JoAnn Clarke
JoAnn Clarke was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Portsmouth Public Schools school board in Virginia. Clarke was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Clarke participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
'Five of the nine seats on the Portsmouth Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Ted Lamb, Costella Williams, Sarah Duncan Hinds won re-election to their seats. Angelia Allen and LaKeesha Atkinson won the remaining two seats up for election. Incumbent Keith Nance, De'Andre Barnes, and JoAnn Clarke finished sixth, seventh, and eighth in the race.[1]
Results
| Portsmouth Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sarah Duncan Hinds Incumbent |
16.65% | 21,605 |
| Costella Williams Incumbent |
14.44% | 18,734 |
| Ted Lamb Incumbent |
13.49% | 17,513 |
| Angelia Allen |
12.00% | 15,577 |
| LaKeesha Atkinson |
11.67% | 15,143 |
| Keith Nance Incumbent | 10.96% | 14,223 |
| JoAnn Clarke | 10.95% | 14,205 |
| De'Andre Barnes | 9.51% | 12,344 |
| Write-in votes | 0.34% | 436 |
| Total Votes | 129,780 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2016 November General Official Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Clarke reported no contributions or expenditures to the Virginia Department of Elections as of October 17, 2016.[2]
Endorsements
Clarke received no official endorsements in the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
JoAnn T. Clarke 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 October 10, 2016:
| “ | Portsmouth schools have 58% of a student body living below national poverty standards. We need to understand the stresses these students are under and train our teachers "sensitivity training"; we need to request SOL grading standards to be adjusted based on the level of poverty per each district.[3][4] | ” |
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 Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | Supporting: Higher Teacher per Pupil Ratios Teacher Assistants in all grades K-5 Vocational Schools[4] | ” |
| —JoAnn T. Clarke (October 10, 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.) |
|---|
| No. Again, more support must be given to public education! |
| 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 always defer to school board decisions. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. No,like myself, some students test poorly. Other means in a grading system need to be accounted for, such as classroom interaction, extra curriculums, and other measures for comprehension. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Not for or against |
| 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. I think implementing all of the above based on each individual teacher would be preferred. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Even better,how about we give special taxing incentives for those parents whose children have improved grades. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. We need to continue to support public education! |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| I hope that the current "zero tolerance" policy can be changed and adopt a one on one policy to keep more students in school. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio I really believe it is parental involvement; however, in the real world, less students per teacher is best. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms JoAnn Clarke Portsmouth Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Portsmouth, Virginia, "Office of the Registrar General," accessed July 14, 2016
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 18, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "JoAnn T. Clarke's responses," October 10, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Portsmouth Public Schools Elections | |
| Portsmouth, Virginia | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Ted Lamb • Incumbent, Costella Williams • Incumbent, Sarah Duncan Hinds • Incumbent, Keith Nance • Incumbent, Joann Clarke • Angelia Allen • LaKeesha Atkinson • De'Andre Barnes |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
