Gray Harris
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Gray Harris is an at-large representative on the Alameda Unified Board of Education in California. He was first appointed to the board in 2015.[1] Harris won re-election in the general election on November 8, 2016.[2]
Harris participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read her responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the five seats on the Alameda Unified School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbent Gray Harris faced five challengers in the race—Ardella Dailey, Matt Hettich, Anne McKereghan, Dennis Popalardo, and Jennifer Williams.[2] Harris won re-election and Williams and Dailey won the other two seats.[3]
Results
| Alameda Unified School District, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jennifer Williams |
23.10% | 17,006 |
| Gray Harris Incumbent |
21.38% | 15,741 |
| Ardella Dailey |
17.92% | 13,189 |
| Anne McKereghan | 14.39% | 10,597 |
| Matt Hettich | 11.91% | 8,765 |
| Dennis Popalardo | 11.06% | 8,144 |
| Write-in votes | 0.24% | 175 |
| Total Votes | 73,617 | |
| Source: Alameda County Registrar of Voters, "General Election (Certified Results) - November 08, 2016," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Funding
Harris reported $28,422.20 in contributions and $25,347.00 in expenditures to the Alameda County Registrar of Voters, which left her campaign with $3,075.20 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Harris was endorsed by the Alameda County Democratic Party and the community organization Evolve.[5][6]
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Gray Harris participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 26, 2016:
| “ | Since joining the Alameda Unified School District Board, I’ve fought hard to address some of the unique issues facing our school community. I have spearheaded implementation of fair enrollment policies that assist our military families. Acknowledging the future needs of our students, I have created new career pathways and apprenticeship opportunities. I’m committed to advancing our local economy and have fought for policies that ensure local hire for work that is done on our schools. To ensure we attract and most importantly can retain talented educators, I have advocated for the use of existing historic buildings at Alameda Point for affordable employee housing. I am a 10-year classroom teacher, parent, and education advocate who believes in collaboration and shared decision-making. I would be honored to earn your vote on November 8th. Please visit www.VoteGrayHarris.com for more information![7][8] | ” |
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 |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in California. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | I would love to have ranked them all #1.[8] | ” |
| —Gray Harris (September 26, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine 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. I would like all of Alameda schools to be part of the school district so that we can more easily share scarce resources and collaborate. |
| 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 only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I believe Common Core has useful methods for teaching and learning. I also believe our teachers and support professionals need training and support to properly implement the standards. Parents also need to be educated on the difference between the standards now and the standards when they were in school. |
| 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? |
| No. |
| 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 only be used as a last resort in circumstances involving student safety. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Gray Harris' 'Alameda Unified School District'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Alameda Unified School District, "Board of Education," accessed September 6, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Alameda County California, "Candidate List," accessed August 13, 2016
- ↑ Alameda County, "General Election (Unofficial Results) - November 08, 2016," accessed November 9, 2016
- ↑ Alameda County Registrar of Voters, "County of Alameda Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed February 7, 2017
- ↑ Alameda County Democratic Party, "Endorsements," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 8, 2016 General Election," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Gray Harris's responses," September 26, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Alameda Unified School District Elections | |
| Alameda County, California | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Gray Harris • Ardella Dailey • Matt Hettich • Anne McKereghan • Dennis Popalardo • Jennifer Williams |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
