Voter, "Board Member; Fremont Union High School District Voter Information," accessed September 30, 2014
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Los Angeles Times, "Court refuses to mandate use of test scores in teacher evaluations," September 22, 2016
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 United States Census Bureau, "Santa Clara County, California," accessed June 14, 2016
  16. National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
  17. Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, "Past Election Results," accessed July 3, 2014