Heather Repenning

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Heather Repenning

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

May 14, 2019

Education

Bachelor's

Swarthmore College

Graduate

University of California, Irvine

Heather Repenning ran in a special election to the Los Angeles Unified School District to represent District 5 in California. Repenning lost in the special general runoff election on May 14, 2019.

Repenning completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.

Here is one selected response:

"I believe we need more local control at our school sites. Parents and school leaders and staff know what they need in their community to help their students succeed, but unfortunately LAUSD does not empower local communities to make the changes that they need. We need to put resources and decision-making in the hands of those who are on the front lines and who understand what works for individual school communities."

Biography

Heather Repenning earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from Swarthmore College in 1996 and a master’s in comparative literature from the University of California, Irvine, in 2001. Her career experience includes working as the vice president of the City of Los Angeles Board of Public Works, as the director of external affairs for the office of the mayor of Los Angeles, as a campaign manager, and as a teacher.

Elections

2019

See also: Los Angeles Unified School District elections (2019)

General runoff election

Special general runoff election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 5

Jackie Goldberg defeated Heather Repenning in the special general runoff election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 5 on May 14, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jackie Goldberg (Nonpartisan)	71.3	20,552
		Heather Repenning (Nonpartisan)	28.7	8,253

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 28,805
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
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General election

Special general election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 5

The following candidates ran in the special general election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 5 on March 5, 2019.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Jackie Goldberg (Nonpartisan)	48.2	15,935
✔		Heather Repenning (Nonpartisan)	13.1	4,341
		Graciela Ortiz (Nonpartisan)	13.0	4,310
	Submit photo	Cynthia Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)	9.8	3,230
		Allison Greenwood Bajracharya (Nonpartisan)	6.0	1,986
	Submit photo	Ana Cubas (Nonpartisan)	3.5	1,145
		David Valdez (Nonpartisan)	2.0	678
	Submit photo	Rocío Rivas (Nonpartisan)	1.6	545
		Salvador Sanchez (Nonpartisan)	1.6	522
		Nestor Enrique Valencia (Nonpartisan)	1.2	382

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	There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 33,074
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Withdrawn or disqualified candidates

• Bennett Kayser (Nonpartisan)
• Fidencio Gallardo (Nonpartisan)
• Eduardo Cisneros (Nonpartisan)
• Erika Alvarez (Nonpartisan)
• Scott Cody (Nonpartisan)
• Justine Gonzalez (Nonpartisan)
• James O'Gabhann III (Nonpartisan)
• Laura Garza (Nonpartisan)

Campaign themes

2019

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Heather Repenning completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Repenning's responses.

What would be your top three priorities, if elected?

1. Reducing student to teacher ratios and proper staffing at school sites 2. Expand early education access 3. Increasing funding for art, sports, and after school programs

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

I am a former teacher, the proud product of public education, and the daughter of a former public school teacher. I would not have achieved the success I have had without the benefit of great public schools and great teachers who believed in me. I am running for school board because I think that each and every student in LAUSD should have access to a great education, not just those coming from families that know how to work the system. LA’s public school system faces many great challenges. As an LAUSD parent, I know firsthand that our teachers and education workers are doing incredible work with the hand they are dealt, but they do not have the support they need when it comes to resources at our schools, salaries that allow them to live comfortably in our communities, and professional development opportunities. Our schools are also not currently set up to meet the challenges facing the many students whose families are living in poverty, 80% of which qualify for free and reduced lunch. Many of our families have enrolled their kids in charter schools which are not subjected to the same level of transparency and accountability as District schools, and many union jobs have been lost in this process. And we are not preparing our students for higher education- of the 77% of LAUSD students who graduate, only 12% finish college. These are challenges that I am ready to take on, not just for one or two years, but for the long haul. This is not a job meant to be a stepping stone and it requires relentlessness and a commitment to serve for many years. I have stepped down from the Board of Public Works to pursue this position because I strongly believe that this is the best way for me to support our working families and communities.

What will you do to build a better relationship with parents in the district? What plans do you have to be inclusive of parental involvement?

I believe we need more local control at our school sites. Parents and school leaders and staff know what they need in their community to help their students succeed, but unfortunately LAUSD does not empower local communities to make the changes that they need. We need to put resources and decision-making in the hands of those who are on the front lines and who understand what works for individual school communities..

What issues get in the way of quality education? How would you address these obstacles?

Student poverty is LAUSD’s number one challenge, and the board can no longer ignore the homeless student crisis which at last count was over 17,000 students and growing. As a board member I would ensure that the District works more closely with local governments to guarantee students stable housing and the resources necessary to stay in school. I would also be an advocate in Sacramento and Washington to explain how the housing crisis has a particular impact on children. In particularly the district should speak up more loudly about the need to expand the federal definition of homelessness. Under the current definition of homelessness used by the Federal Government, many families and children don’t qualify for federal housing assistance despite their reliance on short-term housing solutions like motels. This includes thousands of LAUSD students who need federal aid.

How might you support the mental health needs of students/faculty/staff?

