15 seats, 18 candidates and four civil rights investigations
February 10, 2016
By Mandy Gillip
2016 was not a bumper year for school board elections in Oklahoma's largest school districts, with both low-contest races and low voter turnout across the state. Eighteen candidates filed for the 15 seats that were up for election on Tuesday in Oklahoma's 13 largest school districts. Twelve of these elections were canceled due to lack of opposition. In the three races that were contested, only two candidates vied for the single seat available in each race. However, residents did approve $42.2 million in bond issues.
Of the three contested races, Tulsa Public Schools saw the highest turnout. Newcomer Stan Minor faced incumbent Cindy Decker, with 87.3 percent of the 1,760 total votes cast in Decker's favor. This landslide victory came directly after the district was hit with a $2.1 million cut in funding by the State Board of Education. In consequence, the district announced that it would no longer offer STEM programming and that school lunch matching programs would be reduced by $1.5 million. However, it also released its "Destination Excellence" plan, supported by a wide range of both community and school leaders, just several weeks prior to the school board election. The plan aimed to improve the curriculum and technology in Tulsa Public Schools by creating a five-year road map that factored in the district's severe budget cuts. Decker was directly involved in the creation of this plan during her previous tenure on the board.[1][2][3][4][5]
Lawton Public Schools also held a contested race, in which long-time incumbent Donna Ronio was defeated by challenger Carla Clodfelter. Ultimately, Ronio received 30.8 percent of the vote compared to Clodfelter's 69.1 percent. While few prominent issues were featured in the district prior to the election, the issues that were covered echoed those faced by Tulsa Public Schools. Both candidates were concerned with the closing of neighborhood schools and the budget cuts handed down by the state.[6][7][5]
Three school districts with uncontested school board elections approved a total of $42.4 million in bond issues. Voters approved $11 million for Jenks Public Schools, $4.4 million for Mustang Public Schools and $27 million for Union Public Schools.
Spotlight: Oklahoma City Public Schools sees low candidate, voter participation
As the third contested race in 2016, the school board election in Oklahoma City Public Schools was maybe the most intriguing. The district was under investigation by the U.S. Board of Education's Office for Civil Rights after concerns were raised over the district's high suspension rates of black and Hispanic students. A 2015 study conducted by UCLA's Center for Civil Rights Remedies (CCRR) found that almost 50 percent of Oklahoma City Public Schools' students were suspended during the 2011-2012 school year. According to Dan Losen, the director of CCRR, "these rates are just extraordinarily high." When broken out by race, the suspension rates were even higher for black students, with 75 percent of black males suspended and 54 percent of black females suspended during the same time period. This is the highest suspension rate of black students in the nation, according to UCLA's report.[8]
There were also concerns about the status of students with disabilities in the district, prompting a new investigation to open in December 2015. This marked the fourth open investigation in the district by the Office for Civil Rights at the time of the school board election.[9]
Furthermore, the district's budget for 2016-2017 was severely cut—with more austerity measures expected to hit mid-year—and it was facing a critical teacher shortage. Still, the 2016 school board elections continued the district's history of low-contest races. Two seats were up for election, but only one seat ultimately appeared on the ballot. Amid the difficult issues plaguing the district, only two candidates filed to compete for that seat; the second race was canceled due to lack of opposition, and the sole candidate was automatically elected. In the end, only 525 constituents cast a vote the largest school district the state.[5][10]
Two newcomers vied for an open seat in District 3, which was vacated by the previous incumbent, Philip Horning. Both former teachers, Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs and Adam Zodrow campaigned on similar platforms, emphasizing the need to support neighborhood schools and touching on a new disciplinary plan released by the district.[11][12] Coppernoll Jacobs ultimately won the race by a relatively close margin. While she earned 53.9 percent of the vote (283 votes), Zodrow garnered 46.1 percent (242 votes).[5]
The District 4 seat was won by newcomer Paula Lewis, an occupational therapist with no past political experience, after incumbent Laura Massenat withdrew her bid in December 2015. Massenat cited a desire to "focus on other endeavors."[13]
Candidates
Note: An (i) next to a candidate's name indicates incumbent status.
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Broken Arrow Public Schools Edmond Public Schools Jenks Public Schools Proposition No. 1 Lawton Public Schools Midwest City-Del City Schools |
Moore Public Schools Mustang Public Schools Norman Public Schools Oklahoma City Public Schools District 4 |
Owasso Public Schools Putnam City Schools Tulsa Public Schools District 6 Union Public Schools Proposition No. 1 |
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ 2 Tulsa, "Tulsa Public Schools approves new 5-year plan with unanimous vote," January 19, 2016
- ↑ NewsOn6, "TPS Board Unanimously Passes 'Destination Excellence' Plan," January 19, 2016
- ↑ NewsOn6, "OK State Board Of Education Cuts Millions From Budget," January 7, 2016
- ↑ NewsOn6, "Tulsa Public Schools Cuts Spending By $2.1 Million," January 13, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Oklahoma Election Board, "Unofficial Results-Annual School Elections," accessed February 10, 2016
- ↑ The Lawton Constitution, "Clodfelter To Run For Seat On Lawton School Board," December 27, 2015
- ↑ The Lawton Constitution, "LPS Board Member Faces Opposition," December 7, 2015
- ↑ KOSU, "High Suspension Rates at Oklahoma City Public Schools Trigger Systemic Changes," March 25, 2015
- ↑ KGOU, "Federal Government Opens New Civil Rights Probe Into Oklahoma City Public Schools," February 1, 2016
- ↑ Oklahoma Gazette, "OKCPS school board candidates address discipline, budget cuts," January 29, 2016
- ↑ Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs, "Candidate of Oklahoma City Public Schools, District 3," accessed January 22, 2016
- ↑ Adam Zodrow for District 3, "About Adam," accessed January 22, 2016
- ↑ NewsOK, "Oklahoma City School Board member changes mind, won't seek re-election," December 10, 2015
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