Dana7360
Diamond Member
- Aug 6, 2014
- 15,147
- 13,596
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It looks like the people of Arizona want their kids to learn about abortion and birth control. The conservatives took the pages out of the book so kids won't learn how to prevent pregnancies or learn about abortion. The right wing majority is now gone on that board and proper biology education will return to the school books.
ArizonaHonorsBiology.com MSNBC
Gilbert Public Schools: Humpherys, Santa Cruz's win erases board majority
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Mark Olalde, The Republic |azcentral.
Jill Humpherys and J. Charles Santa Cruz won a resounding victory in the Gilbert Public Schools governing board election Tuesday with a vote that resets the board majority.
Just south in the Higley Unified School District, which covers parts of Gilbert and Queen Creek, incumbent board President Venessa Whitener retained her seat for a third term, while the race for the second spot was too close to call.
Before provisional ballots and final early ballots were counted, newcomer Michelle Anderson was ahead of Greg Wojtovich by 52 votes.
The GPS governing board has grabbed headlines locally and nationally for ultraconservative votes and in-fighting. The campaign featured massive levels of money and community involvement.
Humpherys was the only incumbent on the GPS ballot. The other open seat was that of board President Staci Burk who did not seek re-election as she battles pulmonary arterial hypertension. Burk often voted in the majority bloc, along with Daryl Colvin and Julie Smith.
Virtually all the board's controversial votes, including a resolution against the College and Career Ready Standards or Common Core and last month's decision to redact information on abortion and the morning-after pill from high-school biology textbooks, have been split 3-2 with Humpherys and Lily Tram opposed.
That majority is likely to change once Santa Cruz is seated in January. The former Gilbert High School principal stands ideologically closer to what was the minority.
Among other issues, both Santa Cruz and Humpherys support the Common Core academic standards.
Humpherys was the top vote-getter at 31 percent, and Santa Cruz received 28 percent of the votes, according to preliminary results.
Dawn Brimhall came in a distant third with 16 percent of the vote. Ron Bellus finished with 13 percent and Reed Carr with 12 percent.
Humpherys took a conciliatory tone when speaking of the board's future. "I think it's important to still have open and collaborative decision making. I still want to work hard to have consensus on the board, and I still want to work hard on respecting all board members," she said.
Colvin, however, did not anticipate that consensus. "I really no longer have a seat at the table," he said.
While none of the candidates officially aligned themselves with one another during the race, a strong coalition backed Humpherys and Santa Cruz with the slogan, "2 seats 2 votes." Brimhall and Bellus also shared a support base as they represented the community's most conservative voters.
"The key to this election was the community's support, the fact that community members and business people and teachers and parents got behind two candidates and worked really, really hard," Humpherys said on the phone Election Night. Cheers could be heard as her supporters watched the final results roll in at the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.
Carr billed himself as a "bridge builder" and tried to appeal to both ideological sides in a polarized campaign. Although spending big and receiving endorsements from the mayors of Gilbert and Mesa, Carr still finished last in the choose-two election.
The election featured unprecedented levels of campaign spending, with a combined $76,449.73 raised by the candidates as of Oct. 23.
Santa Cruz topped the fundraising with more than $25,000, and Humpherys and Carr followed with more than $20,000 each. Brimhall and Bellus raised $3,000 and $5,000, respectively.
Santa Cruz said never in his wildest dreams did he expect the outpouring of financial support he received.
Colvin commented on the lopsided spending, saying, "It would appear that a mix of Democrat Party, teachers union and Planned Parenthood money was able to buy a seat on the school board, two seats really. And silly me, I didn't even know the school board was for sale."
His comments were in reference to mailers funded by the political spending group Revive Arizona Now. Planned Parenthood donated money to Revive Arizona Now, and some residents said they received an e-mail from the group referencing the election after the board's recent decision on the biology textbooks.
Santa Cruz had a different explanation. "People were awakened by the last two years of this kind of draconian policy structure," he said.
After the results came in, Santa Cruz spoke with GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto on the phone to schedule a meeting. He said the budget will be the biggest issue to tackle immediately.
The Higley district election ended neck-and-neck among the four candidates. Whitener captured nearly 28 percent of the preliminary tally. Fourth-place finisher Rebecca Jarman garnered 23 percent.
Whitener sat on the board as HUSD went from a relatively unknown district to last year's top ranked large district in Arizona. While Wojtovich came to the election with 12 years of experience on a school board in Michigan, the more conservative Anderson was able to stay with him.
County election officials are still counting provisional ballots, which will decide the contest between Anderson and Wojtovich. County election spokesman Daniel Ruiz could not say when the final tally would be available.
Ballot snafu
Some Mesa voters attempting to cast their ballots for the Gilbert Public School governing-board race say they were unable to do so on Election Day because their ballots were missing the GPS candidates.
The apparent problem impacted an unknown number of voters. Maricopa County Elections Department spokesperson Daniel Ruiz said a troubleshooter checked into the complaint and found no issue with the polling place's computer software.
