Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Stephen Clayton
 |
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates. |
Stephen "Steve" J. Clayton was a candidate for District 3 representative on the Seattle Board of Directors in Washington. Clayton was defeated in the primary election on August 4, 2015.[1]
Clayton emphasized increased transparency in board communication as a primary goal in his campaign. He was also vocally opposed to "mega schools," which he defined as schools with more than 600 students. "We are loosing [sic] our small neighborhood schools causing traffic problems, pollution, decrease open space and decrease walkability," Clayton stated in his responses to Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey.
The 2015 board elections drew increased competition as the district wrestled legislative attempts to reform the district's board and size. Meanwhile, local teacher protests were part of the statewide discourse on education funding.
Biography
Clayton is a healthcare educator with a B.A. in human services management from Western Washington University and an A.S. in applied science from Highline Community College. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.[2]
Elections
2015
- See also: Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)
Four of the seven seats on the Seattle Board of Directors were up for election in 2015. Because more than two candidates filed for the District 3 and 6 seats, a primary election was held on August 4, 2015. The top two vote recipients in those races and the candidates for District 1 and 2 appeared on the general election ballot on November 3, 2015.
District 1 incumbent Sharon Peaslee, District 2 incumbent Sherry Carr, District 3 incumbent Harium Martin-Morris and District 6 incumbent Marty McLaren were up for re-election, but only McLaren filed to run for another term.[1]
The race for District 6 was the most competitive in 2015. Incumbent Marty McLaren faced challengers Leslie Harris and Nick Esparza in the primary. Harris and McLaren advanced to the general election, but the primary election results and campaign finance indicated a difficult general election race for the incumbent. McLaren placed second in the primary, more than 10 points behind Harris. As of campaign finance reports available on October 21, 2015, Harris had raised more than four times McLaren's campaign contributions and outspent her by a factor of almost seven. Harris defeated McLaren in the general election.
District 3 saw four candidates seeking the open seat: Lauren McGuire, David Blomstrom, Stephen Clayton and Jill Geary. Geary and McGuire advanced to the general election, garnering over $100,000 in combined campaign contributions as of October 21, 2015. Geary won the general election.
The District 1 and 2 seats saw just two candidates advance to the ballot each. Michael Christophersen and Scott Pinkham vied for the District 1 seat, while Laura Obara Gramer and Rick Burke ran for the District 2 seat.[1] Pinkham and Burke won election to the board.
Multiple candidates withdrew from their races prior to the deadline. Therefore, they did not appear on the ballot. Arik Korman withdrew from the District 1 race, Julie McCleery and Deborah Leblang withdrew from the District 2 race and Suzanne Sutton withdrew from the District 6 race.[1]
Results
| Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors, District 3 Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jill Geary |
47.5% | 8,237 |
| Lauren McGuire |
45.9% | 7,966 |
| Stephen Clayton | 5.1% | 889 |
| David Blomstrom | 1.1% | 194 |
| Write-in votes | 0.37% | 65 |
| Total Votes | 17,351 | |
| Source: King County Elections, "Primary Election Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 3," accessed August 20, 2015 | ||
Funding
Clayton reported no contributions or expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission as of October 21, 2015.[3]
Endorsements
Clayton received no official endorsements as of July 21, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Clayton participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | My top priority would be to open a clear transparent line of communication with students, parents and the public to regain the trust of these groups. Right now the school board is not transparent and appears to be making decisions without much communicatin with the public.[4] | ” |
| —Stephen Clayton (2015)[5] | ||
Clayton provided this additional statement with his responses:
| “ | I do not agree with the building so called mega schools (greater than 600 students0. We are loosing our small neighborhood schools causing traffic problems, pollution, decrease open space and decrease walkability.
The other issue with this model that I feel is important is that the students quality of education will decrease setting up a much lower standard of success.[4] |
” |
| —Stephen Clayton (2015)[5] | ||
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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Washington. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Modifications are required before they are implemented. | |
| No | |
| No | |
| No | |
| We need to stop third party uniform testing and look for ways to assess the whole student including environment, culture etc. We can set individual standards that the student desires not the school district. When individual standards are set with each student follow up communication can be achieved to make sure that the student is working toward the goals that are set. | |
| Practices such as positive behavior strategies should be used before expulsion is considered. | |
| The school board should be evaluating and communicating with the Superintendent to find ways to improve a school's performance. If the Superintendent is working closely with the school board there should not be any surprises.
The first priority is to work with the Superintendent to establish clear goals and expectations and to have a clear plan of action. | |
| Yes | |
| All options should be on the table to improve teacher performance. The last resort is termination. I feel we need all the resources available for our students. | |
| We need total transparency. We need to remember that as a school board director one of our main duties is tot listen to the voters and openly communicate with the community. We work for the voters to make sure that students achieve all their potential |
Primary election voters' pamphlet
Clayton provided the following statement for the King County local voters' pamphlet for the election on August 4, 2015:
| “ | I am a Vietnam Era Veteran, having served in the United States Navy.
I have lived in the Wedgwood Neighborhood with my wife and son for 35 years. Both my wife and I attended public schools. As a school board member, I will take action on education issues. I believe my common-sense approach can help decrease over-testing for teacher competence and student success. We need to communicate on a one-to-one basis, setting reachable and reasonable goals for student and teacher success. Obesity is a preventable epidemic. We cannot pit recess versus lunch. We must promote basic nutrition and more activity. We cannot allow companies to promote bad products in our schools, even though the temptation is there to make money. Mega elementary schools have a negative effect on neighborhoods and students. The loss of small neighborhood schools causes students to be drawn from other areas, eliminating walkability, worsening traffic, increasing pollution and adversely affecting student learning. I have worked in the healthcare field for over 25 years with experience in patient care, home care, trauma and education, including nonprofit and profit organizations, managing two hospital respiratory departments. I have also managed two successful businesses in the Greater Seattle area, gaining invaluable experience in managing people as well as all aspects of building and running successful organizations. Supporter Trena Harmon says, "As part of the Native American community, I have appreciated Steve Clayton's support in efforts to try to restore, not demolish, Indian Heritage School at Wilson Pacific."[4] |
” |
| —Stephen Clayton (2015)[2] | ||
Seattle Channel video
SeattleChannel21, "Seattle School Board Director District No. 3: Stephen J. Clayton," July 15, 2015 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Stephen Clayton Seattle+Public+Schools School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Seattle Public Schools, Washington
- Seattle Public Schools elections (2015)
- Bellingham primary undecided: Washington August 4 school board results (August 11, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 King County Elections, "2015 Official Candidate Filing," accessed May 26, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 King County Elections, "King County Local Voters' Pamphlet: August 4, 2015 Primary And Special Election School, Seattle School District No. 1 Director District No. 3," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Search the Database," accessed October 21, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Stephen Clayton's responses," accessed July 16, 2015
| 2015 Seattle Public Schools Elections | |
| King County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary - August 4, 2015
General - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 1 : Michael Christophersen • Scott Pinkham
District 2 : Laura Obara Gramer • Rick Burke
|
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
