Appleton Area School District elections (2015)
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Two seats on the Appleton Area Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. A primary election would have been held on February 17, 2015, if more than two candidates had filed per seat.
Two at-large board incumbents, Kay S. Eggert and John E. Mielke, were up for re-election. They ran unopposed.[1]
About the district
- See also: Appleton Area School District, Wisconsin
Appleton Area School District is located in Outagamie County in eastern Wisconsin. The county seat is Appleton. In 2013, Outagamie County was home to approximately 180,345 residents according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[2] During the 2011-2012 school year, Appleton Area School District was the sixth-largest school district by enrollment in Wisconsin and served 15,119 students.[3]
Demographics
Outagamie County performed consistently with the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 26.4 percent of Outagamie County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, which was the same percentage for Wisconsin as a whole. The median household income for Outagamie County was $57,584 between 2008 and 2012. During that same time period, the median household income for the entire state was $52,627. Between 2008 and 2012, the poverty rate in Outagamie County was 8.6 percent compared to 12.5 percent statewide.[2]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Appleton Board of Education consists of seven members who are elected at-large on a staggered basis to three-year terms. If more than two candidates had filed for any board position, a primary election would have been held on February 17, 2015. Because only the two incumbents filed to run in this election, both advanced to the general election on April 7, 2015.
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. Furthermore, at the time of taking office, each candidate must be a resident of the apportioned area he or she is elected to represent.[5] Candidates must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[6]
Candidates had between December 1, 2014, and January 6, 2015, to collect between 100 and 200 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the district that the candidate sought election to represent, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years or older.[7]
Residents could register to vote in the election at the polling place on the election day. Proof of residence was required when registering to vote.[8] In March 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law allowing it to take effect. However, Wisconsin officials stated they would not enforce the law until after the election on April 7, 2015. No photo identification was required to vote in this election.[9]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
- Kay S. Eggert
- Incumbent
- Former dentist
- John E. Mielke
- Incumbent
- Retired cardiologist
Election results
Kay S. Eggert and John E. Mielke were both re-elected to their at-large seats without opposition.
Endorsements
There were no official endorsements in this race.
Campaign finance
Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:
- accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
- accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
Past elections
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2014
2013
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the district
District officials speak out at public hearing on proposed budget
At a public hearing on Gov. Scott Walker's proposed budget in March 2015, Appleton Area School District officials testified on the district's inability to keep up with public education funding cuts.[10]
According to Appleton Superintendent Lee Allinger, the district stood to lose as much as $2.2 million in per-pupil funding under the governor's proposal. Don Hietpas, the district's chief financial officer, said the district could not keep up with rising operational costs, despite using tools to save on costs. “We cannot sustain excellent student programming and student activities if our revenues continue to be frozen,” Hietpas said.[10]
Education officials from the Green Bay Area Public School District, the Howard-Suamico School District and the Ashwaubenon School District joined Allinger and Hietpas to speak out on the education funding cuts as well as the proposal to eliminate the cap on the state's school voucher program that was included in the governor's budget.[10]
Green Bay Superintendent Michelle Langenfeld said her district could not be sure what its revenue would be with the possibility of unlimited vouchers available to private schools. “How do I explain, that if history is to be our guide, many of these students will never have attended the school district and therefore, the voucher program is literally taking money away from their students’ classrooms to pay for vouchers," said Langenfeld.[11]
Staff members from private voucher schools in Green Bay, Appleton and Fond du Lac also attended the hearing to praise the governor's proposal to expand the voucher system.[11] A district official from a private school in Appleton said that some families could not afford to send their students to their school of choice without the help of the state voucher program.[10]
In April 2015, the Appleton Board of Education followed the budget hearings with a published statement calling for support from local residents. The statement asked residents to speak out about their support of public education funding and to ask the Wisconsin State Legislature to prioritize it in the 2015-2017 budget.[12] The full statement can be found here.
On May 20, 2015, the Joint Finance Committee voted to include the proposal eliminating the enrollment cap on the state voucher program in the state budget. The vote followed party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats against.[13]
The proposal was passed with the state budget by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor on July 12, 2015. The program allows up to 1 percent of a school district's students to enroll in the voucher program for the 2015-2016 school year and then allows an additional 1 percent into the program each following school year for 10 years. In the 2025-2026 school year, the cap will be eliminated. Students with disabilities are also allowed to enroll in the program if they have been denied open enrollment by a public school. Funding for the program will come from public school district aid.[14]
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for the Appleton Area School District election in 2015:[15][7]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline at 5 p.m. |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| February 17, 2015 | Primary election day |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| April 7, 2015 | Election Day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
In addition to the school board election, elections for county executive and multi-jurisdictional municipal judge in Outagamie County were scheduled for election on April 7, 2015. Statewide, a constitutional amendment question regarding the selection of the state's supreme court chief justice was on the ballot.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Appleton + Area + School + District + Wisconsin"
See also
- Wisconsin
- Appleton Area School District, Wisconsin
- Wisconsin school board elections, 2015
- List of school board elections in 2015
- School board elections, 2015
- Outagamie County, Wisconsin ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Wisconsin
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state...
- Wisconsin school districts 2014 review
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with the Appleton Area School District Office of the Superintendent," January 7, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Outagamie County, Wisconsin," accessed September 4, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Outagamie County Elections, "Elections Information," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: CHAPTER 8," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Voter Registration," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wisconsin Decides Not to Enforce Voter ID Law," March 23, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 La Crosse Tribune, "Parents, school officials oppose education cuts in Walker budget," March 18, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 WTAQ, "Green Bay-area public school officials decry proposed budget cuts," March 18, 2015
- ↑ Postcresent.com, "School board asks for public support," April 18, 2015
- ↑ WKOW, "Joint Finance Committee approves several education proposals," May 20, 2015
- ↑ Star Tribune, "Highlights of Wisconsin state budget signed by governor," July 12, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
| 2015 Appleton Area School District Elections | |
| Outagamie County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | General election - April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Kay S. Eggert • Incumbent, John E. Mielke |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
