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The race to fill two open seats on the Clovis Unified School Board entered its final stretch this week as early voting began in Fresno County ahead of the Nov. 8 midterm election.

Improving student test scores and graduation rates are common campaign issues in school board races locally and nationwide. However, Clovis Unified’s state-leading results have pushed local school board candidates to focus more on pandemic-related losses.

The last two pandemic years are a driving force behind why many started paying attention and are vying for a spot on the board.

Six candidates – four in Area 1 and two in Area 6 — are running for vacant seats. Area 1 Trustee Susan Hatmaker resigned in February, leaving it vacant ever since. Had she not resigned in February, her term would’ve ended in November.

Area 6 Trustee Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Sandoval is retiring after two stints on the board.

Area 3 will not be on the ballot as incumbent and board president Tiffany Stoker Madsen has no opponents.

Even though candidates must represent the area they live in, all Clovis voters can vote in each race.

The Bee’s Education Lab contacted the six candidates and attended community forums and candidate interviews to learn about their backgrounds and priorities if elected.

Not all candidates responded to the Ed Lab.

The Ed Lab also tracked campaign finance records to see who’s funding each candidate and how much each has raised from the start of this year.

The totals included are the sum of each candidate’s monetary contributions, such as donations and loans, and their non-monetary contributions, like advertisements. Money spent by each candidate has not been subtracted from these totals.

School board seats are nonpartisan, but some candidates have received endorsements and/or donations from Fresno political parties or organizations and elected officials in partisan offices.

Area 1 contenders

Parent and communications consultant Samantha Bauer, realtor Joanne Burton, parent and businessman Chuck Der Manouel and parent and nonprofit executive Clint Olivier are seeking the Area 1 seat.

Bauer started her career in public education policy for California in the late 1990s. Over her career, she worked for the state’s third and fifth largest school districts in California: Fresno Unified School District and Elk Grove Unified School District.

In Elk Grove, she handled national and international media coverage of the Supreme Court case in which the district defended its ability to say the Pledge of Allegiance when a parent argued the pledge violated the separation of church and state.

However, she said her most important role has been as a Clovis Unified parent for 15 years, which includes volunteering in classes, in parent clubs, and on district advisory committees and currently chairing the Citizens’ Oversight Committee for the school district.

She said she’s running because she believes in strong neighborhood schools that provide the education that students and the community deserve.

“We need to focus on supporting our classroom teachers so that they have what they need to make sure our kids are back on track academically,” Bauer said during an interview with The Bee’s Editorial Board.

Although scores didn’t drop as much as other districts across the state, 2022 numbers show that Clovis Unified English scores are down by about 6% and math scores fell by about 9%, according to Superintendent Eimear O’Brien.

She said her top priorities center around protecting classrooms and ensuring kids have what they need to succeed academically.

“There is nothing more important right now than getting our kids back on track,” she said. “For strong families and kids to not be on grade level for reading is a problem. I also believe we need to get back to basics. When I say back to the basics, I mean what happens outside of the classroom. The amount of opportunities they get contributes to their success in the classroom.”

Bauer has received $37,395 – not including a $10,000 contribution from herself – with her biggest donations being $2,000 each from Priscilla Chaffe Stengel, a former Clovis Unified teacher and her former professor at Fresno State, the Poochigian for Assessor campaign and six businesses. Those businesses are Fresno Concrete Construction, Howe Electric Construction, Karsyn Construction, Strategic Mechanical, Tarlton and Son and Wild Electric.

Burton, born and raised in California, is an Oakland Public Schools and University of California, Davis graduate. She and her attorney husband raised three children in Santa Cruz County while she became a residential realtor. While her children were in school, she volunteered wherever she saw the need, including the time she fundraised to renovate the football, soccer and track athletic fields with other parents.

It led to the county’s first $25 million dollar school bond, in which she worked the polls to ensure it passed.

Burton also created a “Save the Music” campaign to raise awareness about the need for music programs when the school district was considering eliminating them; the board voted to keep the programs.

Burton said she’s running to be the parents’ voice on the board and said she would respect the family values parents want to protect.

She wants to increase public forum time at meetings; form a group of retired teachers, parents and grandparents to review curriculum; understand teacher and principal concerns to represent them as well; and get children up to grade level, according to the goals she has listed on her campaign flyer.

“I’m encouraging parents to communicate with me,” she said during a CUSD school board public forum time when she introduced herself. “I would love to hear from them about what their thoughts are or what they want from their school board trustee.”

At a Meet Your Candidate event Thursday, Burton and those who supported her criticized Clovis Unified for “packaging” Critical Race Theory “as a Trojan Horse” in every aspect of students’ education. CUSD does not use CRT in its curriculum and has disputed claims that say otherwise.

“I feel that what our students are being taught in class is vital for parents to know,” she said.

Burton is the only candidate who hasn’t been in Fresno County for more than a decade. She and her husband purchased their retirement home in Clovis in 2016.

