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Posts Tagged ‘Leann Leavitt’

New school board lineup 99.9% set

Posted in elections, school board, tagged , , , , , on November 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

It’s all over except for the final wrap-up.

Alison Perera will retain her position on the Coupeville School Board, while Charles Merwine will join the lineup a year after his wife, Glenda, stepped down for health concerns.

Meanwhile, Coupeville Schools Director of Technology William Smith has lost his bid for a position on the Oak Harbor High School Board.

Perera, who was appointed to fill out Glenda Merwine’s term, was on the ballot for the first time and faced CHS grad and Naval veteran David Ford.

Charles Merwine, a former teacher and longtime volunteer, faced off with Booster Club board member Leann Leavitt to replace school board president Christie Sears, who is retiring.

The winners join directors Nancy Conard, Sherry Phay, and Morgan White on the five-person panel, and will be sworn in at the Nov. 30 board meeting.

Smith, who works for Coupeville schools but lives in Oak Harbor, has children attending that school district.

Numbers released Thursday afternoon by the Island County Auditor account for 28,611 ballots having been counted.

That includes all eligible ballots received to date.

Since Washington state votes by mail, ballots may continue to be received and will be counted if they have valid postmarks.

A final count will be released at 3 PM on Tuesday, Nov. 28, the day general election results will be certified.

Island County stacked up well against other counties in the state, with 46.92% of its 61,529 eligible voters casting a ballot.

That puts us fifth highest on the list, with three of the four ahead of us being very small counties with less than 3,500 votes cast.

 

Vote totals as of Nov. 9:

 

Coupeville School Board – Position #1:

Charles Merwine (2946)
Leann Leavitt (1077)

 

Coupeville School Board – Position #4:

Alison Perera (2518)
David Ford (1573)

 

Oak Harbor School Board – Position #5:

Sharon Jensen (4080)
William Smith (3147)

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Perera, Merwine lead school board races

Posted in elections, tagged , , , , on November 7, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Alison Perera

The opening chapter in The Big Count has been written.

The Island County Auditor’s office released the first vote totals for the general election Tuesday night, but because Washington state votes by mail, we may not have final stats for some time.

Tuesday’s totals reflect 19,574 votes counted, with the next release of numbers set for 5:00 PM Wednesday.

The election will be certified Nov. 28.

Those first numbers show Alison Perera and Charles Merwine leading the races for the Coupeville School Board.

Perera, who was named as a replacement when Glenda Merwine retired mid-term due to health concerns, is making her debut on the ballot and facing off with CHS grad and Naval vet David Ford.

Charles Merwine and Leann Leavitt are vying for an open seat, as board president Christie Sears is not running for re-election.

 

Vote totals as of Nov. 7:

 

School Board Position #1:

Charles Merwine – 2219
Leann Leavitt – 755

 

School Board Position #4:

Alison Perera – 1,893
David Ford – 1,142

 

To see complete results for all races in Island County, pop over to:

https://www.islandcountywa.gov/DocumentCenter/View/4051/Current_Results

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CEA, CESA endorse Ford, Leavitt

Posted in elections, tagged , , , , , on October 20, 2023| Leave a Comment »

Ballots are in the mail and votes wait to be counted.

As we head towards the general election Nov. 7, two Coupeville School Board seats are up for grabs.

Incumbent Alison Perera, who was appointed to her position to replace the retiring Glenda Merwine, faces off with David Ford, while Leann Leavitt and Chic Merwine square off for the other open gig.

With that in mind, local unions have released their endorsements, which you can read below:

 

Coupeville Education Association (CEA) and Coupeville Educational Support Association (CESA) are the unions whose members make up the majority of the educators that serve our students and their families in the Coupeville School District as teachers, counselors, nurses, paraeducators, secretaries, and several additional categories of critical support staff members.

Given our on-the-ground daily roles in our local public schools, we understand the importance of the school board, the individuals who serve on it, and how their decisions affect the district, staff, students, and our community.

As such, we have decided to jointly endorse school board candidates during this election season.

This process included candidates completing a questionnaire on their beliefs about public education as well as an in-person interview with representatives of CEA and CESA.

While we appreciate the impressive background of service each candidate we interviewed has provided our community, after putting in the necessary effort to properly examine the candidates in greater detail, we chose to endorse the candidates that were best able to articulate a clear understanding of issues facing the Coupeville School District.

As a result of this thoughtful collaborative endorsement process between the two unions, we
are pleased to announce our endorsement of David Ford and Leann Leavitt.

In addition to the endorsements of CEA and CESA, David and Leann have received the official endorsement of the Washington Education Association Political Action Committee.

Who is David Ford?

David is a Coupeville High School graduate, his wife is a Coupeville High School graduate, he has a child who is a Coupeville High School graduate, and he has two grandchildren who are students in the Coupeville School District.

He has served for over 28 years in the Naval Service and has served the school district as a member of the district’s budget committee.

David shows an acute knowledge of the current struggles the district is facing with regards to safety, equity, and accountability.

Who is Leann Leavitt?

Leann is a Coupeville High School graduate and parent; she has one child who recently graduated from Coupeville High School and has two still in the district.

She has several years of experience as a leader within the Coupeville Booster Club and as a former Coupeville Elementary PTA President.

Leann brings a unique perspective with a very strong understanding of the mental health challenges, as well as the physical and emotional safety issues, our students are facing in the district.

Please join us in encouraging voters to support David Ford and Leann Leavitt.

We look forward to working with them as school board directors.

 

Marc DeArmond
Coupeville Education Association Co-President and Endorsement Committee Member

Jennifer Mostafavinassab
Coupeville Education Association Co-President

Shelly LaRue
Coupeville Educational Support Association President and Endorsement Committee Member and WEA Fourth Corner ESP/ACT Representative

Annalisa Hiroyasu
Coupeville Education Association Endorsement Committee Member and WEA Fourth Corner Equity Representative

Cassandra Light
Coupeville Educational Support Association Endorsement Committee Member

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Four file for school board

Posted in school board, tagged , , , , , on May 19, 2023| Leave a Comment »

The race is on.

Four candidates filed this week to run for positions on the Coupeville School Board, while one current director did not file for re-election.

Christie Sears, who is currently board president, left Position 1 up for grabs, and Leann Leavitt and Chic Merwine have stepped into the void.

Meanwhile, Alison Perera, who was appointed in December to replace Glenda Merwine, who resigned citing health concerns, will run to retain Position 4.

Her rival in the election is David Ford.

Current board members Nancy Conard, Sherry Phay, and Morgan White are not up for re-election this time around.

The cutoff to file was Friday at 4:00 PM.

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