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Yuba City Unified School District elections (2016)
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Three of the seven seats on the Yuba City Unified School District Governing Board were up for by-district general election on November 8, 2016. The race for the two Trustee Area 1 seats featured incumbent John Amarel and challengers Sean Fetters, Brett Hancock, Heidi Smyth, and Richard Snyder. Fetters and Hancock won the seats. In Trustee Area 2, incumbent Herbert Cooley was defeated by challenger Julie Ann Jackson.[1][2][3][4]
A recall effort was started in July 2016 against the four school board members who were not up for election in 2016. Recall supporters thought the school board had taken too long to come to an agreement with the Yuba City Teachers Association over teacher compensation negotiations. An agreement was reached after teachers went on strike for seven days. Recall supporters also did not agree with the board's decision to hire Superintendent Nancy Aaberg's replacement without opening the position or looking for external candidates, despite Aaberg's assurance that the board's choice was the best leader for the job.
- See also: Issues in the district
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Yuba City Unified Governing Board consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held by district on a staggered basis every November of even-numbered years. Four 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.[5]
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.[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
Trustee Area 1 (two seats)
Results
| Yuba City Unified School District, Trustee Area 1 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sean Fetters |
30.75% | 11,620 |
| Brett Hancock |
26.27% | 9,927 |
| Heidi Smyth | 19.87% | 7,506 |
| John Amarel Incumbent | 13.64% | 5,153 |
| Richard Snyder | 9.24% | 3,492 |
| Write-in votes | 0.22% | 85 |
| Total Votes | 37,783 | |
| Source: Sutter County Election Department, "Official Presidential General Election Results November 8, 2016," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| John Amarel | Sean Fetters 
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Brett Hancock
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| Heidi Smyth | Richard Snyder | ||
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Trustee Area 2
Results
| Yuba City Unified School District, Trustee Area 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Julie Ann Jackson |
64.85% | 14,079 |
| Herbert Cooley Incumbent | 34.10% | 7,402 |
| Write-in votes | 1.05% | 228 |
| Total Votes | 21,709 | |
| Source: Sutter County Election Department, "Official Presidential General Election Results November 8, 2016," accessed December 5, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Herbert Cooley | Julie Ann Jackson
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2016
The school district's election shared the ballot with a number of statewide ballot measures and elections for the following offices:[9]
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Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for California school board elections in 2016:[10][11]
| 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 Yuba City Teachers Association endorsed Trustee Area 1 challengers Sean Fetters and Brett Hancock and Trustee Area 2 challenger Julie Ann Jackson.[12]
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.[11]
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.[11]
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.[11]
Reports
At the time of this election, the Sutter County Elections Office did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staff directly requested this information, but the county would not provide the reports.[13]
Past elections
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Trustee Area 3
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What was at stake?
2016
Issues in the district
Teachers strike
After a year of compensation negotiations, teachers in the Yuba City Unified School District went on a seven-day strike starting on September 8, 2016, after the Yuba City Teachers Association rejected the district's most recent compensation offer. The union requested a 13 percent pay increase for teachers in order to bring compensation levels closer to the state's average. The average teacher salary for the district during the 2014-2015 school year was $64,165, while the average for the state during that school year was $74,090.[14][15]
"Thirteen percent is beyond what the budget can survive,” said Yuba City Unified Superintendent Nancy Aaberg. Yuba City Teachers Association President Dina Luetgens, however, said that administrators in the district were paid above the state average. “If the superintendent and the school board think their disrespectful actions towards teachers will have no consequences, then we have news for them,” said Luetgens.[14]
Officials in the district did say they were prepared for the strike. They had 700 substitute teachers on standby before the strike began.[14] The district also offered substitute teachers nearly triple their usual pay. Instead of the typical $125 per day, the district offered $330 per day, in addition to mileage if a substitute worked more than 30 miles from the district. A regular teacher in the district made an average of $366 per day. Luetgens said the district's high-pay offer to substitutes during the strike highlighted officials' unwillingness to invest in teachers.[16]
After striking for two days, district officials and union officials met in a 16-hour session on September 10, 2016, but no deal was reached. The district offered an 11.1 percent pay increase over a two-year period, and the union offered a 15 percent pay increase over a three-year period. Both offers were rejected, and the strike continued on September 12, 2016.[17]
The Yuba City Unified School District website published a statement after the discussion failed that said: "We are deeply disappointed that these talks did not result in an agreement or bring an end to this teachers strike."[17]
Krista Smith, a Yuba City Unified teacher who went on strike, said the district's offer was rejected because the proposed raise increase came with an increase in hours. A portion of the raise was also subject to the district's funding.[17]
The two parties came to an agreement on September 19, 2016, and the teachers ended their strike after seven days. The agreement included an 11.1 percent raise over three years.[18][19] It also gave educators more of a say with the district's Local Control Accountability Plan and more influence over how collaboration days would be used.[20]
