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Vallejo City Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the five seats on the Vallejo City Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Two of the seats were up for election to four-year terms, and the third seat was up for election to a two-year term due to an appointment on the board. No incumbents filed to run for the four-year terms, guaranteeing at least two newcomers were elected to the board. The race for the two open seats featured candidates Melissa Bandong Bowman, Susan Burton, John Fox, Marianne Kearney-Brown, Bob Lawson, Jeanette McCree-Goudeau, and Chidale O'Hara. Kearney-Brown and Lawson won election to the seats. In his bid for re-election to a two-year term, incumbent Ruscal Cayangyang defeated challenger Hazel Wilson.[1][2][3]
Bowman and Lawson participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Vallejo City 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. Three seats were up for election on November 4, 2014, and three seats—two four-year terms and one two-year term—were up for election on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.[4]
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. In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the Vallejo City Unified Board of Education. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[5][6]
To vote in this election, residents of the school district had to register by October 24, 2016.[7] Photo identification was not required to vote in this election.[8]
Candidates and results
At-large (4-year terms)
Results
| Vallejo City Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Marianne Kearney-Brown |
25.82% | 17,807 |
| Bob Lawson |
20.06% | 13,833 |
| John Fox | 18.70% | 12,895 |
| Melissa Bandong Bowman | 11.34% | 7,821 |
| Jeanette McCree-Goudeau | 9.85% | 6,791 |
| Chidale O'Hara | 8.23% | 5,678 |
| Susan Burton | 5.72% | 3,943 |
| Write-in votes | 0.28% | 196 |
| Total Votes | 68,964 | |
| Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Final Official Results," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Melissa Bandong Bowman | Susan Burton | John Fox | |||
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Marianne Kearney-Brown 
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Bob Lawson
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| Jeanette McCree-Goudeau | Chidale O'Hara | ||
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At-large (2-year term)
Results
| Vallejo City Unified School District, At-large General Election, 2-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Ruscal Cayangyang Incumbent |
55.76% | 22,039 |
| Hazel Wilson | 43.76% | 17,296 |
| Write-in votes | 0.48% | 188 |
| Total Votes | 39,523 | |
| Source: Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Final Official Results," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Ruscal Cayangyang
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Hazel Wilson | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The district's school board election shared the ballot with a ballot measure for Vallejo, three ballot measures for Solano County, and a number of statewide ballot measures. It also shared the ballot with elections for the following offices:[9][10]
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Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[11][12]
| 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 Solano County endorsed candidate John Fox, and the Green Party of California endorsed incumbent Ruscal Cayangyang.[13][14] The community organization Evolve endorsed Melissa Bandong Bowman, Susan Burton, Bob Lawson, and Chidale O'Hara.[15]
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.[12]
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.[12]
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.[12]
Reports
At the time of this election, the Solano County Registrar of Voters did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staff directly requested this information, but the county did not provide it.
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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
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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 Melissa Bandong Bowman and Bob Lawson.
Hope to achieve
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Bowman stated:
| “ | My plan is to make our district one where families move to to send their students to school. Specifically, at the eend of my four year term we will earn six-year accreditation at all of our schools, work our facilities master plan to ensure safe and attractive campuses, and involve our parents, grandparents and guardians through outreach efforts.[16] | ” |
| —Melissa Bandong Bowman (October 29, 2016)[17] | ||
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Lawson stated:
| “ | Replace the superintendent if she continues policies that have been disastrous in our district.[16] | ” |
| —Bob Lawson (October 28, 2016)[18] | ||
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 | ||||
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| Issue | Bowman's ranking | Lawson'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 Vallejo City Unified School District is located in Solano County in central California. The county seat is Fairfield. Solano County was home to 436,092 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[19] The district was the 105th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 15,080 students.[20]
Demographics
Solano County underperformed compared to California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 24.3 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 Solano County was $67,341, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 12.3 percent, compared to 16.4 percent statewide.
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Vallejo City Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Vallejo City Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filed Log (On The Ballot) - November 8, 2016 General Election As Of 08/22/2016," accessed August 23, 2016
- ↑ Vallejo City Unified School District, "Meet Our Board," accessed July 12, 2016
- ↑ Solano County, "2016 GENERAL ELECTION," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Vallejo City Unified School District, "Meet Our Board," accessed August 12, 2016
- ↑ Vallejo City Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 12, 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
- ↑ Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Notice of Measures," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Candidate Filed Log," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 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 Solano County, "2016 General Endorsements," accessed October 16, 2016
- ↑ Green Party in California, "Greens in fall 2016 elections," August 16, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 13, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Melissa Bandong Bowman's responses," October 29, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Bob Lawson's responses," October 28, 2016
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 United States Census Bureau, "Solano County, California," accessed August 11, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Solano County Registrar of Voters, "Election Results and Files," accessed July 18, 2014
