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Jane Kuckel
Jane Kuckel was the District 6 representative on the School District of Lee County school board in Florida. Kuckel won the seat in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016. Kuckel did not seek re-election in 2018.
Elections
2016
Four seats on the School District of Lee County school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. The board originally had five seats, but the 2016 election added two more seats to the board: Districts 6 and 7, which were elected at large. Two other seats were up for by-district election, although the race for one—District 3—was decided in the primary election on August 30, 2016, and it did not appear on the general ballot. In her bid for re-election, District 2 incumbent Jeanne Dozier faced five challengers in the primary election: Charlie Flores, Melisa Giovannelli, Kimberly Hurley, David Lusk, and Stephen Solak. Since no candidate won over 50 percent of the total votes, the top two vote-getters—Dozier and Giovannelli—advanced to the general election. Giovannelli defeated Dozier in the general election. The race for a two-year term for the new District 6 seat included Don Armstrong, Charles Dailey, Richard Dunmire, and Jane Kuckel on the primary ballot. Kuckel and Armstrong advanced to the general election, with Kuckel winning the seat. In the primary election for District 7, District 3 incumbent Cathleen Morgan faced challengers Derrick Donnell, Guido Minaya, Chris Quackenbush, and Betsy Vaughn. Morgan and Quackenbush both appeared on the general election ballot. Morgan won the general election. Since Morgan ran for the District 7 seat, the District 3 was left open for a newcomer. Chris Patricca defeated Lori Fayhee in the race for the seat in the primary election.[1][2]
Results
| School District of Lee County, District 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jane Kuckel |
52.43% | 124,981 |
| Don Armstrong | 47.57% | 113,406 |
| Total Votes (100) | 238,387 | |
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2016 General Election," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
| School District of Lee County, District 6 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jane Kuckel |
42.83% | 41,502 |
| Don Armstrong |
26.45% | 25,634 |
| Charles Dailey | 17.64% | 17,096 |
| Richard Dunmire | 13.08% | 12,675 |
| Total Votes | 96,907 | |
| Source: Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2016 Primary Election," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Kuckel reported $26,995.00 in contributions and $16,607.51 in expenditures to the Lee County Supervisor of Elections, which left her campaign with $10,387.49 cash on hand, as of October 11, 2016.[3]
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
Jane E Kuckel, Ph.D. 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 July 8, 2016:
| “ | A high-performing district which is the pride of the community and appealing to new high wage businesses and companies.[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 Florida. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | My three top priorities are: 1.Become an "A" school District 2Transitioning a School Board of individuals to a high performing team with the superintendent 3. finding a Sustainable income source to meet the student growth needs of the district.[5] | ” |
| —Jane E Kuckel, Ph.D. (July 8, 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. |
| 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. As Howard Gardner would say--It is not how smart you are, but, rather, how are you smart. While making sure that students are academically prepared to be successful in the workplace and life skills, we must also build upon their individual talents and strengths. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| The District is in the process of creating Lee County academic standards |
| 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? |
| Offer additional training options. 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? |
| No. That question cannot be answered with a yes or no. There are too many complicating factors. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Very sparingly |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Jane Kuckel School District of Lee County. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Lee County Elections, "Candidate Information 2016," accessed June 30, 2016
- ↑ Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "2016 General Election," accessed November 8, 2016
- ↑ Lee County Supervisor of Elections, "Candidate Finance Reports," accessed October 11, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Jane E Kuckel, Ph.D.'s responses," July 8, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 School District of Lee County Elections | |
| Lee County, Florida | |
| Election date: | Primary: August 30, 2016 General: November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Incumbent, Jeanne Dozier • Charlie Flores • Melisa Giovannelli • Kimberly Hurley • David Lusk • Stephen Solak District 3: • Lori Fayhee • Chris Patricca At-Large District 6: • Don Armstrong • Charles Dailey • Richard Dunmire • Jane Kuckel At-Large District 7: • Cathleen Morgan • Derrick Donnell • Guido Minaya • Chris Quackenbush • Betsy Vaughn |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
