Holly Boffy
Holly Franks Boffy (born January 1978)[1] is a school administrator from Lafayette, the fourth largest city in Louisiana, who is a Republican member of the eleven-person Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education for District 7, which encompasses all or portions of nine southwestern parishes of Acadia, Allen, Beauregard, Calcasiey, Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Lafayette, St. Landry, St. John the Baptist, St. Landry, and Vermilion.[2]
Background
Boffy graduated in 1996 from Abbeville High School in Abbeville in Vermilion Parish in southwestern Louisiana. She received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Louisiana State University in the capital city of Baton Rouge. In 1975, she was awarded a doctorate from Walden University. She began her education career teaching social studies at Glasgow Middle School in Baton Rouge. She then transferred to Paul Breaux Middle School in Lafayette. She has been an adjunct instructor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.[3] In 2010, she was designated "Louisiana State Teacher of the Year".[4] While on the BESE board, a nonpaid position but with reimbursement for expenses, she is also director of teacher and leadership development for the Council of Chief State School Officers.[3][5]
Since 2001, Boffy has been married to her high school sweetheart, Carrick Neil Boffy (born September 1977). The couple has a son, Pierce Boffy. The family attends the Esther Baptist Church, affiliated with the Evangeline Baptist Association and located in the community of Esther in Vermilion Parish.[3][6]
Boffy and her family are active in the charity, Fishing for Memories: A Benefit Rodeo for the Alzheimer’s Association, which has raised more than $250,000 for those afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.[5]
BESE activities
In the primary held on October 22, 2011, Boffy unseated the incumbent, Dale Bayard, a convert to the Republican Party, 82,395 votes (66.5 percent) to 41,460 (33.5 percent).[7] Bayard, running as a Democrat in 2007, had narrowly defeated the Republican candidate, Charlie Buckels of Lafayette, 79,697 (51 percent) to 76,721 (49 percent).[8]
Through 2014, Boffy received $145,661 in campaign contributions in her non-salaried position. This amount includes $40,000 from the Chamber of Commerce.[9] She received $5,000 in 2015 from former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg of the PAC called Stand for Children.[10]
On October 15, 2015, The Baton Rouge Advocate reported that PAC-Empower Louisiana had available $818,000 for the BESE races. Prominent PAC members include Alice and Jim Walton, Wal-Mart heirs who reside in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Eli Broad of Los Angeles, California, and the trade association, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry. Four candidates in eight districts, including Boffy, re-elected board vice president James Garvey, Jr., in District 1 (suburban New Orleans), and the newly-elected Sandy Holloway in District 3, were declared "acceptable" to the PAC. Boffy received $107,145; Garvey, $230,459, and Holloway, $87,696.[11]
In 2011, Boffy received the endorsement of Governor Bobby Jindal, who in 2015 withdrew his support for the Common Core State Standards Initiative, of which Boffy is a steadfast backer.[4] Her opponent, fellow Republican Michael Wade "Mike" Kreamer (born January 1960), also of Lafayette,[12] opposes Common Core[13] and disagrees with Boffy on teacher evaluations, charter schools, and student grading procedures as well.[14] A long-term educator, Kreamer is the principal of St. Martinville Senior High School in St. Martinville in St. Martin Parish. He expresses alarm over the continuing exodus of teachers from public schools. In an interview, Kreamer noted his lengthy work hours as a principal: "I see how the policies that have been put into place over the past four years impact students, teachers, parents, and the system ... I think on the state board of education we need someone who is in the trenches every day to make decisions."[14]
In the primary held on October 24, 2015, Boffy, the board secretary-treasurer,[15] won her second term on BESE by defeating Kreamer, 72,246 (53.4 percent) to 62,987 (46.6 percent).[2]
References
- ↑ Holly Boffy, January 1978. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Results for Election Date: 10/24/2015. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 28, 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 About Holly Boffy. hollyboffy.com. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Danielle Dreilinger (April 30, 2014). Lafayette teacher considering bid for Holly Boffy's BESE seat, report says. The New Orleans Times-Picayune. Retrieved on November 15, 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 BESE Member Biographical Summary: Dr. Holly Boffy. bese.louisiana.gov. Retrieved on November 19, 2015.
- ↑ Esther Baptist Church. ebalaf.com. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Results for Election Date: 10/22/2011. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Results for Election Date: 10/20/2007. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 29, 2015.
- ↑ Holly Boffy. influenceexplorer.com. Retrieved on November 15, 2015.
- ↑ Elizabeth K. Jeffers. Billionaires and their Super PACS Vie for Control of Education in Louisiana. The New Orleans Tribune. Retrieved on November 15, 2015.
- ↑ Mark A. Joyce (October 23, 2015). Guest columnist recounts out-of-state money and PAC support going to campaigns of certain BESE candidates. Louisiana Voice. Retrieved on November 14, 2015.
- ↑ Michael Kreamer, January 1960. Louisiana Secretary of State. Retrieved on October 30, 2015.
- ↑ Flip BESE. Facebook. Retrieved on November 2, 2015.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Two candidates vying for District 7 BESE seat. KATC (TV). Retrieved on November 15, 2015.
- ↑ Holly Boffy, Ed.D.. linkedin.com. Retrieved on November 15, 2015.
