Graciela Patino
Graciela Patino represented Seat 4 on the Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education in California. She was appointed to the board by Inglewood Unified State Trustee Dr. Don Brann on January 15, 2015.[1]
Patino ran for re-election in the general election on April 7, 2015.[2] She advanced to the runoff election on June 16, 2015, but she was defeated by challenger Margaret Evans.[3][4]
The Inglewood Unified School District was taken over by the state of California and bailed out of near bankruptcy in September 2012.[5] During the takeover, the district's board of education was stripped its powers, leaving members in an advisory capacity only.[6]
Biography
Patino works as a teacher in the dual-immersion program at Los Angeles Leadership Academy Charter Primary School. Before she started working in the education field, she worked in the Los Angeles County Public Defender's Office as a criminal defense investigator for over 17 years. She then worked for the International Education Corporation as a criminal justice adjunct instructor and also served as a teacher with Teach for America for two years before taking on her current job. Patino earned her associate degree in administration of justice from West Los Angeles College, her bachelor's degree in criminal justice administration from the University of Phoenix, her master's degree in administration of justice and security from the University of Phoenix and her second master's degree in urban education from Loyola Marymount University.[7]
Elections
2015
Four of the five seats on the Inglewood Unified School District Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Seats 1, 3, 4 and 5 were on the ballot.
Incumbents Rene Talbott, Henry Brown, Graciela Patino and Johnny J. Young representing Seats 1, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, were up for re-election. Talbott, Brown and Patino were appointed to their seats by Inglewood Unified State Trustee Dr. Don Brann on January 15, 2015, to serve until the election determined the next members.
Margaret Richards-Bowers defeated fellow candidate Dionne Young Faulk for Seat 1, and candidate Melody O. Ngaue-Tuuholoaki ran unopposed and won Seat 3.
Incumbents Rene Talbott and Graciela Patino faced challengers Margaret Evans and Darius Leevy for Seat 4. The Seat 5 race featured incumbent Henry C. Brown and challenger D’Artagnan Scorza. All three incumbents were ousted from their seats. Scorza won Seat 5, and Evans won Seat 4 after she defeated Patino in a runoff election on June 16, 2015.
Results
| Inglewood Unified School District, Seat 4 Runoff Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Margaret Evans |
68.3% | 1,945 | |
| Nonpartisan | Graciela Patino Incumbent | 31.7% | 902 | |
| Total Votes | 2,847 | |||
| Source: Smart Voter, "Board Member; Inglewood Unified School District; District 4 Voter Information: June 16, 2015 Election," accessed January 9, 2017 | ||||
| Inglewood Unified School District, Seat 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Margaret Evans |
46.3% | 2,562 | |
| Nonpartisan | Graciela Patino Incumbent | 23.8% | 1,316 | |
| Nonpartisan | Darius Leevy | 19.5% | 1,079 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rene Talbott Incumbent | 10.3% | 572 | |
| Total Votes | 5,529 | |||
| Source: City of Inglewood, "General Municipal Election Tuesday, April 07, 2015: Official Results," accessed April 28, 2015 | ||||
Funding
At the time of this election, the Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk did not publish school board candidate campaign finance reports online. Ballotpedia staffers requested this information, but the only free method of viewing the files was at their office.
The Los Angeles Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk targeted the end of 2018 to make school board candidate campaign finance reports available online for free. From that point forward, Ballotpedia began including campaign finance data for Los Angeles County school board candidates.[8][9][10]
Endorsements
Patino received endorsements from:[11]
- Inglewood Today
- Inglewood Mayor James Butts
- Inglewood Council member Alex Padilla
- Inglewood Council member Eloy Morales
- Inglewood Council member Ralph Franklin
- Inglewood City Treasurer Wanda Brown
- Commissioner Willie Agee
- Commissioner Terry L. Coleman
Campaign themes
2015
Patino highlighted the following statement on her campaign website:
| “ | My name is Graciela "Grace" Patiño, and I am honored to serve the Inglewood Unified School District as your board member for Seat #4.
As a teacher, I know how important it is to get the job done year after year. I’m running for reelection because we still have work to do in Inglewood. If we haven’t had the chance to meet yet, I am a longtime city resident who has served our community as both a law enforcement officer and as an educator. Near the end of my career in law enforcement, my work brought me into schools and in front of students. Teaching the Substance Abuse and Narcotics Education program in local K-12 schools gave me the opportunity to be a teacher, a mentor, and a role model, and ever since then I’ve been an educator. I am humbled to have the full endorsement of Mayor James T. Butts and several other city leaders who have given me their vote of confidence. I am asking for your support and your vote in our school board election on April 7th. As a bi-cultural, bi-lingual immersion teacher, I understand the needs of our diverse community. Teaching K-12 students and serving as an education leader is hard work that requires true dedication to the causes of public education and social justice. Now, as both a second-grade teacher and a school board member, I am working to make sure our students get an education that gives them the skills they need to be competitive in a global workforce, prepares them for adulthood, and encourages them to give back to the community. We can be a force for social justice together. Please support our campaign today, and vote Graciela Patiño for Inglewood USD Seat #4 on April 7th! Sincerely yours, Grace[12] |
” |
| —Graciela Patino's campaign website (2015)[13] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Graciela Patino Inglewood Unified School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Inglewood Unified School District, California
- Inglewood Unified School District elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Inglewood Unified School District, "IUSD’s Advisory Board of Education Welcomes Three New Members," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ City of Inglewood, "Notice of Nominees for Public Office," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ City of Inglewood, "General Municipal Election Tuesday, April 07, 2015: Unofficial Results," accessed April 8, 2015
- ↑ Smart Voter, "Board Member; Inglewood Unified School District; District 4 Voter Information: June 16, 2015 Election," accessed January 9, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Brown signs bailout for Inglewood schools," September 15, 2012
- ↑ 89.3 KPCC, "Nearly 2 years after state takeover, Inglewood schools still bleeding red ink," May 13, 2014
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Graciela Patiño," accessed April 2, 2015
- ↑ Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed July 2, 2014
- ↑ Daniel Anderson, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," October 7, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brenda Duran, Los Angeles County Public Information Officer," January 2, 2018
- ↑ Inglewood Today, "My Picks for the Inglewood School Board," March 12, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Graciela Patino Inglewood USD Seat #4, "Welcome!" accessed April 2, 2015
| 2015 Inglewood Unified School District Elections | |
| Los Angeles County, California | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Seat 1: • Margaret Richards-Bowers • Dionne Young Faulk Seat 3: • Melody O. Ngaue-Tuuholoaki Seat 4: • Incumbent, Graciela Patino • Incumbent, Rene Talbott • Margaret Evans • Darius Leevy Seat 5: • Incumbent, Henry C. Brown • D’Artagnan Scorza |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
