Election results are in for the St. Helens School Board.
Kellie Smith wins with a plurality of nearly 38% in the most closely contested race, Position 1. Jeff Howell and Gordon Jarman win with 53% and 52% majorities for positions 3 and 4 respectively.
Mr. Howell is the only candidate for whom I voted that won in these races. That's batting .333 for me.
Incumbents Matt Freeman and Alan King were the third-place vote-getters in their respective races. I was surprised that Mr. Freeman was defeated so soundly as Ms. Smith did not strike me as a particularly strong candidate and Mr Briggs has not been active in school issues since he last served on the board, to the best of my knowledge. There was clearly anti-incumbent sentiment in the electorate.
Mr. King's defeat for Position 4 is not as surprising to me as that of Mr. Freeman for Position 1. The winner of Position 4, Mr. Jarman, is a former long-time educator with the St. Helens School District. Name recognition certainly helped his candidacy. The same is true for former St. Helens teacher Mr. Howell. The nearly identical number of votes that they received could indicate that they had many of the same supporters.
Even though two of my candidates did not win, I am not disappointed by the results. I think that Ms. Smith, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Jarman can be effective school board members.
I would have been disappointed--and worried--if Traci Brumbles had won election. During her campaign she expressed concern about "indoctrination" in public schools. She was not able to provide any specific examples of institutionally sanctioned indoctrination when I asked her about this in an email. Ms. Brumbles has concerns about the Common Core State Standards. I have concerns about these as well, but not because I think that they will be used to "dumb down" curriculum as she expressed at the April candidate forum. These two positions reflect a view of educational issues that I think might be shared by current board members Ray Biggs and Marshall Porter who are members of the Constitution Party. I don't know if Ms. Brumbles is a member of the Constitution Party, but she said at the candidate forum that she had its endorsement in this election. I am glad that we will not have a majority of St. Helens School Board members who are proponents of the positions of the Constitution Party.
Kellie Smith wins with a plurality of nearly 38% in the most closely contested race, Position 1. Jeff Howell and Gordon Jarman win with 53% and 52% majorities for positions 3 and 4 respectively.
Mr. Howell is the only candidate for whom I voted that won in these races. That's batting .333 for me.
Incumbents Matt Freeman and Alan King were the third-place vote-getters in their respective races. I was surprised that Mr. Freeman was defeated so soundly as Ms. Smith did not strike me as a particularly strong candidate and Mr Briggs has not been active in school issues since he last served on the board, to the best of my knowledge. There was clearly anti-incumbent sentiment in the electorate.
Mr. King's defeat for Position 4 is not as surprising to me as that of Mr. Freeman for Position 1. The winner of Position 4, Mr. Jarman, is a former long-time educator with the St. Helens School District. Name recognition certainly helped his candidacy. The same is true for former St. Helens teacher Mr. Howell. The nearly identical number of votes that they received could indicate that they had many of the same supporters.
Even though two of my candidates did not win, I am not disappointed by the results. I think that Ms. Smith, Mr. Howell, and Mr. Jarman can be effective school board members.
I would have been disappointed--and worried--if Traci Brumbles had won election. During her campaign she expressed concern about "indoctrination" in public schools. She was not able to provide any specific examples of institutionally sanctioned indoctrination when I asked her about this in an email. Ms. Brumbles has concerns about the Common Core State Standards. I have concerns about these as well, but not because I think that they will be used to "dumb down" curriculum as she expressed at the April candidate forum. These two positions reflect a view of educational issues that I think might be shared by current board members Ray Biggs and Marshall Porter who are members of the Constitution Party. I don't know if Ms. Brumbles is a member of the Constitution Party, but she said at the candidate forum that she had its endorsement in this election. I am glad that we will not have a majority of St. Helens School Board members who are proponents of the positions of the Constitution Party.
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