Miriam Ellis
Miriam Ellis was a candidate for the District 6 seat on the Alpine School District school board in Utah. Ellis was defeated in the by-district general election on November 8, 2016.
Ellis participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
- See also: Alpine School District elections (2016)
Three of the seven seats on the Alpine School District school board were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. A primary election was held on June 28, 2016. In District 4, Mark Clement defeated Rachel Thacker for the open seat in the general election. Verlene West lost in the primary election, and Cristie Wood withdrew from the race. District 6 incumbent Scott Carlson won re-election to his seat after defeating Miriam Ellis in the general election and Karrie Wilbur in the primary election. David Cox and Chris Jones withdrew from the race. In District 7, Sara Hacken defeated Joe Rivest in the general election after defeating Kirby Glad in the primary election. John Todd Ashman dropped out of the race.[1]
Results
| Alpine School District, District 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sara Hacken |
64.75% | 8,657 |
| Joe Rivest | 35.25% | 4,713 |
| Total Votes | 13,370 | |
| Source: Utah County, Utah, "Official Results," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
| Alpine School District, District 7 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Sara Hacken |
49.16% | 1,992 |
| Joe Rivest |
25.94% | 1,051 |
| Kirby Glad | 24.90% | 1,009 |
| Total Votes | 4,052 | |
| Source: Utah County, Utah, "Election Summary Report," accessed September 26, 2016 | ||
Funding
Ellis reported $830.00 in contributions and $770.99 in expenditures to the Office of the Utah County Clerk, which left her campaign with $59.01 on hand as of November 2, 2016.[2]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Miriam Ellis participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 16, 2016:
| “ | I intend to represent parents, taxpayers, and members of our community to the school district, and not act as a spokesperson of the district to the community. This is our district and these are our schools.[3][4] | ” |
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 Utah. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| “ | Clearly, each of these issues deserve individual attention, rather than being ranked against each other. Answers are random.[4] | ” |
| —Miriam Ellis (October 16, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine 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.) |
|---|
| Yes. This is not the role of our district, but I am in favor of school choice, including charters, online, home, and private schools. Children are different from each other and sometimes thrive in non conventional environments. Parents are qualified to make these choices for their own children. |
| 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 defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. There are too many variables to student success and standardized tests offer only limited results. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I'm in favor of rejecting the standards and replacing them with basic benchmarks, allowing more flexibility within districts and classrooms. Teachers who favor Common standards may still opt to use them, but won't be required to do so. |
| 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? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. Employment decisions should be made as close to the classroom as possible, with principals taking the lead, and district intervention when necessary. Because there are different reasons for poor performance, each case should be handled individually, possibly with mentorship or training, but generally giving a probationary period while problems are identified and solved. In extreme cases, immediate termination may be necessary. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. There are too many variables to consider when evaluating teachers, many of which are out of their control. Teachers should be evaluated as locally as possible, taking all variables into account. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Private schools should be free of taxpayer funds and state requirements. Vouchers put them at risk of overreaching mandates, effectively limiting school choice, rather than expanding it. Grants and scholarships should be private. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be rare, and reserved for violations that put the student and/or others in danger. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement Parent Involvement is the most important factor for student success. Qualified, well paid teachers who are satisfied in their work environment, and appropriate student-teacher ratios are also important factors. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Miriam Ellis Alpine School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Utah County, Utah, "2016 Local School Board Candidates," accessed March 18, 2016
- ↑ Utah County Clerk's Office, "2016 Candidate Financial Disclosures," accessed November 2, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Miriam Ellis's responses," October 16, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Alpine School District Elections | |
| Utah County, Utah | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 4: Mark Clement • Rachel Thacker • Verlene West • Cristie Wood District 6: Incumbent, Scott Carlson • David Cox • Miriam Ellis • Chris Jones • Karrie Wilbur |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