Recall effort
An effort to recall four of the seven members on the Yuba City Unified School District Governing Board was started in July 2016, but petitions were not filed by the deadline.[21] Recall supporters targeted Board President Lonetta Riley and her fellow members Steven Scriven, Paul Broughton, and Fred Northern during teacher compensation negotiations. The Yuba City Teachers Association wanted pay raises for teachers, but the governing board said the district did not have the funds for teacher salaries that the union was requesting.[22]
An agreement was not reached until teachers went on strike for seven days in September 2016. Proponents of the recall said board members had created "an increasingly negative and hostile environment." Riley, however, said the board had tried to resolve issues "in a fair and equitable manner." Recall supporters also did not agree with the board's decision to hire Superintendent Nancy Aaberg's replacement without opening the position or looking for external candidates, despite Aaberg's assurance that the board's choice was the best leader for the job. Recall supporters had to turn in petitions by December 9, 2016, to get the recall on the ballot in 2017, but they were unable to meet that deadline.[21][22][23][24]
Superintendent announces resignation
In May 2016, Yuba City Unified Superintendent Nancy Aaberg announced that she would retire in November 2016. After receiving the news, the board unanimously approved a transition plan for her retirement. Instead of searching for outside candidates, the board appointed Deputy Superintendent of Educational Services Doreen Osumi as Aaberg's replacement.[24]
Osumi had worked with Aaberg since 2006. "From the time I got here, I worked closely with Nancy," Osumi said. "It's been nice for me having a mentor throughout my career at (YCUSD), so I understand the role of superintendent and the complexity of it in a district like ours."[24]
Aaberg approved of the board's appointment. "We're not going to find leadership outside of the district that exceeds the leadership (Osumi) demonstrated," she said. "She's absolutely the best candidate."[24]
Some community members, however, were not pleased with the decision to hire internally. In their notice of recall, leaders of the 2016 effort said Osumi had "no notable classroom or site leadership experience."[23]
Candidate survey
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About the district
The Yuba City Unified School District is located in Sutter County in north-central California. The county seat is Yuba City. Sutter County was home to 96,463 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[25] The district was the 122nd-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 13,401 students.[26]
Demographics
Sutter 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 18.5 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 Sutter County was $51,527, compared to $61,489 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 15.2 percent, while it was 16.4 percent statewide.[25]
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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 'Yuba City Unified School District' 'California'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Yuba City Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "Where local races stand after Friday filing deadline," August 13, 2016
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "It’s official: Filing closed for all races," August 18, 2016
- ↑ Sutter County Election Department, "Candidates Contact List," September 2, 2016
- ↑ Sutter County, "Unofficial Presidential General Election Results November 8, 2016," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Yuba City Unified School District, "YCUSD Governing Board," 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
- ↑ Sutter County Elections Department, "Candidates Contact List For The Presidential General Election November 8, 2016," accessed September 26, 2016
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "November 8, 2016, General Election Calendar," accessed July 27, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 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
- ↑ Yuba City Teachers Association, "Home," accessed October 28, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Paula Smart, Sutter County Elections," October 6, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 KCRA 3, "Yuba City teacher: Strike is 'only option we have left,'" September 7, 2016
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "YCUSD teachers seek raise amid revenue rise," November 3, 2015
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "District has substitutes ready should strike happen," August 27, 2016
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 KCRA 3, "Yuba City teachers strike continues, offer rejected," September 12, 2016
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Yuba City teachers return to work after 7-day strike," September 19, 2016
- ↑ Yuba City Unified School District, "Press Release Post - YCTA Ratification," September 19, 2016
- ↑ Appeal-Democrat, "Moving forward after the strike," September 24, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Sutter County Elections," December 12, 2016
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 appealdemocrat.com, "Yuba City school district recall moves forward, but not in time for November general election," July 8, 2016
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 My Public Notices, "TO: PAUL BROUGHTON," July 19, 2016
- ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 Appeal-Democrat, "Yuba City Unified superintendent retiring in November," May 18, 2016
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 United States Census Bureau, "Sutter County, California," accessed July 13, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Sutter County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 6, 2012, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Sutter County Registrar of Voters, "Presidential General Election November 4, 2008, Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Sutter County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 2, 2004, Final Official Results," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Sutter County Registrar of Voters, "General Election November 7, 2000," accessed July 14, 2014
| 2016 Yuba City Unified School District Elections | |
| Sutter County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Trustee Area 1: • Incumbent, John Amarel • Sean Fetters • Brett Hancock • Heidi Smyth • Richard Snyder Trustee Area 2: • Incumbent, Herbert Cooley • Julie Ann Jackson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
