Suzanne Seymour

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Suzanne Seymour
Image of Suzanne Seymour
Prior offices
Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District school board At-large

Education

Bachelor's

University of Southern California

Contact

Suzanne Seymour (Republican Party) was a member of the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District school board At-large in California. Seymour assumed office in 2015. Seymour left office in 2022.

Seymour (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District school board At-large in California. Seymour won in the general election on November 3, 2015.

Biography

Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography.

Seymour received her B.A. from USC in 1988. She was in the Business School's Entrepreneur Program and studied programming and data processing in the School of Engineering. She is the block captain of her neighborhood watch.[1]

Elections

2015

See also: Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District elections (2015)

Opposition

Two of the five at-large seats on the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[2][3] The seats held by incumbents Larry Vanden Bos and Linda Reid were on the ballot.[4]

Vanden Bos did not file to run for re-election, which left a seat open to a newcomer. In her bid to win another term, Reid faced three challengers: Dawn Lenzie, Barry Rondinella and Suzanne Seymour.[5] Reid won her bid for re-election, and Seymour won the open seat.[6]

Results

Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, At-large, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Linda Reid Incumbent 31.8% 4,015
Green check mark transparent.png Suzanne Seymour 30.9% 3,893
Barry Rondinella 23.3% 2,934
Dawn Lenzie 14.1% 1,775
Total Votes 12,617
Source: Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "NOVEMBER 03, 2015 - LOCAL AND MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATED ELECTIONS: Final Official Election Returns," accessed November 24, 2015

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District election

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.[7][8][9]

The first campaign finance reporting deadline was September 24, 2015, and the second one was October 22, 2015. If candidates raised or spent more than $1,000 from a single source, including their own funds, between August 5, 2015, and November 2, 2015, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours.[10]

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If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.

Endorsements

Seymour was endorsed by Craig Huey from Election Forum.[11]

Campaign themes

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

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See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey

Seymour participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:

Improving district communication with parents is my top priority. In addition, ensuring resources are directed to the classroom; safeguarding student privacy, and focusing on individual academic proficiency are very important.[12]
—Suzanne Seymour (2015)[13]
Ranking the issues

Seymour 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 her rankings from most to least important:

Education policy
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Click here to learn more about education policy in California.
Education on the ballot
Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking Issue
1
Closing the achievement gap
2
Expanding school choice options
3
Expanding arts education
4
Expanding career-technical education
5
Improving education for special needs students
6
Improving college readiness
7
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
Positions on the issues

Seymour 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
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?
"Modifications are required before they are implemented."
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?
"No"
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?
"No"
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?
"Yes"
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?
"Ensure high quality teachers are in every classroom."
How should expulsion be used in the district?
"Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?
"We do not have any failing schools."
Do you support merit pay for teachers?
"No"
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?
"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?
"Board members need opportunities other than board meetings to interact with parents and other members of the community."

See also

External links

Footnotes