Tustin Unified School District elections (2016)
2018 →
← 2014 |
|---|
 |
|
|
| Enrollment (13–14): |
|
|
Three of the five seats on the Tustin Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Tammie Bullard, James Laird, and Francine Pace Scinto defeated challengers Matthew Singer, Karen Twaddell, and Elias Teferi.[1][2]
Singer and Twaddell participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Tustin Unified Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Two seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and three seats were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 12, 2016. If incumbents did not file by that deadline, the filing deadline was extended for non-incumbent candidates until August 17, 2016.[4]
To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[5] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[6]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Tustin Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Tammie Bullard Incumbent |
23.81% | 23,040 |
| James Laird Incumbent |
23.05% | 22,304 |
| Francine Pace Scinto Incumbent |
22.93% | 22,190 |
| Matthew Singer | 11.74% | 11,361 |
| Karen Twaddell | 11.67% | 11,296 |
| Elias Teferi | 6.78% | 6,563 |
| Total Votes | 96,754 | |
| Source: Orange County Registrar of Voters, "2016 Presidential General Election Official Results for Election," accessed December 7, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Tammie Bullard 
|
James Laird
|
Francine Pace Scinto
| |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Matthew Singer | Elias Teferi | Karen Twaddell | |||
|
|
|
|
|||
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with a number of statewide ballot measures as well as elections for the following offices:[7][8]
|
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[9][10]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| August 1, 2016 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
| August 10, 2016 - November 8, 2016 | 24-hour campaign contribution reporting period |
| August 12, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| August 17, 2016 | Extended filing deadline for non-incumbent candidates for open seats |
| September 29, 2016 | First pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 24, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 27, 2016 | Second pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 8, 2016 | Election Day |
| January 31, 2017 | Semi-annual campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
The Democratic Party of Orange County endorsed challenger Matthew Singer.[11] The Tustin Educators Association endorsed incumbents Tammie Bullard, James Laird, and Francine Pace Scinto.[12] The community organization Evolve also endorsed Singer as well as challenger Karen Twaddell.[13]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates in this race were required to file two pre-election reports. The first was due on September 29, 2016, and the second was due on October 27, 2016. If candidates received more than $1,000 from a single source between August 10, 2016, and November 8, 2016, they had to file a campaign finance report within 24 hours of receiving the contribution.[10]
Candidates who did not raise or spend more than $2,000 on their campaigns had to file an exemption form by September 29, 2016. They did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[10]
Candidates who had a remaining balance from previous campaigns or who had raised or spent money on their campaigns prior to the candidate filing deadline had to file a semi-annual campaign finance report by August 1, 2016. The next semi-annual campaign finance report was due January 31, 2017.[10]
Reports
Candidates received a total of $1,604.73 and spent a total of $1,281.99 as of November 1, 2016, according to the Orange County Registrar of Voters.[14]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tammie Bullard | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| James Laird | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Francine Pace Scinto | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Matthew Singer | $1,604.73 | $1,281.99 | $322.74 |
| Elias Teferi | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Karen Twaddell | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014
2012
2010
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
|
|
Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from challengers Matthew Singer and Karen Twaddell.
Hope to achieve
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Singer stated:
| “ | I want to work with parents and the community to ensure Tustin students receive the world-class education they deserve. I want to ensure our students are prepared for the workforce of the global economy and have the tools to be college-ready. If elected, I’ll diligently work toward retaining and recruiting highly qualified teachers, developing and supporting academic initiatives that will prepare our children for rigors of high school and higher education. As your trustee, I will work to ensure our taxpayer dollars are spent directly in the classroom, reduce class sizes, and expand after-school programs.[15] | ” |
| —Matthew Singer (October 30, 2016)[16] | ||
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Twaddell stated:
| “ | If elected, I hope to ensure that all children in this school district have a chance to succeed. Every child can, but at their own level and at their own pace, and it is up to the school district to make sure such progress takes place for all children. The goal is to make students as fully functional in all areas as they can be by the time they reach adulthood, and it is sometimes very difficult for teachers to reach all levels. So that begs the question-how can the district help all teachers help all students? It seems that one of the responsibilities of the school board would be to make sure that all steps to reach this goal take place, within the confines of curriculum, training,standards, and any other areas that will lead to student progress-for all students.[15] | ” |
| —Karen Twaddell (September 16, 2016)[17] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were 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 their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Singer's ranking | Twaddell's ranking | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
About the district
The Tustin Unified School District is located in Orange County in southern California. The county seat is Santa Ana. Orange County was home to 3,169,776 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[18] The district was the 52nd-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 23,949 students.[19]
Demographics
Orange County outperformed California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 37.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31 percent of state residents. The median household income for Orange County was $75,998, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 12.9 percent, while it was 16.4 percent statewide.[18]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Tustin Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Tustin Unified School District | California | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filing Log," accessed August 15, 2016
- ↑ Orange County, "Orange County Unofficial Results for Election," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Tustin Unified School District, "Board of Education 2016," accessed August 11, 2016
- ↑ California Elections Code, “Part 5, Section 10600-10604: School District And Community College District Governing Board Elections,” accessed June 15, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "California Online Voter Registration," accessed June 13, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filing Log," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Measures Appearing on the Ballot," accessed September 23, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 8, 2016," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ Democratic Party of Orange County, "Democratic Party of Orange County Official Endorsements for The November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "CTA Locally Endorsed Candidates," September 28, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Orange County Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed November 1, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Matthew Singer's responses," October 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Karen Twaddell's responses," September 16, 2016
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 United States Census Bureau, "Orange County, California," accessed July 19, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Orange County Registrar of Voters, "Election Results Archive," accessed July 11, 2014
| 2016 Tustin Unified School District Elections | |
| Orange County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Tammie Bullard • Incumbent, James Laird • Incumbent, Francine Pace Scinto • Matthew Singer • Elias Teferi • Karen Twaddell |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
