Migdalia Rivas

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Migdalia Rivas

Democratic Party

Prior offices

Norwalk Public Schools school board District B

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Migdalia Rivas is the Democratic District B representative on the Norwalk Board of Education. Rivas sought another term in 2015 but was defeated the primary election on September 16, 2015.

Elections

2015

See also: Norwalk Public Schools elections (2015)

The five district representative seats on the Norwalk Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. A Democratic primary election was held September 16, 2015, for Districts A and B.

Yvel Crevecoeur (D/WFP) won the District A seat after petitioning for and winning a Democratic primary and defeating Joe Perella (I) for the open seat. While Perella ran as an unaffiliated candidate, he was endorsed by the Republican Town Committee (RTC).

District A incumbent Rosa Murray (D) did not seek her party's nomination to run for another term. Instead, the Norwalk Democratic Town Committee (DTC) nominated Nicol Ayers to run for the seat. Ayers faced a primary challenge from Yvel Crevecoeur. Crevecoeur won with a margin of 14 votes. The tight margin automatically necessitated a recount, which held the same totals. Crevecoeur received the endorsement of the Connecticut Working Families Party after petitioning to run as a Democratic candidate. This ensured that he would appear on the general election ballot regardless of the primary outcome.

Erik Anderson (D) won the District B seat after defeating incumbent Migdalia Rivas (D) in a primary. The two had tied for the Democratic nomination at the party convention. This left the party without an official nominee in the race. Both Rivas and Anderson successfully petitioned to hold a party primary to determine a Democratic candidate for District B. Anderson won the primary and was set to face Republican nominee Harold Bonet in the general election. However, Bonet withdrew from the race, leaving Anderson without official opponents.

No primaries were necessary for the other three seats. District C incumbent Michael Lyons (R) won re-election after his party nominated him to run for re-election; he defeated Democratic nominee Lisa Nuzzo in the general election. District D incumbent Bryan Meek (R) won his first full term on the board. Meek was appointed to the board in March 2015 and received his party's nomination to run for the remainder of the seat's term. He defeated Democratic nominee Haroldo Williams on the general election ballot. In District E, Michael Barbis (D) won re-election without opposition. He was nominated to retain his seat by the Democratic Town Committee, and no Republican candidate was nominated to challenge him.

Results

Democratic primary

Norwalk Public Schools, District B, Democratic Primary, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Erik Anderson	60.0%	189
Migdalia Rivas Incumbent	40.0%	126
Total Votes		315
Source: Nancy on Norwalk, "GOP candidate withdraws, Anderson will join BoE; vote recount changes nothing," September 21, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us.

Campaign themes

2015

League of Women Voters' primary voter guide

Rivas participated in the League of Women Voters of Norwalk's questionnaire for the District A Democratic primary. The questions and responses are below. The questions have been put in bold to distinguish them from Rivas' responses.

“	Why do you feel qualified to run for this position? My interest in education and working for children began in 1974 when I was employed by The Fresh Air Fund. In my role with Fresh Air Fund, I was a counselor, supervised the transportation of children, and recruited program participants. Later, I volunteered at Stepping Stone Day School in special education self-contained classrooms. I have been passionate all my life to help others and my life experiences demonstrate this. I have served on Norwalk's Board of Education since 2006. I am highly qualified to continue my service as a representative of our diverse community. I was re-elected in 2007 and 2011 by the voters of District B. During my tenure, I have served on a number of Board of Education committees: Policy, Curriculum, Finance, CES, Communications, Negotiations and Personnel, and Adult Education. The Norwalk Schools are making academic improvements. I want to continue to be a part of this important work. A recent article in THE HOUR indicated that 80% of the K-3 students achieved the district's literacy benchmarks during the 2014-15 school year. I believe, under the leadership of our superintendent, we can develop programs to support all students, at every level, to meet the district's benchmarks. On a personal note, I have two special needs children of my own. I speak fluent Spanish and can easily communicate with constituents in two languages, Spanish and English. I am very involved in the community as well as being enrolled at Norwalk Community College. 1.Effective school boards commit to a vision of high expectations for students and achievement and quality instruction and define clear goads toward that vision. List and explain at least 2-3 goals that you advocate for in the area of student achievement and quality instruction. As the incumbent Board member, I will continue to advocate for high academic achievement and quality instruction for all students. I believe that student achievement is central to our role as Board members. Improving student achievement requires strong and effective leadership; and, as a board, we must set high expectations that students will meet or exceed all standards. One goal for which I will advocate is that all instructional decisions will be based upon districtwide data and assessments. The research shows that effective school boards understand, monitor, and make decisions based on data. Through this process, decisions will be objective and not subjective. The data will inform parents about the district's progress and assist the Board in monitoring the progress in the schools. The second goal for which I will advocate is the establishment of a positive working relationship with the superintendent, teachers, staff, administrators, and the community to support high expectations for student achievement and quality instruction. It is important to establish clear goals and expectations that we all share in our respective roles. There must be strong and effective communication structures to inform and engage the community and parents. 2.Effective school boards align and sustain resources, such as professional development, to meet district goals. According to researchers, LaRocque and Coleman, effective boards saw a responsibility to maintain high standards even in the midst of budget challenges. What would you do to ensure a reasonable balance between the need to maintain high academic standard through quality programs and the need to establish spending levels that dovetail with the overall financial condition of Norwalk? The budget is one of the most comprehensive processes that the district undertakes each year. To promote the overall long-term financial stability in Norwalk, the Board must shift to "projected" budgeting. Presently, the budget is set each year and is not fully aligned with the changing district's goals and student needs. We must work at establishing budget priorities that are tied to student achievement data and allocate resources that will have the greatest impact on academic improvement. As a member of the Finance Committee, I have come to realize that we need to closely monitor the district and school budgets to assure that resources are being effectively used and distributed equitably to meet all student needs Through projected budgeting and identifying areas of need, we will attract sustaining partnerships with funders who will want to work collaboratively with the district to meet our goals. We must identify talent within the district to provide professional development to support student achievement and not always utilize providers. Our budget development and implementation must be transparent to promote trust in the Board. We need to focus on upgrading aging buildings, address advancements in technology, and offer quality professional development. Our students deserve the best learning environment.	”
—Migdalia Rivas, (September 2015)

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Migdalia Rivas' 'Norwalk Public Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Migdalia Rivas - Google News

See also

• Norwalk Public Schools, Connecticut
• Norwalk Public Schools elections (2015)

External links

Suggest a link

• Norwalk Public Schools
• Office website