One of my top priorities as a Board member will be to expand the Educational Equity Compliance Office and LAUSD's Department of Health and Human Services. I also believe all teachers, administrators, and staff should have updated and expanded diversity training focusing on the needs of our highest-risk populations, including immigrant families, LGBTQ students and students and families experiencing homelessness. It is important that our LAUSD employees understand the obstacles and unique experiences of these community members in order to effectively protect and serve LGBTQ students and the entire campus community at large.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

Ballotpedia biographical submission form

The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:

“	What is your political philosophy? "Chronic under-resourcing of school campuses is a critical challenge facing LAUSD. If elected to the Board, I will take an approach that looks first at developing and leveraging existing staff in a way that is cost-efficient and that empowers school employees. I will also build a strong coalition to ensure proper funding for public education. Poverty is also a huge challenge that our District faces. We need District leadership that can bring together different levels of government and partners from the non-profit sector to provide supportive services for our families on and around our school campuses so that our students come into the classroom ready to learn. Finally, we need more local control at our school sites. Parents and school leaders and staff know what they need in their community to help their students succeed, but unfortunately LAUSD does not empower local communities to make the changes that they need." Is there anything you would like to add? "Heather Repenning is a former teacher and current LAUSD parent with over 18 years of experience working in local government and solving problems that face everyday Angelenos. Heather has served in a variety of key roles for Mayor Eric Garcetti, including Director of External Affairs for the Mayor's Office where she helped lead the campaign to pass Los Angeles' historic citywide fifteen dollar an hour minimum wage. She has worked to bring together city agencies and community groups to solve problems, bring cleaner water, more parks, and better school campuses to neighborhoods across Los Angeles. Heather’s daughter is a second-grader in LAUSD Public Schools. As an LAUSD parent, she has experienced firsthand the problems with LAUSD and its massive bureaucracy, and knows what we need to do to fix it. Heather wants to bring her back-to-basics experience to help lift up our school communities, to bring innovation, resources, and partnerships to support what is working for our kids, and to take on the challenges that we face in providing a great education for every child. Heather believes that schools should be at the center of each community and should be a place where our kids’ needs are met through excellent teachers, support staff like nurses and counselors, healthy food, and instruction in music, the arts, PE, languages, and technology. ​As a mom, Heather understands the urgency of improving public education. Heather believes that this starts with more resources in the classroom and less bureaucracy. She wants to permanently reduce class sizes and provide fully staffed school campuses. She also wants create collaborative learning environments by empowering local school communities- including principals, teachers and other education workers, and parents- to make decisions and allocate resources in a way that makes sense for each school. Heather has been part of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti's work in our city for over a decade, serving as his Field Deputy for Echo Park, Silver Lake, Elysian Valley, and Glassell Park and as his District Director while he represented Los Angeles's Council District 13. She also worked for LAUSD to involve parents and communities in the process of building new schools to address overcrowding. She most recently served as the Vice President of the Board of Public works where she provides oversight and transparency over sanitation, street services, street lighting, engineering, and contract administration to ensure that City services are cost efficient, equitable, and environmentally friendly."	”
—Heather Repenning

Campaign website

“	Heather's Priorities for LAUSD: Reducing student-to-teacher ratios and ensure proper staffing at school sites Raising teacher pay and their benefits Ensuring charter schools operate with the same levels of transparency and accountability as public schools Increasing funding for art, sports, and after school programs Addressing poverty in our student population by bringing more social workers, health and mental health professionals, and other support services to our schools Constructing and modernize classrooms, science labs, and school facilities that support college readiness and career preparation in math, science, engineering, technology, arts, and skilled trades Expanding Early Childhood Education Programs When it comes to education, the earlier the better. That is why I’ll work to expand access to high-quality preschool resources and ensure every child has a fair shot at success, by putting together a plan for universal pre-kindergarten, starting with early education classrooms at all LAUSD elementary schools. Many of our LAUSD families are living at or near the poverty line, and investing in preschool classrooms is a very impactful way to ensure that all of our kids are ready for kindergarten. Transform Neighborhood Schools into the Core of Each Community I will work to implement the community schools model across the district by offering health and mental health services, workforce development, and after school programs on school campuses. I believe all of our schools deserve the flexibility to make decisions choosing the programs that work for the students, staff, and parents at each school site. Broadening After School and Extracurricular Programs For too many students, the time out of the classroom can be the riskiest. As a working mom whose daughter spends almost as much time in after school care as she does during school time, I know firsthand how important the quality of after care is to my life, and to so many other families. I will broaden after school programs that have consistently shown to help at-risk youth stay in school and out of trouble. I will also fight for more funding for extracurriculars like sports and arts programs that provide so many students the outlets they need to succeed. Expand Access to College I will work to create pathways for middle-class and low-income students to complete the requirements to make it to college, make information and resources about college admission and financial aid more readily available, and work to connect more of our students with financial aid opportunities. I support raising graduation standards to ensure that students graduating from LAUSD are ready to go to college, and increasing access to counselors and programs to help more students access higher education. Supporting the Arts & Physical Education While it's critical that students have access to a quality STEM education, perhaps more urgent is that fact that physical education, arts, and music don't exist everywhere in the LAUSD. I'll partner with groups like Arts for LA to find funding to ensure that every LAUSD student has a well-rounded education. Prioritizing STEM Education The next generation of jobs and industries will require much more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. That’s why I’ll work to increase funding for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) programs in LA schools. Providing quality STEM education will take more than just promising more classes. I will work to create interdisciplinary programs that not just teach but engage students to learn the skills necessary to achieve success in America’s new economy.	”
—Heather Repenning

See also

• Los Angeles Unified School District, California
• Los Angeles Unified School District elections (2019)

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• Los Angeles Unified School District
• Campaign website