Fontana Unified School District elections (2017)
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One of the five seats on the Fontana Unified School District Board of Education in California was up for at-large special election for a one-year term on November 7, 2017, due to a vacancy on the board. The vacancy was created when former member Jesse Armendarez resigned after being elected to the Fontana City Council.[1][2][3] Kareem Gongora and Mars Serna ran for the seat, and Serna won the election. Both candidates had previously run for a seat on the board.[4][5][6]
Electing a new member to the board was not unusual for the district. Newcomers swept the ballot in general elections for the board in 2014 and 2016. For information on election trends in the district, click here.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Fontana Unified Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held at large on a staggered basis with two or three seats up for election every November of even-numbered years.[7] Due to a vacancy on the board, the district held a special election for one seat on November 7, 2017.[3]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to register with the county elections office by August 11, 2017.[8] In order to qualify as candidates, they had to be at least 18 years old, citizens of California, residents of the school district, registered voters, and "not legally disqualified from holding civil office," according to the bylaws of the Fontana Unified Board of Education. Once they took office, school board members could not be employed by the school district.[9]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by October 23, 2017.[8] Photo identification was not required to vote in California.[10]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Fontana Unified School District, At-large Special Election, 1-year term, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mars Serna |
62.12% | 2,529 |
| Kareem Gongora | 37.88% | 1,542 |
| Total Votes | 4,071 | |
| Source: San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, "Final Certified Election Results," accessed November 28, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Kareem Gongora | Mars Serna | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: California elections, 2017
The Fontana Unified Board of Education election shared the ballot with elections for the Cucamonga Valley Water District and the West Valley Water District.[3]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the November 2017 California school board elections.[11][12]
Endorsements
The community organization Evolve endorsed both Kareem Gongora and Mars Serna.[13]
Gongora was also endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[14][15]
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Serna was also endorsed by the following organizations:[16]
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Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $17,884.25 and spent a total of $18,360.78 in the election, according to the San Bernardino County Voter Registration Office.[17]
| Candidate | Balance prior to election | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kareem Gongora | $0.00 | $16,137.00 | $16,137.00 | $0.00 |
| Mars Serna | $1,869.00 | $1,747.25 | $2,223.78 | $1,392.47 |
Reporting requirements
California school board candidates had to file two pre-election campaign finance reports. The first was due on September 28, 2017, and the second was due on October 26, 2017. In addition to those two reports, candidates had to file a semi-annual report on January 31, 2018, if they did not terminate their campaign committees by December 31, 2017.[12]
If candidates did not raise or spend more than $2,000 for their campaigns, they had to file Form 470 instead of the regular campaign finance report on September 28, 2017. They did not have to file any additional campaign finance reports as long as their campaign contributions and expenditures remained under $2,000.[12]
Past elections
To see results from past elections in the Fontana Unified School District, click here.
What was at stake?
Board calls for special election
The Fontana Unified Board of Education voted 3-1 on March 15, 2017, to hold a special election for a vacant seat on November 7, 2017. The vote came after the board could not agree on who to appoint to the position. Two votes to appoint a new member were split 2-2 between Kareem Gongora and Mars Serna, who both filed to run in the special election. Board members Matt Slowik and Peter Garcia supported Serna, and board members Jason O'Brien and Mary B. Sandoval supported Gongora.[18]
The vacant seat was previously held by Jesse Armendarez, who resigned after he was elected to the Fontana City Council in November 2016.[18]
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2017 special election for the Fontana Unified Board of Education added a new member to the board, which was not unusual for the district. Newcomers swept the ballot in general elections in 2014 and 2016, defeating incumbents each year. In 2013, the district also voted in two newcomers in a recall election.
The 2017 special election attracted fewer candidates per seat than the previous two election years. Two candidates ran for one seat in 2017. Meanwhile, eight candidates ran for three seats (an average of 2.67 per seat) in 2014, and six candidates ran for two seats (an average of three per seat) in 2016.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Fontana Unified School District | ||||||
| 2017 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% | Not applicable | 100.00% | |
| 2016 | 3.00 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2014 | 2.67 | 0.00% | 66.67% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| California | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.85 | 28.53% | 72.25% | 81.88% | 40.84% | |
| 2014 | 1.91 | 25.18% | 77.75% | 79.00% | 38.14% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.90 | 34.05% | 71.31% | 82.39% | 41.04% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.57% | 75.51% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
The Fontana Unified School District is located in San Bernardino County in Southern California. The county seat is San Bernardino. San Bernardino County was home to an estimated 2,140,096 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[19] The district was the 19th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 39,470 students.[20]
Demographics
San Bernardino County underperformed compared to California as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 19 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 31.4 percent of state residents. The median household income for San Bernardino County was $53,433, compared to $61,818 for the entire state. The percentage of people in poverty in the county was 18.9 percent, while it was 15.3 percent statewide.[19]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[19] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | San Bernardino County (%) | California (%) | |
| White | 77.1 | 72.7 | |
| Black or African American | 9.5 | 6.5 | |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 2.0 | 1.7 | |
| Asian | 7.4 | 14.8 | |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.5 | 0.5 | |
| Two or more races | 3.5 | 3.8 | |
| Hispanic or Latino | 52.8 | 38.9 | |
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 Fontana Unified School District California election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Fontana Unified School District | California | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Fontana Unified School District, "Applicants for Vacancy on the FUSD Board of Education," accessed June 30, 2017
- ↑ The Sun, "Newly sworn-in councilman to resign from Fontana Unified School District board," January 5, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fontana Herald News, "Special election to determine fifth Fontana School Board member will be held Nov. 7; candidate filing period begins," July 19, 2017
- ↑ Fontana Herald News, "Mars Serna, Kareem Gongora are the two candidates for vacant seat on Fontana School Board," accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ San Bernardino County Elections, "2017 Consolidated Election - November 07, 2017: Candidate List," accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters, "Final Unofficial Election Night Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Fontana Unified School District, "Meet the Board of Education," accessed August 4, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 San Bernardino County Elections, "2017 Consolidated Election," accessed August 4, 2017
- ↑ Fontana Unified School District, "BB 9220 Board Bylaws: Governing Board Elections," accessed August 4, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Where and How to Vote," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "2017 County Administered Elections," accessed August 1, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 California Fair Political Practices Commission, "Filing Schedule for Candidates and Controlled Committees for Local Office Being Voted on November 7, 2017," accessed September 18, 2017
- ↑ Evolve, "Endorsements: November 7, 2017 General Election," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ Gongora for Fontana School Board, "Endorsements," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ San Bernardino County Democratic Party, "2017 November Election & Phone Bank Links," Octber 3, 2017
- ↑ Mars 4 Fontana Schools, "Endorsements 2017," accessed October 25, 2017
- ↑ San Bernardino County Voter Registration, "Public Portal for Campaign Finance Disclosure," accessed November 3, 2017
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Fontana News Herald, "FUSD will hold special election to determine fifth member of School Board," March 16, 2017
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: San Bernardino County, California; California," accessed August 4, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Fontana Unified School District elections in 2017 | |
| San Bernardino County, California | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Kareem Gongora • Mars Serna |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
