Kitty Sargent
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Kitty Sargent is the District F representative on the Boulder Valley School District school board in Colorado. Sargent won a first term in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Sargent participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2017
Three of the seven seats on the Boulder Valley School District Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. In her bid for re-election, incumbent Tina Marquis ran unopposed and won re-election to the District B seat. Donna Miers, Raj Rawat, and Dean Vlachos ran for the open District E seat, and Alexandra Eddy and Kitty Sargent ran for the open District F seat. Miers and Sargent won election to the board.[1][2] Andrew Hendrickson initially filed to run for the District F seat, but he withdrew from the race.[3]
Results
| Boulder Valley School District, District F General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kitty Sargent |
66.87% | 23,559 |
| Alexandra Eddy | 33.13% | 11,672 |
| Total Votes | 35,231 | |
| Source: Boulder County Elections, "2017 Coordinated Election November 7, 2017 Official Results," accessed November 27, 2017 | ||
Funding
Sargent reported $7,534.05 in contributions and $3,975.50 in expenditures to the Colorado Secretary of State, which left her campaign with $3,558.55 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Sargent was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[5][6]
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Sargent was also endorsed by former officials and community members. Click here for a list of her supporters.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Kitty Sargent participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[7] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 27, 2017:
| “ | I would like to do the following: heal the rift in the community resulting from the firing of the superintendent, expand full day kindergarten to all schools, expand preschool to all schools, improve outcomes in our lowest performing students.[8][9] | ” |
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 Colorado. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Boulder Valley School District has a very good relationship with teachers.[9] | ” |
| —Kitty Sargent (September 27, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight 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. |
| 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. Testing can be a useful part of measuring student achievement, but it only tells us what a child can demonstrate in the testing environment on that particular day. Some children are vey poor test takers, while some do very well on tests. Student portfolios and their teacher's evaluation are also needed. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. This depends on what is meant by merit pay. I am opposed to eliminating the salary schedule in favor of merit pay, but I could support some sort of bonus. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used only as a last result. Every effort should be made to find a placement in which the student can throve. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. |
Candidate website
Sargent highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | Smaller Class Sizes
Kitty knows that when students have individual attention from teachers, they are more likely to succeed. She will work to ensure that all schools have the resources they need to provide smaller classes to their students because every kids deserves a quality public education. Full-Day Kindergarten Students who attend full-day kindergarten have higher test scores and better odds at success. Kitty wants to make sure that every BVSD student has access to quality full-day kindergarten because every kid should get ahead start. Shrinking the Achievement Gap Kitty will work hard to close the achievement gap in Boulder Valley Schools. She believes that every student has the ability to succeed with the right tools and support.[9] |
” |
| —Kitty Sargent (2017)[10] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kitty Sargent Boulder Valley School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Boulder Valley School District, "BVSD BOE Candidate Information," accessed September 5, 2017
- ↑ Boulder County Elections, "2017 Coordinated Election November 7, 2017 Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Boulder County Elections, "2017 Candidates and Ballot Issues," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 11, 2017
- ↑ Boulder Valley Education Association, "Press Release: BVEA releases recommendations for BVSD School Board Election 2017," September 7, 2017
- ↑ Kitty Sargent BVSD School Board, "Endorsements," accessed October 30, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Kitty Sargent's responses," September 27, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kitty Sargent BVSD School Board, "Home," accessed October 30, 2017
| Boulder Valley School District elections in 2017 | |
| Boulder County, Colorado | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District B: • Incumbent, Tina Marquis District E: • Donna Miers • Raj Rawat • Dean Vlachos District F: • Alexandra Eddy • Kitty Sargent |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
