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Leslie Huff
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Leslie Huff is the District 3 representative on the Olympia School District school board in Washington. Huff won a first term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Elections
2017
- See also: Olympia School District elections (2017)
Three of the five seats on the Olympia School District school board in Washington were up for at-large election on November 7, 2017. Two seats were up for regular election and one seat (District 4) was up for a special election for a two-year unexpired term. A primary election for District 5 was held on August 1, 2017, showing that board member Mark Campeau and Scott Clifthorne could defeat Rebecca Cornelius. Clifthorne went on to oust Campeau from his seat in the general.
Newcomer Leslie Huff defeated fellow newcomer Katie Bridges for the open District 3 seat. In District 4, Hilary Seidel defeated Ann Heitkemper.[1]
Results
| Olympia School District, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Leslie Huff |
69.45% | 10,883 |
| Katie Bridges | 30.55% | 4,787 |
| Total Votes | 15,670 | |
| Source: Thurston County, "November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed November 30, 2017 | ||
Funding
Huff opted for mini reporting in this election, according to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission.[2] Candidates who opted for this had to keep a record of their contributors and expenditures, but were not required to report them. If they raised and spent more than $5,000 in aggregate or received more than $500 from any one contributor, including themselves, they would have had to switch their filing status from mini to full reporting.[3]
Endorsements
Huff received an official endorsement from The Olympian and the Washington Education Association.[4][5]
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Leslie Huff participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[6] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on June 17, 2017:
| “ | I hope to help schools develop and implement stronger action plans for equity across the district allowing us to improve the education of underserved students. I also want to empower teachers and administrators to use their professional knowledge in their daily interactions with schools, families and the community.[7][8] | ” |
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 Washington. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | I understand "school choice" to often be code for "school vouchers" or "private charter schools." I am not in favor of this kind of school choice although I am in favor of more opportunities for diverse learning environments within our public school system. I believe the budget is important, but a task the school board does, not a priority for policy. I am in favor of the learning priorities driving the budget, not the budget leading.[8] | ” |
| —Leslie Huff (June 17, 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. Our school district offers a variety of alternative learning environments. These opportunities should be grown as the community's interest in them grows. With this variety, there is no need for private learning opportunities. I am not in favor of private or charter schools syphoning public dollars for education programs that are not accountable to the public. |
| 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 be involved in the district routinely. The state should provide the guiding broad regulations under which the school board operates. There is no option to choose only "other," so I also chose one of your options. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Standardized tests do not measure all the skills and knowledge young people need to succeed. When implemented appropriately, they can offer narrowly-focused insight into strengths and weaknesses of a school, program, or student, but they are often not used for this purpose. They are used for accountability in ways they were never developed for. From my perspective, tests should only be used if they are useful for the learning environment. All state and federal accountability should be measured by tests that can and are used for improving the educational environment of students testing. |
| 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. Teachers should be paid an appropriate wage for the difficult work they do. Financial incentives should be focused on teachers that take and succeed in positions that serve students with more life variables (e.g., homelessness, violence, poverty) that negatively impact there learning. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Public schools should offer a variety of alternative learning environments to meet the needs of the community and students they serve. Doing so allows for school choice within the public system and maintains accountability to the public for serving all students. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion must be reserved as a last resort in discipline. Other approaches to discipline that highlight opportunities to learn about behavior, self discipline, and strategies for successful should be priorities and exhausted prior to suspension or expulsion. Two of these strategies include restorative practice and meditative refocusing. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Teachers create the culture of the classroom and the environment in which students learn. When they can create a culture that values each individual students and builds a community of learning among the class members, every students succeeds. These teachers are often in schools with strong leaders, or they are strong school leaders as well. They help their schools and classrooms thrive through the implementation of appropriate teaching strategies, leadership, and relationship building. |
Campaign website statement
Huff posted the below statement on her campaign website:[9]
| “ | I am Leslie Huff, and I am running to be the District 3 director on the Olympia School Board.
My spark for education and teaching was ignited in the Olympia School District. While I was blessed with strong, inspirational teachers throughout my years as a student, I had a few superstar teachers that really pushed me to do more and find my potential. I had one of those teachers at Jefferson Middle School. She pushed me to find what motivates me and what makes me enjoy life and feel successful. I learned about the world beyond myself through her efforts and began seeking ways to give back. Still now, I look for ways that I can contribute to a better community. With a Ph.D. in Education and years working in the field of education, I have the knowledge and skills our school board needs to make decisions that benefit our students, teachers, community members and move our schools forward. My experience in education is broad and varied including teacher training, teaching, curriculum development, education policy, educational technology, language acquisition, and assessment. I have also served in the community to better opportunities for students, for example, I served on the boards of Academia Juan Diego (Tacoma) and Garden Raised Bounty (GRuB). I’m currently serving as vice president on the board of Pacific Northwest Theater and as president of the Olympia Regional Learning Academy (ORLA) PTA. Outside of my life in education, I am a parent of a second grader at ORLA. We enjoy visiting our beautiful city parks, hiking in the area, and creating our own creative masterpieces. I look forward to the opportunities this campaign provides to meet new friends and learn more about our community. Thank you for your endorsement and your vote.[8] |
” |
| —Leslie Huff (2017)[9] | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Thurston County, "Candidates Who Filed," accessed May 25, 2017
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Local Candidates," accessed October 12, 2017
- ↑ Washington State Public Disclosure Commission, "New Candidates," accessed June 22, 2017
- ↑ The Olympian, "Seidel, Huff and Campeau best for Olympia schools," October 20, 2017
- ↑ Washington Education Association, "2017 WEA-PAC Election Endorsements," accessed November 6, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Leslie Huff's responses," June 17, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Leslie Huff 2017 campaign website, "About Me," accessed June 26, 2017
| Olympia School District elections in 2017 | |
| Thurston County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary: August 1, 2017 General: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | District 3: Katie Bridges • Leslie Huff District 4: Ann Heitkemper • Hilary Seidel |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
