Wendy Jonathan

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Wendy Jonathan
Image of Wendy Jonathan
Prior offices
Desert Sands Unified School District school board Trustee Area 1

Contact

Wendy Jonathan is the Trustee Area 1 representative on the Desert Sands Unified Board of Education in California. She was first elected to the board on November 6, 2012.[1] Jonathan won re-election in the general election on November 8, 2016.[2]

Jonathan participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.

Elections

2016

See also: Desert Sands Unified School District elections (2016)

Three of the five seats on the Desert Sands Unified School District Board of Education were up for by district general election on November 8, 2016. This election finalized the district's switch to using by-district elections, which was started in 2014. Because of the switch, two incumbents—Wendy Jonathan and Matt Monica—faced off for the Trustee Area 1 seat. In his bid for re-election to Trustee Area 3, incumbent Gary Tomak ran against challengers Christin Castellanos and Robert Sylk. The Trustee Area 4 seat was left open for a newcomer when both Jonathan and Monica filed for the Trustee Area 1 seat. The race for the seat featured candidates Cheryll Dahlin and Linda Porras.[2]

Results

Desert Sands Unified School District,
Trustee Area 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Wendy Jonathan Incumbent 57.65% 6,438
Matt Monica Incumbent 42.35% 4,730
Total Votes 11,168
Source: Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated Presidential Election Official Results," accessed December 2, 2016

Funding

See also: Campaign finance in the Desert Sands Unified School District election

Jonathan began the race with an existing account balance of $2,459.00 from her previous campaign. She reported $12,999.00 in contributions and $12,217.00 in expenditures to Riverside County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with $782.00 on hand in the election.[3]

Endorsements

Jonathan was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[4][5][6][7][8]

2012

Desert Sands Unified School District,
At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngWendy Jonathan 19.9% 23,240
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngGary Tomak 14.3% 16,667
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngMatt Monica Incumbent 14.2% 16,602
     Nonpartisan Robert Wright 9.4% 10,925
     Nonpartisan James Garrett Koedyker 10.3% 12,000
     Nonpartisan Clark McCartney 11.2% 13,033
     Nonpartisan D.J. Risk 8.7% 10,119
     Nonpartisan Scott A. Baily 12.2% 14,202
Total Votes 116,788
Source: Riverside County Registrar of Voters, "Consolidated Presidential Election: November 6, 2012," accessed July 17, 2014

Campaign themes

2017

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey
School Boards-Survey Graphic-no drop shadow.png

Wendy Jonathan participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[9] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 19, 2017:

Continue to engage stakeholders and look at creative ways of engaging our students.[10][11]
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
Education Policy Logo on Ballotpedia.png

Click here to learn more about education policy in California.
Education on the ballot
Issue importance ranking
Candidate's ranking Issue
1
Expanding arts education
2
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
3
Closing the achievement gap
4
Blank
5
Blank
6
Blank
7
Blank
Making sure that every student has the opportunity to succeed. This requires looking at the budget and student services.[11]
—Wendy Jonathan (September 19, 2017)
Positions on the issues

The candidate was asked to answer eight 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.
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 always defer to school board decisions.
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?
No.
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.
Should teachers receive merit pay?
Yes.
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program?
No.
How should expulsion be used in the district?
Expulsion should always be the last resort.
What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration?
The curriculum.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Wendy Jonathan' 'Desert Sands Unified School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External links

Footnotes