Mary Ellen Donatto
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2014 - Present
11
Mary Ellen Donatto is a Democratic District 13 representative on the St. Landry Parish School Board in Louisiana. She was elected to the board in the November 4, 2014, general election against incumbent Harry B. Fruge (D).
Biography
Donatto holds a B.Ed. and an M.Ed. in elementary education, as well as a second M.Ed. in supervision and administration. She has 40 years of experience in education. She was a classroom teacher for 13 years, a instructional specialist for 13 years and principal of East Elementary for 14 years. She was named Louisiana State Elementary Principle of the Year for the 2005-2006 and 2010-2011 school years. She is also a mentor and trainer in the High Poverty, High Performing Schools Initiative through the Louisiana State Department of Education.[1][2]
Elections
2014
Thirteen seats on the St. Landry School Board were up for election on November 4, 2014. Candidates who were unopposed at the end of the filing period were considered elected without opposition as of August 22, 2014. The District 12 race advanced to a general election on December 6, 2014, as no primary election winner garnered a majority vote in the contest.[3]
In District 1, incumbent Anthony Standberry (D) faced Armond "Rocky" Declouette (D). Allen Guillory Sr. (D) also filed to run in the election, but withdrew from the race. Darlene Smith-St. Romain (D) challenged District 5 incumbent Candy B. Gerace (D). District 9 incumbent Randy Wagley (I) faced Ricky Julien Sr. (D). Harry B. Fruge (D) sought re-election against Mary Ellen Donatto (D).[4]
Just after winning the District 10 seat in a special election on May 2, 2014, Hazel McCrea-Sias (D) faced Ceasar Veazie Jr. (D) and Matthew Washington (D) in the general election. McCrea-Sias defeated Washington in the May election.[4]
Districts 12 had the largest number of candidates. Incumbent Josie Frank (D) did not file to run for re-election. Donna Baltakis (D), Albert "Al" Hayes Jr. (D), Roland Miller (R) and Will "La Will" Stevens (D) ran for the open seat. Hayes and Miller advanced to the general election.[4]
The remaining seven seats were retained by incumbents who were re-elected without opposition. They were Charles W. Ross (D) in District 2, Milton "Coach" Ambres (D) in District 3, Raymond P. Cassimere (D) in District 4, Donnie Perron (I) in District 6, Huey Wyble (D) in District 7, Kyle C. Boss (D) in District 8 and Roger Young (R) in District 11.[4]
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic |  Mary Ellen Donatto |
58.6% | 1,221 | |
| Democratic | Harry B. Fruge Incumbent | 41.4% | 862 | |
| Total Votes | 2,083 | |||
| Source: Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Results," accessed December 2, 2014 | ||||
What was at stake?
All thirteen seats' incumbents on the St. Landry School Board were up for general election on November 4, 2014. Prior to the election, the board's partisan composition was 10 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 1 independent. The Democrats were guaranteed to keep nine seats while the Republicans and independents were guaranteed one seat each. Donnie Perron, the District 6 incumbent, switched his party affiliation from Democratic to independent and was re-elected without opposition. With only two seat's partisanship up for grabs, the board retained a Democratic majority for four more years. The District 9 and 12 races determined the new composition of the board.
While the board's party split was not greatly affected by the election, terms won this year were the first to be affected by the term limits approved by voters in 2012.
Issues
Issues in the district
Term limits
Terms won in this election were the first to be affected by the imposition of term limits on school board members in the parish. On November 6, 2012, St. Landry Parish voters elected by a more than three-quarters majority to instate term limits.
The question appeared on the ballot as follows:
| “ | LOCAL OPTION ELECTION
Within St. Landry Parish School District: Shall the number of terms of office that any member of the school board may serve be limited to three consecutive four-year terms?[5] |
” |
| —Louisiana Secretary of State's website (2014)[6] | ||
Election results
| Parishwide School District Proposition (2012) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
 Yes | 26301 | 77.77% | ||
| No | 7518 | 22.23% | ||
Starting with terms that began on or after January 1, 2014, any member who, at the end of his or her term, has served more than two and one-half terms in the last three consecutive terms cannot be re-elected in the following term. However, they can be re-elected following the one term break. The limit does not apply retroactively to incumbents, thus allowing them to potentially serve up to 12 more years.[3][7]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Mary + Ellen + Donatto + St + Landry + Parish + School + Board"
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Marry Ellen Donatto campaign website, "About Mary Ellen," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ Mary Ellen Donatto campaign website, "Homepage," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, "HOW ARE CANDIDATES ELECTED?" accessed September 2, 2014
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed September 16, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed September 17, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "QUALIFICATIONS OF CANDIDATES," accessed September 2, 2014
