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Andrew Nicholes
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Andrew Nicholes is the former at-large representative on the Middletown Township School District school board in New Jersey. Nicholes was initially appointed to the position in 2016. Nicholes lost an election campaign in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Nicholes participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to view his responses.
Nicholes previously ran for a seat on the Middletown Township school board and was defeated in the general election that was held on November 3, 2015. He filed to run in the general election on November 8, 2016, but withdrew from the race when he was appointed to a vacant seat in August 2016 after incumbent Helene Henkel resigned.[1]
Elections
2017
Three of the nine seats on the Middletown Township School District school board in New Jersey were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. All three board members—Ernest Donnelly, Susan Griffin, and Andrew Nicholes—filed for re-election and were ousted from their seats by newcomers Nicholas DiFranco, Robin Stella, and Pamela Rogers. These winners also defeated fellow challengers Adam Gentile and Frank Higgins.[2]
Results
| Middletown Township School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Pamela Rogers |
15.72% | 5,474 |
| Robin Stella |
15.18% | 5,287 |
| Nicholas DiFranco |
13.94% | 4,855 |
| Susan Griffin Incumbent | 13.73% | 4,781 |
| Frank Higgins | 10.97% | 3,819 |
| Adam Gentile | 10.55% | 3,674 |
| Ernest Donnelly Incumbent | 10.33% | 3,599 |
| Andrew Nicholes Incumbent | 9.29% | 3,234 |
| Write-in votes | 0.29% | 102 |
| Total Votes | 34,825 | |
| Source: Monmouth County, "General Election, November 7, 2017: Official Results," accessed March 22, 2018 | ||
Funding
Nicholes did not report campaign contributions or expenditures in this election as of October 23, 2017, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[3]
2016
Three of the nine seats on the Middletown Township School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. John Little Jr., Leonora Caminiti, and incumbent Michael Donlon won election to the three seats by defeating incumbent Vincent Brand, Donald Hager, and Frank Higgins. Andrew Nicholes originally filed to run in the race but was appointed to the Middletown board in August 2016 after incumbent Helene Henkel resigned.[4]
Results
Nicholes was appointed to a seat in August 2016.
2015
Three of the nine seats on the Middletown Township School District school board were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The election was held at large.[5] Incumbents James Cody, Joan Minnuies, and Leonora Caminiti ran for re-election.[6]
Cody and Minnuies won re-election, while challenger Danielle Walsh joined the board. Cody, Minnuies, and Walsh defeated Caminiti, Christopher Aveta, Thomas Ballard, Mark Bouthillette, and Andrew Nicholes.[7][8]
Results
| Middletown Township Board of Education, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Danielle Walsh |
17.1% | 3,136 |
| Joan Minnuies Incumbent |
16.4% | 3,003 |
| James Cody Incumbent |
14.5% | 2,654 |
| Leonora Caminiti Incumbent | 12.9% | 2,362 |
| Andrew Nicholes | 12.0% | 2,197 |
| Mark Bouthillette | 10.0% | 1,838 |
| Thomas Ballard | 9.0% | 1,644 |
| Christopher Aveta | 8.1% | 1,483 |
| Total Votes | 18,317 | |
| Source: Monmouth County Clerk, "General Election 11/03/2015 Official Results," accessed November 23, 2015 | ||
Funding
Nicholes reported no contributions or expenditures to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in the election.[9]
The first campaign finance reporting deadline was October 5, 2015. Candidates had to file another report on October 23, 2015, and the last report was due November 23, 2015.[10]
Endorsements
Nicholes received no official endorsements in this election.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Andrew J. Nicholes participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[11] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 20, 2017:
| “ | To continue be a voice for my community and to help keep our school district performing at the highest performing levels in areas of instruction, curriculum, facilities and student directed learning, while maintaining a budget that is fair and equitable to our taxpayers.[12][13] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in New Jersey. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | Staggering the above issues in order from most important to least important I don't feel is fair - as all of the issues are important for a district to succeed and during my tenure as a board member we have strived to give equal attention to these issues.[13] | ” |
| —Andrew J. Nicholes (September 20, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| On a case by case basis. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio. |
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Nicholes participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, Nicholes did not answer the question.
Ranking the issues
Nicholes was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
|
Click here to learn more about education policy in New Jersey. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
Nicholes was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "They should not be implemented."* | |
| Nicholes did not answer this question. | |
| "No" | |
| "No" | |
| Nicholes did not answer this question. | |
| "Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy." | |
| Nicholes did not answer this question. | |
| "No" | |
| "Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district." | |
| Nicholes did not answer this question. | |
| *Nicholes originally submitted "They should be implemented," as his answer to this question. He later revised his answer via email correspondence with Ballotpedia.[14] |
Candidate website
Nicholes highlighted the following statement on his campaign website:
| “ | I am a lifelong resident of Middletown Township and a graduate from the Middletown Township School District.
I have been employed across multiple areas of our district and have first hand knowledge and experience of what it will take to make things better for our children and taxpayers! Your children's best interests have been my best interests for many years and if elected I will ensure that continues. I was a Volunteer Football coach for ten years at Middletown High School South, long term substitute teacher, and paraprofessional for special education students. I have regularly attended school board meetings for ten years and have remained a neutral party when historic tough decisions are being discussed and voted on and have weighed the issues on their merits. I am currently employed as a Teacher in the Parsippany-Troy Hills School District. Follow me @Andy4Middletown on Twitter and ask me questions using #Andy4Middletown Election Day is November 3rd! Vote #1 on the ballot for Andy Nicholes![13] |
” |
| —Andy Nicholes' campaign website (2015)[15] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Andrew Nicholes Middletown Township School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Middletown Township School District, New Jersey
- Middletown Township School District elections (2017)
- Middletown Township School District elections (2016)
- Middletown Township School District elections (2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Ballotpedia , "Email communication with Andrew Nicholes," October 13, 2016
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Grace Soden, Senior Technical Assistant for the Office of the Monmouth County Clerk," August 8, 2017
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Filings," accessed October 23, 2017
- ↑ Mandy Gillip,"Phone conversation with Monmouth County Clerk," August 1, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "2015 General Election Timeline," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ Monmouth County, New Jersey, "Election Information," accessed October 28, 2013
- ↑ Monmouth County Clerk, "General Election 11/03/2015 Unofficial Results," accessed November 4, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidates - ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "View a Candidate or Election Related Committee Report," accessed November 24, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "2015 Reporting Dates," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Andrew J. Nicholes's responses," September 20, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Andy Nicholes," October 28, 2015
- ↑ Andy Nicholes For Middletown BOE Facebook, "About," accessed October 21, 2015
| Middletown Township School District elections in 2017 | |
| Monmouth County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Ernest Donnelly • Incumbent, Susan Griffin • Incumbent, Andrew Nicholes • Nicholas DiFranco • Adam Gentile • Frank Higgins • Pamela Rogers • Robin Stella |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
| 2016 Middletown Township School District Elections | |
| Monmouth County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Vincent Brand • Incumbent, Michael Donlon • Leonora Caminiti • Donald Hager • Frank Higgins • John Little Jr. |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
| 2015 Middletown Township School District Elections | |
| Monmouth County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Leonora Caminiti • Incumbent, James Cody • Incumbent, Joan Minnuies • Christopher Aveta • Thomas Ballard • Mark Bouthillette • Danielle Walsh |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
