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Rowland Unified School District elections (2015)
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Two seats on the Rowland Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1][2] The seats held by incumbents Judy Nieh and Heidi L. Gallegos were on the ballot.[3]
Donna Freedman and David Malkin were elected to the two seats. They defeated Susan Hsu, Roy Humphreys and Nieh. Gallegos did not file to run for re-election.[4][5]
See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.
About the district
Rowland Unified School District is located in Los Angeles County in southwestern California. The county seat is Los Angeles.[6] Los Angeles County was home to 10,116,705 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] During the 2012-2013 school year, Rowland Unified School District was the 100th-largest school district by enrollment in California and served 15,501 students.[8]
Demographics
Los Angeles County underperformed compared to the rest of California in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 30.7 percent for California as a whole. The median household income for Los Angeles County was $55,909, compared to $61,094 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level was 17.8 percent, compared to 15.9 percent statewide.[7]
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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.
Voter and candidate information
The Rowland Unified Board of Education consists of five members elected at-large to four-year terms. Board members are elected on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. There are no primary elections. Three seats were up for election on November 5, 2013, and two seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.[1][10]
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, residents of the school district and qualified voters. They could not be employees of the school district while in office.[11] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their declaration of candidacy with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk by August 7, 2015.[12]
To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by October 19, 2015. Voters could cast vote-by-mail ballots from October 24, 2015, through Election Day.[12] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
| Judy Nieh | Donna Freedman 
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Susan Hsu | |||
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| Roy Humphreys | David Malkin
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Election results
| Rowland Unified School District, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Donna Freedman |
34.9% | 2,414 |
| David Malkin |
20.8% | 1,437 |
| Judy Nieh Incumbent | 19.2% | 1,330 |
| Susan Hsu | 15.3% | 1,060 |
| Roy Humphreys | 9.7% | 671 |
| Total Votes | 6,912 | |
| Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015 | ||
Endorsements
Challengers Donna Freedman and David Malkin were endorsed by the Association of Rowland Educators and the California School Employees Association (CSEA).[13][14]
Campaign finance
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[15][16][17]
Campaign finance reporting requirements in California vary depending on how much money candidates spend or raise. For candidates planning to raise or spend less than $1,000, an Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement Short Form (Form 470) must be filed with their county or city elections office. If candidates plan to spend up to $1,000, including their own funds, they must also file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501). "If a candidate does not raise any money and personal funds are used only to pay filing or ballot statement fees, the candidate is not required to file the Form 501," according to the Fair Political Practices Commission. If candidates raise money outside of their own funds, a separate campaign bank account must be established.[18]
Candidates raising or spending more than $1,000, including their personal funds, must file a Candidate Intention Statement (Form 501), file a Statement of Organization (Form 410) and establish a separate bank account for campaign funds. They must then file Recipient Committee Campaign Statements (Form 460) to disclose their contributions and expenditures throughout their campaigns. If they receive more than $1,000 from a single source within 90 days of the election, they must file a 24-hour Contribution Report (Form 497).[18]
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. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2013
2011On November 8, 2011, two seats on the Rowland Unified School District Board of Education were scheduled to be up for election, but the election was not held due to lack of opposition. Candidates Heidi L. Gallegos and Judy Nieh won their seats by default. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
2015
Election trends
- See also: 2013 school board elections
With two seats on the ballot on November 3, 2015, nearly half of the Rowland Unified Board of Education had the potential to change hands. One of the two incumbents ran for re-election, guaranteeing at least one newcomer would join the board. The incumbent faced four challengers, creating an average of 2.5 candidates per seat. The incumbent lost, and two newcomers were elected to the board.
Rowland Unified's 2013 school board election had an average of 2.33 candidates run per seat. Three seats were on the ballot, and two of the three incumbents ran to retain their seats. One of those incumbents won another term, and two newcomers were elected to the board.
Both the 2013 and 2015 school board elections in the Rowland Unified School District had a higher number of candidates run per seat than the 2014 state average of 1.91 candidates per seat up for election in California's largest school districts. That year, just over 25 percent of board seats in those districts were unopposed, and 37.65 percent of seats went to newcomers.
Ballotpedia survey responses
One of the five candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from challenger Donna Freedman.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Freedman stated:
| “ | My first priority will be to learn everything I can. I will ask many questions. I need to educate myself first. I am new at this.[19] | ” |
| —Donna Freedman, (2015)[20] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidate's rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||
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| Issue | Freedman's ranking | |
| Expanding arts education | ||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||
| Improving college readiness | ||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||
| Expanding school choice options | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidate's responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Rowland Unified School District election in 2015:[12][21]
| Deadline | Event |
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| June 8, 2015 - August 7, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| July 31, 2015 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 5, 2015 - November 2, 2015 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| September 7, 2015 - October 20, 2015 | Write-in candidate filing period |
| September 24, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 19, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 22, 2015 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2015 | First day voters can cast vote-by-mail ballots |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
| February 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2015
The Rowland Unified School District election shared the ballot with an election for the Division 2 seat on the Rowland Water District Board of Directors.[22]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Rowland Unified School District California. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Rowland Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “2015 Scheduled Elections,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, “Running for Office,” accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Rowland Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed January 28, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Candidate List: Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed August 11, 2015
- ↑ "Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk," "Los Angeles County Election Results: Local and Municipal Consolidated Elections November 3, 2015," accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ Geology.com, "California County Map with County Seat Cities," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Los Angeles County, California," accessed September 25, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
- ↑ Rowland Unified School District, "Board of Education: Board Elections," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ Rowland Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 7, 2015
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Calendar of Events," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Donna Freedman: Candidate for Governing Board Member; Rowland Unified School District," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ San Gabriel Valley Tribune, "Five candidates are running for Rowland Unified School District," September 9, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Fair Political Practices Commission, "Local Candidates, Superior Court Judges, Their Controlled Committees, and Primarily Formed Committees for Local Candidates: Campaign Disclosure Manual 2," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Donna Freedman responses," October 25, 2015
- ↑ Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 3, 2015," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Local And Municipal Consolidated Elections - 11/3/2015," accessed July 29, 2015
| 2015 Rowland Unified School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Judy Nieh • Donna Freedman • Susan Hsu • Roy Humphreys • David Malkin |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
