Incumbents have good Election Day in school board races
Vote totals Wednesday showed incumbents in several area school board races winning reelection in Tuesday’s balloting.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District
Newport-Mesa incumbents Dana Black, Martha Fluor and Vicki Snell emerged victorious in their bids to keep their seats on the seven-member board, though Fluor and Black were met with strong challenges from their opponents.
Fluor, with 51.4% of the vote, held a narrow advantage in trustee Area 3 against Amy Peters, who had 48.6%.
Board President Dana Black and Area 6 challenger Leslie Bubb also were in a competitive race, with Black capturing 54.2% of the vote and Bubb 45.8%.
In Area 1, Snell won 59.6% of the vote to defeat Michael Schwarzmann, who received 40.4%.
Bubb said the competitive races signaled a new awareness of school district issues among community members.
“I definitely think it says there’s a huge amount of dissatisfaction with the decisions that the board is making,” Bubb said Wednesday. “I’m hopeful that what we’ve started is a broader conversation with parents, teachers, students to make a better educational experience on our schools.”
Snell said that “while the election process can certainly be contentious, it can also bring to light concerns important to the community. I have always been about listening to the voice of all stakeholders. However, during my new term, I will work even harder to provide clarity and discussion regarding the decisions of the board.”
During the campaign, challengers spoke of their desire to raise student performance on a statewide exam that recently showed 58% of Newport-Mesa students passed English language arts standards and 51% passed math standards.
At a candidates forum in September, Black agreed that the figures in math performance were disappointing but said Tuesday night that she and the board are making efforts to hold classes for parents to help them learn more about the standards.
“I’m not sure that it was a dissatisfaction ... of the decisions we’re making,” Fluor said of her close race. “I think [the challengers] had valid concerns and I’d like to hear about them to clarify or rectify some of them and reach a common ground.”
Laguna Beach Unified School District
With all precincts reporting, challenger Peggy Wolff and incumbent Jan Vickers are headed to the five-member Laguna Beach Unified board, according to figures from the Orange County registrar of voters office.
Wolff, Vickers and Howard Hills battled for two available seats. Current board President William Landsiedel did not seek reelection.
Wolff, a former PTA president at Thurston Middle and Top of the World Elementary schools, received the most votes among the candidates, followed by Vickers and Hills, a constitutional lawyer, the registrar reported.
Vickers is in her 26th year on the board, including consecutive terms since 2000.
This was Wolff’s first time running for public office.
“I feel humbled and proud,” said Wolff, a former elementary school teacher who ran her own campaign. “I stayed true to my own values and experience.”
She and Vickers will join Ketta Brown, Carol Normandin and Dee Perry as Laguna Beach Unified navigates its first year with Supt. Jason Viloria at the helm.
Brown said she was pleased with the election outcome.
“They are both 100% forthright and speak with knowledge and experience,” Brown said. “I could not be happier.”
Other races
• Coast Community College District board: Incumbents Jerry Patterson, Lorraine Prinsky and Mary Hornbuckle had sizable advantages in votes.
Patterson won the Area 2 seat against Garden Grove resident and teacher Vong Nguyen.
Prinksy came out ahead of Huntington Beach residents Victor Valladares and Rob Fishel in Area 3.
Hornbuckle won in Area 4 over chiropractor and educator Jonathan Bao Huynh.
• Ocean View School District board: Current President Gina Clayton-Tarvin won reelection for one of the two available seats while former board member Norm Westwell came in ahead of Realtor Patricia Singer for the other.
• Huntington Beach City School District board: Retired principal Ann Sullivan generated the highest number of votes as she and current board President Bridget Kaub won the two available seats.
• Huntington Beach Union High School District board: Incumbents Michael Simons and Susan Henry easily won reelection over three challengers.
• Fountain Valley School District board: Incumbents Jeanne Galindo and Ian Collins were reelected over challenger Jennifer Weimer.
• Westminster School District board: Current President Jamison Power and Westminster businesswoman Frances Nguyen won the two available seats over attorney Karl Truong.
• Measure O (Fountain Valley School District general obligation bond): The $63-million initiative to add air conditioning to classrooms and equipment for math, science and technology classes, along with infrastructure repairs at district schools, passed with 63.2% of the vote.
• Measure Q (Huntington Beach City School District general obligation bond): The measure to build labs for STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) courses, permanent classrooms to replace portables and performing-arts rooms for campuses without them was approved with 63.1% of the vote.
• Measure R (Ocean View School District general obligation bond): More than 57% of the votes were cast in support of the $169 million in bonds to help upgrade school electrical systems, ventilation, plumbing, roofs and disabled access.
• Measure T (Westminster School District general obligation bond): The initiative to upgrade school ventilation, roofs, instructional technology, onsite parking and disabled access for restrooms, classrooms and playgrounds collected 69.2% of the votes.
