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Jeff Lamontagne
Jeff Lamontagne was a candidate for District 2 on the Jeffco School Board in Colorado. He was defeated by fellow challenger John Newkirk on November 5, 2013.
Biography
Lamontagne has a Bachelor's degree in Natural Resources from Cornell University and a law degree from the College of William and Mary. He grew up in Colorado and lived in Lakewood with his wife and two children at the time of his candidacy. Lamontagne is a Co-Founder and long-time Executive Director of the Second Wind Fund, which provides assistance to uninsured youth who are at-risk for suicide. He, along with members from his church, founded the fund after four Jeffco students at one school took their own lives. He moved on in 2011 to become Executive Director of a youth open space/wildlife refuge and environmental science center in Denver.[1]
Elections
2013
- See also: Jeffco Public Schools elections (2013)
Lamontagne was running for election against challenger John Newkirk on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Jeffco Board of Education, Four-year term, District 2, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  John Newkirk |
54% | 72,769 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jeff Lamontagne | 46% | 62,073 | |
| Total Votes | 134,842 | |||
| Source: Jefferson County Board of Elections, "2013 Coordinated Election," November 27, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Lamontagne reported $59,150.32 in contributions and $59,150.32 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left his campaign with no cash on hand.[2]
Endorsements
Lamontagne was endorsed by U.S. Representative Ed Perlmutter, former Jeffco Schools Board of Education President Sue Marinelli and State Representative Tracy Kraft-Tharp, among numerous others listed on his website.[3]
Campaign themes
Lamontagne listed his campaign priorities as the following on his website:[4]
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Student Achievement and Equal Opportunity: Our first priority is making sure ALL of our students, regardless of where they come from, have access to quality education and can excel at basic subjects – reading, writing and math. For Colorado to thrive, we need a well-educated workforce from strong public schools that attract quality businesses with good jobs. I will be an advocate for thoughtful approaches that lead to the highest student achievement, making certain that our kids are career and college ready. Teachers and Principals: Excellent teachers and principals are a crucial factor in a child’s success at school. It is imperative that we have a great teacher in every classroom and a quality principal in every school. In order for our kids to succeed, we need to provide our teachers and schools with the resources they need to be successful. We need to develop and implement strategies to attract and retain the best teachers and principals in our district. I will be a leader in this endeavor. Collaborating and Creating Community Partnerships for Jeffco Schools: While the world becomes smaller through advancing technologies and innovations, it is also important to bring our neighbors and community together to build a stronger school district. As I’ve met and spoken with business leaders and other members of the Jeffco community, I’ve heard a desire for greater and more meaningful partnerships with public schools. Teacher Growth and Excellence: I support evaluating teachers and principals on a regular basis. We need to be smart and consistent about how we measure what it is to be an effective teacher or principal. We need to provide constructive feedback and professional development that helps our teachers and principals increase student achievement. The work that the district is already doing in this area is promising and I will continue these efforts. Choice, Charters, and Options: I believe parents must have choices when it comes to their children’s education and my kids are choice-enrolled. Additionally, charter and option schools are laboratories for innovation and a good alternative when traditional school settings aren’t a perfect fit for students. At the same time, we need to support the foundation of our system – our neighborhood schools – and make sure that we balance our Choice, Charter, and Option policies with keeping our neighborhood schools vibrant. Mental Health: As the former Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Second Wind Fund, I worked with mental health professionals in many Jeffco schools on hundreds of cases dealing with kids struggling with mental health issues. I believe we should be strengthening mental health services in our schools. I will work to continue to build public-private partnerships and to identify solutions to this serious issue. School Safety: As a parent, nothing is more important to me than my children’s safety, and keeping our schools safe is a priority. I am in favor of increasing responsible security measures such as striving to ensure school resource officers are assigned to each school and making it more difficult for outsiders to gain entry into a school. Budget Transparency: Exceptional public schools are the backbone of a strong economy, and you – the taxpayers – trust our school board with some hefty decisions regarding how to spend and allocate taxpayer dollars. I am dedicated to ensuring that we are transparent in the way we allocate and spend those dollars. I believe those dollars need to be focused on the classroom to ensure that our children are succeeding. We need to continue to innovate and fund the programs that are having success and eliminate those that are not working. |
Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Jeff + Lamontagne + Jeffco + Public + Schools"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Jeff Lamontagne for Jeffco School Board, "About Jeff," accessed November 3, 2013
- ↑ Colorado TRACER, "Candidate Detail," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Jeff Lamontagne for Jeffco School Board, "Endorsements," accessed November 3, 2013
- ↑ Jeff Lamontagne for Jeffco School Board, "Issues," accessed November 3, 2013
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