“I am the only candidate that has adult children and no grandchildren in the district; however, I bring a perspective from my experience in raising my three children and the experience of working closely with school teachers, principals and trustees in partnership to make big things happen to enrich and enhance education,” she said.

No financial contribution reports were filed with the Fresno County Clerk’s Office for Burton as of Oct. 12.

Der Manouel is an executive vice president for Hub International, the largest private insurance brokerage firm in the world. He’s worked in insurance since joining the family agency Der Manouel Insurance Group in 2003. Over the years, his responsibilities have included sales management, operations management and being a key decision maker on all aspects of the business.

Der Manouel said the last two years caused him to pay more attention as a parent. When he sought answers about decisions at the district level, he said he felt marginalized.

He said he couldn’t get answers about who was making the decisions and why, and he didn’t feel that the decisions were the best for kids, which also motivated his decision to run for election.

“For two years, kids’ interests were put behind the interests of adults,” he said during a recent Chamber of Commerce’s candidate forum.

He listed his priorities as putting kids first in all decision making with “safety, education and the school experience” as the primary mission; ensuring communication from district administration is transparent and pleasant; and minimizing state intrusion.

“It’s not enough to get back to where we were; we have to get back to our local values after what’s been destroyed over the last two years,” Der Manouel said.

His campaign has been mostly self funded besides a few donations, he said. He filed a form stating that he’d either received or made payments for more than $2,000.

Olivier is the CEO of the Business Federation of the Central Valley (Bizfed), a non-profit organization that advocates for business-friendly legislation at each level of government. Before Bizfed, he was a reporter and anchor for KFSN and KMPH, and a Fresno City Councilman from 2011 to 2019.

After serving on the city council and moving to Clovis, as a parent, Olivier said he noticed that Clovis Unified was getting “fantastic results” in student achievement and in family engagement and involvement. He wanted to know how CUSD was getting those results when dealing with many children from the same socioeconomic backgrounds as those in Fresno Unified, where test scores and graduation rates have been lower for many years.

“They’re doing something right out here,” Olivier said during a recent interview with The Bee’s Editorial Board. “As (founding superintendent) Doc Buchanan said, ‘It’s not the programs; it’s the people.’ And I want to be a part of it.”

He said his No. 1 priority in seeking the seat is “to be involved in my child’s education.” He wants to learn what’s going on to support his son and everyone else’s kids, be a budget watchdog, work with fellow board members, hire the best to work in Clovis Unified and be there for parents

Olivier is the only candidate who has run for political office before.

He has received $43,670 in campaign contributions, which includes two $5,000 contributions: one from Larry and Jane Fortune and one from Mid Valley Disposal.

The six businesses who donated $2,000 each to Bauer also donated $2,000 each to Olivier. Other businesses, San Joaquin Glass and Graham Prewett, donated $1,000 each to Bauer’s and Olivier’s campaigns as well.

The Brandou for Supervisor campaign donated $1,000 to Olivier as did the Associated Builders and Contractors Northern California Chapter Political Action Committee (PAC).

Area 6 contenders

Area 6 Trustee Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Sandoval served Nov. 1981 to Nov. 1993, lost re-election, then was reappointed and has served since 1996.

She wants her successor to uphold the principles CUSD has had since its founding over 60 years ago while ensuring kids are educated.

Parent and teacher Deena Combs-Flores and retired business owner Bill Whitmore are seeking her seat.

Combs-Flores has lived in Clovis Unified for 16 years and has had children in the school system the entire time. She was a stay-at-home mom before becoming a teacher. She’s taught in Madera and Merced and now teaches math at a court school through the Fresno County Office.

“That’s why I’m running: it’s important for me as a parent to continue to have a say and be involved in my children’s schooling,” she said. “I have a vested interest in this school district.”

As a parent, she said she’s been concerned about what’s being “pushed” on CUSD by the government.

“Clovis Unified School District has done a good job despite all the mandates and all the pressure,” Combs-Flores said about knowing that not only as a parent but as an educator.

No financial contribution reports were filed with for Combs-Flores as of Oct. 12.

Whitmore has lived in Area 6 for 40 years and has been a parent, volunteer and coach throughout the years.

His goal of running is to preserve the “standards of excellence” that founding superintendent Doc Buchanan said the district believed in.

“High standards and excellence in Clovis schools is the responsibility in all of the board’s decisions,” Whitmore said during a CUSD board meeting when he introduced himself. “My goal is to support the direction and intentions upon which the district was founded.”

Whitmore’s sole contribution was from Robert Berry, CEO of DPS Telecom, according to financial documents.

His candidate intent form, filed on Aug. 17, made him the last candidate to do so.

Education Lab Newsletter

Get stories that matter on education issues critical to the advancement of San Joaquin Valley residents, with a focus on Fresno. Sign up, and join the conversation.

SIGN UP

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab at its website.