Ruiz said that once voters cast a ballot, they are not allowed to recast it, even if they later realize that it is missing an election.
A portion of the GPS boundaries extends into Mesa.
ArizonaHonorsBiology.com MSNBC
Gilbert Public Schools: Humpherys, Santa Cruz's win erases board majority
<!--iframe-->
Mark Olalde, The Republic |azcentral.
Jill Humpherys and J. Charles Santa Cruz won a resounding victory in the Gilbert Public Schools governing board election Tuesday with a vote that resets the board majority.
Just south in the Higley Unified School District, which covers parts of Gilbert and Queen Creek, incumbent board President Venessa Whitener retained her seat for a third term, while the race for the second spot was too close to call.
Before provisional ballots and final early ballots were counted, newcomer Michelle Anderson was ahead of Greg Wojtovich by 52 votes.
The GPS governing board has grabbed headlines locally and nationally for ultraconservative votes and in-fighting. The campaign featured massive levels of money and community involvement.
Humpherys was the only incumbent on the GPS ballot. The other open seat was that of board President Staci Burk who did not seek re-election as she battles pulmonary arterial hypertension. Burk often voted in the majority bloc, along with Daryl Colvin and Julie Smith.
Virtually all the board's controversial votes, including a resolution against the College and Career Ready Standards or Common Core and last month's decision to redact information on abortion and the morning-after pill from high-school biology textbooks, have been split 3-2 with Humpherys and Lily Tram opposed.
That majority is likely to change once Santa Cruz is seated in January. The former Gilbert High School principal stands ideologically closer to what was the minority.
Among other issues, both Santa Cruz and Humpherys support the Common Core academic standards.
Humpherys was the top vote-getter at 31 percent, and Santa Cruz received 28 percent of the votes, according to preliminary results.
Dawn Brimhall came in a distant third with 16 percent of the vote. Ron Bellus finished with 13 percent and Reed Carr with 12 percent.
Humpherys took a conciliatory tone when speaking of the board's future. "I think it's important to still have open and collaborative decision making. I still want to work hard to have consensus on the board, and I still want to work hard on respecting all board members," she said.
Colvin, however, did not anticipate that consensus. "I really no longer have a seat at the table," he said.
While none of the candidates officially aligned themselves with one another during the race, a strong coalition backed Humpherys and Santa Cruz with the slogan, "2 seats 2 votes." Brimhall and Bellus also shared a support base as they represented the community's most conservative voters.
"The key to this election was the community's support, the fact that community members and business people and teachers and parents got behind two candidates and worked really, really hard," Humpherys said on the phone Election Night. Cheers could be heard as her supporters watched the final results roll in at the Gilbert Chamber of Commerce.
Carr billed himself as a "bridge builder" and tried to appeal to both ideological sides in a polarized campaign. Although spending big and receiving endorsements from the mayors of Gilbert and Mesa, Carr still finished last in the choose-two election.
The election featured unprecedented levels of campaign spending, with a combined $76,449.73 raised by the candidates as of Oct. 23.
Santa Cruz topped the fundraising with more than $25,000, and Humpherys and Carr followed with more than $20,000 each. Brimhall and Bellus raised $3,000 and $5,000, respectively.
Santa Cruz said never in his wildest dreams did he expect the outpouring of financial support he received.
Colvin commented on the lopsided spending, saying, "It would appear that a mix of Democrat Party, teachers union and Planned Parenthood money was able to buy a seat on the school board, two seats really. And silly me, I didn't even know the school board was for sale."
His comments were in reference to mailers funded by the political spending group Revive Arizona Now. Planned Parenthood donated money to Revive Arizona Now, and some residents said they received an e-mail from the group referencing the election after the board's recent decision on the biology textbooks.
Santa Cruz had a different explanation. "People were awakened by the last two years of this kind of draconian policy structure," he said.
After the results came in, Santa Cruz spoke with GPS Superintendent Christina Kishimoto on the phone to schedule a meeting. He said the budget will be the biggest issue to tackle immediately.
The Higley district election ended neck-and-neck among the four candidates. Whitener captured nearly 28 percent of the preliminary tally. Fourth-place finisher Rebecca Jarman garnered 23 percent.
Whitener sat on the board as HUSD went from a relatively unknown district to last year's top ranked large district in Arizona. While Wojtovich came to the election with 12 years of experience on a school board in Michigan, the more conservative Anderson was able to stay with him.
County election officials are still counting provisional ballots, which will decide the contest between Anderson and Wojtovich. County election spokesman Daniel Ruiz could not say when the final tally would be available.
Ballot snafu
Some Mesa voters attempting to cast their ballots for the Gilbert Public School governing-board race say they were unable to do so on Election Day because their ballots were missing the GPS candidates.
The apparent problem impacted an unknown number of voters. Maricopa County Elections Department spokesperson Daniel Ruiz said a troubleshooter checked into the complaint and found no issue with the polling place's computer software.
Ruiz said that once voters cast a ballot, they are not allowed to recast it, even if they later realize that it is missing an election.
A portion of the GPS boundaries extends into Mesa.
