Sondra Gilbert
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Sondra Gilbert is a former member-elect for an at-large seat on the Tracy Joint Unified School District school board in California.[1] Gilbert resigned from the Tracy Joint Unified School District on September 11, 2018.[2]
Gilbert won the seat in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Gilbert participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Tracy Joint Unified School District board of trustees were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Walter Gouveia, Jill Costa, and James Vaughn Jr. faced challengers Dan Arriola and Sondra Gilbert.[3] Costa won re-election, and Gilbert and Arriola won the other seats on the ballot.[4]
Results
| Tracy Joint Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sondra Gilbert |
23.14% | 13,482 |
| Dan Arriola |
21.16% | 12,325 |
| Jill Costa Incumbent |
20.47% | 11,925 |
| James Vaughn Jr. Incumbent | 18.80% | 10,950 |
| Walter Gouveia Incumbent | 16.11% | 9,384 |
| Write-in votes | 0.33% | 191 |
| Total Votes | 58,257 | |
| Source: San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "November 8, 2016 Official Final Results," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Funding
Gilbert began the race with an existing account balance of $40.00 from her previous campaign. She reported $2,797.00 in contributions and $2,811.00 in expenditures to San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with $26.00 on hand in the election.[5]
Endorsements
Gilbert was endorsed by the Tracy Educators Association.[6]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Sondra Gilbert 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 28, 2016:
| “ | A school board has the responsibility to provide a vision for a positive school environment in which student learning, student achievement, and student success is fostered. A school board must encourage and create opportunities for open dialogue and support amongst teachers, staff, and community. A positive learning environment is an environment that allows students to thrive, flourish, and become life-long learners. But it will take a collaborative TEAM founded on trust, integrity, and accountability to build and construct that environment.[7][8] | ” |
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 California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | There is a greater need for need special education teachers.[8] | ” |
| —Sondra Gilbert (October 28, 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.) |
|---|
| No. Agree, charter school should be supported if there is a need for greater classroom innovation without the many regulations imposed by district schools. Not all students perform and achieve their best in district schools so choice is a necessity. |
| 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Yes and no. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Agree in theory if clear goals and clear expectations for both knowledge and skills occur in all classrooms. |
| 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? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Additional support and training may be needed. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Pay for performance, yes, in some circumstances but teachers excel best when they have some ownership in their school's goals, expectations, and are supported by administration. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. If a school is a low performer and has not improved the achievement gap in a number of consecutively occurring years then different interventions need to take place. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| As a last intervention |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Teachers are the heart and soul of any school but of next importance would be parental involvement. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Sondra Gilbert Tracy Joint Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Tracy Press, "TUSD trustees appoint activist to board," October 19, 2018
- ↑ Tracy Press, "TUSD trustees appoint activist to board," October 19, 2018
- ↑ San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "Contest/Candidate Proof List," accessed August 16, 2016
- ↑ San Joaquin Registrar of Voters, "Registrar of Voters Department," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters, "San Joaquin County Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 7, 2017
- ↑ Tracy Educators Association, "Announcements: School Board Endorsements," accessed October 28, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Sondra Gilbert's responses," October 28, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Tracy Joint Unified School District Elections | |
| San Joaquin County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Jill Costa • Incumbent, Walter Gouveia • Incumbent, James Vaughn Jr. • Dan Arriola • Sondra Gilbert |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
