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Judi Reynolds
Judi Reynolds was the District D representative on the Douglas County School District Board of Education in Colorado. She first won election to the board in 2013, and she served until November 2017 as she did not file to run for another term in the general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Reynolds earned a B.S. in education from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville and an M.Ed. from East Tennessee State University. She worked as a program director for the Central Florida YMCA, in recreation at Walt Disney World, and as an exercise physiologist for Baptist Hospital Center for Health and Wellness in Nashville, Tennessee. After moving to the Denver area she spent six years as an exercise physiologist for Aurora Denver Cardiology Associates, before becoming a stay-at-home mom and school volunteer. She served on the District Accountability Committee and the Franktown Elementary’s School Accountability Committee. Reynolds has three children.[1][2]
Elections
2013
Reynolds ran against fellow challenger Julie Keim for the District D seat in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Douglas County School Board of Directors, Four-year term, District D, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Judi Reynolds |
51.9% | 52,230 | |
| Nonpartisan | Julie Keim | 48.1% | 48,399 | |
| Total Votes | 100,629 | |||
| Source: Douglas County Elections, "2013 Coordinated Election," November 21, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Reynolds reported $40,646.50 in contributions and $38,873.30 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $1,773.20 on hand in the election.[3]
Endorsements
Reynolds was endorsed by the Douglas County Republican Party for the 2013 election.[4]
Campaign themes
Reynold's campaign website listed the following campaign themes for 2013:[5]
School-based budgeting
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"Site-based budgeting makes Douglas County School District unique. It allows the decision-making process to take place at the school level. Principals, teachers and parents all have input. They make the decisions about staffing, curriculum, calendars, safety, and the UIP (Unified Improvement Plan). Principals are given their budget, which is based on the number of students, and the anticipated per pupil revenue (PPR). The principal, teachers, PTO representatives, parents, and community members come together to discuss the priorities of their school. These discussions revolve around student performance, class size, class offerings, supplemental staff (building resource teachers, reading recovery, gifted and talented, librarians, tech, enrichment, technology, etc). Since every school and community is different, it is extremely important that the budgeting decisions be made at the building level. I support site-based budgeting because it allows each school to keep any money that is not spent in a specific budget year. This school carryover allows schools to save for a specific need or want in their community, and eliminates the “use it or lose it” mentality that can lead to wasteful and frivolous spending. This is a very different process from the traditional top-down model that is used in most districts and I believe that schools benefit from this process." |
School choice
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"I support parental choice in education. Why? Because,I believe that no school district can be all things to all students. I believe that there are a small number of children whose needs cannot be met; the reasons are as wide and as varied as the children. The majority of students have their needs met in our district schools, but some students have needs that are better served in private schools. I believe that when teachers, principals, parents, and administrators have worked together and have not been able to provide for the needs of that child, that it is best to help them find a solution that can provide the best possible education to that child, even it is found outside the public school system. The proposed Choice Scholarship Program is simply an extension of open enrollment that is already offered to parents and students: open enrollment that is not just within the district, but, across district lines. The Choice Scholarship Program is in the hands of the Colorado Supreme Court. They have not yet decided if they will hear the appeal; that is expected to happen later this fall. Until there is a court decision, there can be no movement on this issue. I also believe that, with all of the educational options available in our school district, the Choice Scholarship Program will affect very few children. Parents and students already have a wide variety of educational options available to them within the school district: neighborhood schools; open enrollment; charter schools; online schools; programs within schools such as IB (International Baccalaureate); AP (Advanced Placement); concurrent college enrollment; vocational and technical education options; schools with specific learning curriculum such as STEM, project based, core curriculum, and artful learning just to name a few. Making sure that parents and students are aware of all of the potential options, and that they know and understand the enrollment process is critical to successful students. There should be an ongoing effort to ensure that this process is clear and easy to understand and follow, and, that the process is constantly being refined, updated, improved, and shared." |
Pay-for-performance
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"I completly support Pay for Performance. Douglas County began a new teacher evaluation system (CITE) this year, and based teacher pay on the outcome. Teachers were rated highly effect, effective, approaching, does not meet, and both ongoing raises and bonuses were based on their outcome. Why is this important? Because it means that, for the first time, pay raises were based on performance. Traditionally, teachers have been compensated in a “step and lane” union formula that based pay on two things, years of service and degree credentials. This means that when raises are given, everyone is given the same percentage increase, regardless of performance. The new system gives those highest performing teachers the largest raise (both ongoing and bonuses) and those at the bottom of the scale got no increase. This means that, over time, the best teachers in our system stand to make substantially more than their underperforming peers." |
Common core
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"Common Core Standards are a set of educational standards created by the nation’s governors and education commissioners, through their representative organizations the National Governors Association (NGA) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) led the development of the Common Core State Standards and continue to lead the initiative. Colorado adopted the Common Core Standards in 2010 and became part of the PARCC (Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careeers) testing consortium with 19 other states in 2012. Making sure that our children are college and career ready is the goal of K-12 education. Participation in standardized testing (think SAT, PSAT, ACT (including Explorer and Plan) etc, is nothing new. What is new is the effort to standardize education across not just district lines, but state lines as well. I believe that this effort will take away local control of our children's education. Educational needs are a very personal issue, every child is different. In a time when more individual educational opportunities are being created, a one size fits all model is the wrong direction." |
Fiscal transparency
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"Fiscal transparency and responsibility to taxpayers, students, and district staff are a vital responsibility of the Board of Education. Stakeholders have to know that their tax dollars are being spent in an efficient, effective, responsible manner, and that the school district is not budgeting and spending dollars that they do not have.The budget is audited annually, and the district financials are available on the district website. [...] Four years ago, our school district was in dire financial straits, having to us a letter of credit to cover the state required TABOR reserve of $13 million dollars, laying off teachers and freezing pay because the previous superintendent had negotiated a contract with the union that overpromised and depended on a mill levy election that failed. The district now holds the TABOR reserve in cash ($13 million), and additional BoE cash reserve of 3% + 1% of approximately $17 million as a rainy day fund, which is just under one month's payroll for the district. This is one time money that does not reoccur annually. Administration has been cut by 20%, and the salaries of union officials are no longer paid by the district. School based budgeting also allows each school to make budget and hiring decisions, and to carry any unspent funds forward to avoid a "use it or lose it," spend every dime mentality. Principals, with input from the School Accountability Committee (SAC) (which is made up of parents, teachers, community members, and the principal) then decide what the spending priorities are for their building. These discussions can revolve around class size, class offering, curriculum, needs of the building for things like reading recovery, gifted and talented, or any other resource that school needs." |
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 "Judi + Reynolds + Douglas + County + Schools"
See also
- Colorado school districts
- Douglas County School District elections (2013)
- Douglas County School District, Colorado
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedReynolds - ↑ Judi Reynolds 4 DCSD, "About Judi," accessed October 22, 2013
- ↑ Colorado TRACER, "Candidate Detail," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ "OurHighlandRanchNews.com," "Local Republicans endorse candidates," accessed August 30, 2013 (dead link)
- ↑ Judi Reynolds 4 DCSD, "Issues," accessed October 22, 2013
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