Modesto City Schools elections (2013)

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2013 Modesto City Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 5, 2013
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
California Modesto City Schools Stanislaus County, California ballot measures Local ballot measures, California

Five seats on the school board for Modesto City Schools were up for district wide elections held on November 5, 2013. Four full term seats were on the ballot as well as an election for an unexpired short term. Sue Zwahlen, Cindy Marks, David Allan and Ruben A. Villalobos defeated Brett McBay and Michael Scheid for four at-large seats. Jordan Dickson defeated three challenging candidates for one short-term seat.

About the district

Modesto City Schools is located in Stanislaus County, California in Modesto, California. According to the 2010 Census, it is home to 201,165 residents.

Demographics

Modesto underperforms the rest of California when measured on the basis of median household income, percentage of residents living below the poverty level, percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a high school diploma, and percentage of residents over the age of 25 with a bachelor's degree. The median household income in Modesto was $49,852 compared to $61,632 for the state of California. 18.7% of Modesto residents aged 25 years and older attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.2% in California. The United States Census also showed the poverty rate in Modesto was 18.5% compared to 14.4% for the entire state. The United States Census also found that 79.4% of Modesto residents aged 25 years and older attained a high school degree compared to a 92.3% in California.

Racial Demographics, 2012
Race	Modesto (%)	California (%)
White	65.0	57.6
Black or African American	4.2	6.2
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.2	1.0
Asian	6.7	13.0
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	1.0	0.4
Two or More Races	6.3	4.9
Hispanic or Latino	35.5	37.6

Party Affiliation, 2013
Party	Registered Voters	% of Total
Democratic	92,788	40.02
Republican	90,002	38.82
Green	698	0.30
Libertarian	1,144	0.49
American Independent	6,442	2.78
Peace and Freedom	682	0.29
Unaffiliated	37,663	16.24
Other	2,437	1.05

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Method of board member selection

Modesto City Schools School Board consists of seven members, all of whom are elected to four year terms. All board members represent the district at large. Board member terms are staggered so that at least three members, but no more than four are to be elected each odd numbered year on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November. There are no primary elections. Four seats were up for election on November 5, 2013 as well as an unexpired short term seat. The three remaining seats were up for election on November 3, 2015.

At-large

• David Allan
  • Businessman

• Cindy Marks
  • Incumbent school board member

• Brett McBay
  • Businessman

• Michael Scheid
  • Attorney

• Ruben A. Villalobos
  • Incumbent school board member

• Sue Zwahlen
  • Registered nurse

Short term

• Jordan Dickson
  • Brand marketer

• Fabiola Garcia
  • Nutrition outreach assistant

• Charlie Grom
  • Lieutenant sheriff

• Dean Smeltzer
  • Family services specialist

Election results

On November 5, 2013, candidates Sue Zwahlen, Cindy Marks, David Allan and Ruben A. Villalobos defeated two challenging candidates for four seats on the Modesto City Schools Board of Education.

Modesto City Schools Board of Education, At-large General Election,, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Sue Zwahlen	22.4%	18,004
	Nonpartisan	Cindy Marks Incumbent	18.4%	14,747
	Nonpartisan	Ruben A. Villalobos Incumbent	16.6%	13,296
	Nonpartisan	David Allan	16.3%	13,124
	Nonpartisan	Brett McBay	14.7%	11,819
	Nonpartisan	Michael D. "Mike" Scheid	11.6%	9,348
Total Votes				80,338
Source: Stanislaus County Elections:, "Governing Board Member; Modesto City Schools" accessed December 13, 2013

Jordan Dickson defeated three challenging candidates for one short term seat on the Modesto City Schools Board of Education.

Modesto City Schools Board of Education, Short term seat General Election,, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Jordan Dickson	40.5%	10,082
	Nonpartisan	Charlie Grom	35.3%	8,782
	Nonpartisan	Dean Smeltzer	13.1%	3,255
	Nonpartisan	Fabiola Garcia	11.1%	2,768
Total Votes				24,887
Source: Stanislaus County Elections:, "Governing Board Member; Modesto City Schools" accessed December 13, 2013

Endorsements

Brett McBay received official endorsements from Congressman Jeff Denham, CA Assembly member Kristen Olsen and Stanislaus County Sheriff Adam Christianson.

Michael Scheid was endorsed by the Modesto Bee and the Modesto Police Officers Association.

Campaign finance

The Stanislaus County Clerk Recorder's Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2011 Modesto City Schools Board of Education, At-large General Election,, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Cathy Flores Hallinan 16.1% 11,205      Nonpartisan Steven Grenbeaux 14.6% 10,128      Nonpartisan Amy Elliott Neumann 12.7% 8,812      Nonpartisan Solange G. Altman 12.6% 8,789      Nonpartisan Mylinda Mason 11.4% 7,903      Nonpartisan Josh Vander Veen 9.6% 6,691      Nonpartisan Bill Mussman 9.4% 6,565      Nonpartisan Rickey McGill 8.2% 5,724      Nonpartisan Brian Du Bois 5.3% 3,707 Total Votes 69,524 Source: Smart Voter.org, "Governing Board Member; Modesto City Schools Voter Information" accessed October 4, 2013

What was at stake?

Four full term seats and one short term seat are up for election on November 5, 2013, including the seats of the President and Board Clerk. Three incumbent members filed for re-election, Ruben A. Villalobos, Sue Zwahlen and Cindy Marks.

Issues

Increasing security resources

The Modesto City School Board discussed increasing school security by possibly hiring private security officers in order to offset the decrease in school resource officers from the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Department. The district has also applied for a federal grant to provide them with funding to hire four police officers to serve in Modesto City High Schools. The district has renewed their contract with the Modesto Police Department to provide four officers that serve the district as school resource officers. The district received widespread attention earlier in the year when a fourth grade student produced a "kill list" of their classmates.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Modesto City Schools election in 2013:

Deadline	Event
July 15, 2013	First day to file a petition of candidacy
August 9, 2013	Close of filing period for petition of candidacy
October 21, 2013	Last day to register to vote in school election
October 29, 2013	Final day to apply to vote by mail
November 5, 2013	Election Day

Additional elections on the ballot

The ballot for the November 5, 2013 election in Stanislaus County also featured elections for local and municipal positions, such as elections for City Council and Irrigation Districts.

See also

• California school board elections draw over 200 candidates
• School board elections review: Voters opt for experience over new blood in nation's largest school districts
• School board election wrap-up: Incumbents re-elected overwhelmingly in November 5 elections
• California
• Ceres Unified School District, California
• List of school board elections in 2013
• Stanislaus County, California ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, California

External links

Suggest a link

• District page
• Stanislaus County website