Appleton Area School District elections (2017)
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Three of the seven seats on the Appleton Area School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. Board incumbents Diane Barkmeier and Barry O'Connor filed for re-election and were joined on the ballot by newcomer Alvin Dupree. All three won terms on the board.[1]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Appleton Area School District Board of Education consists of seven members elected at large to three-year terms on a staggered basis. Two seats were up for election in 2015, and two seats were up for election on 2016. The general election was held on April 4, 2017.
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.[2]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.[2]
Elections
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Appleton Area School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Diane Barkmeier Incumbent |
36.32% | 5,702 |
| Barry O'Connor Incumbent |
33.99% | 5,336 |
| Alvin Dupree |
28.53% | 4,479 |
| Write-in votes | 1.17% | 184 |
| Total Votes | 15,701 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Kimm Smith," May 24, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Diane Barkmeier
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Barry O'Connor
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Alvin Dupree
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017
The Appleton Area School District Board of Education election shared the ballot with elections for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction, one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and one seat on the Outagamie County Circuit Court.[3]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:[4][5]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 16, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1 |
| February 13, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for districts holding primary elections |
| March 27, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for general election |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
| April 24, 2017 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2017 | Post-election campaign finance deadline |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[6]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[7]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[5]
All candidates in this race filed exempt from reporting contributions or expenditures, according to the Appleton Area School District.[8]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016The election was canceled by the district due to lack of opposition. The two incumbents were automatically re-elected.[9] 2015Kay S. Eggert and John E. Mielke were both re-elected to their at-large seats without opposition. 2014
2013
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What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Issues in the district
Lawsuit against district goes to state Supreme Court
A lawsuit first filed in 2011 against the Appleton Area School District went to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in late 2016, and the court was expected to make its decision in June or July of 2017. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of district parent John Krueger, stated that the district had violated the state's open meetings law. The suit was filed after Krueger and a parent group called the Valley School Watch asked the board to make available an alternative freshman communications course because they did not want students to read references to suicide and sex in the book, "The Body of Christopher Creed." The board denied the request because the book was not required reading and parents had the option to opt their children out of reading particular books. However, two district administrators established a committee to review the course materials, which was not open to the public. Community members could give feedback on the course, and a total of 33 people did so, according to the district.[10]
"We don't want governmental entities to be able to avoid the open meetings law simply by delegating committee-making authority downwards and having high level administrators do it instead of the governing board," said Thomas Kamenick, an attorney for the Wisconsin Institute of Law and Liberty (WILL), which filed the lawsuit on behalf of Krueger.[10]
Superintendent Lee Allinger said that traditionally, curriculum committee meetings have not been open to the public, and that meetings between two district administrators to conduct business often occur, which could be impacted by the court's decision. "The level of transparency that is being requested in the lawsuit now before the (state) Supreme Court would be a new level for not only school districts but municipalities and counties and other governmental entities in terms of operations," Allinger said.[10]
District seeks new superintendent
Appleton Area School District Superintendent Lee Allinger announced his plans to retire effective June 30, 2017, in a letter to district staff members in January 2017. Allinger served as the district's superintendent for ten years and worked in the district for 33 years.[11]
Appleton Area School District began its search for a new superintendent in February 2017 by posting a survey on its website asking for community members' input. The district also held an open community forum on March 14, 2017. School Exec Connect, an educational search firm, was hired by the district to assist in the search process. The district planned to offer a contract to a new superintendent by the end of April, with a start date of July 1, 2017.[12][13]
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2017
The 2017 Appleton Area School District saw the same lack of opposition as the past two elections in the district. The district's races were unopposed in both 2016 and 2015. The school board race in 2014, however, saw four candidates file for three seats. In 2015, the district's rate of unopposed seats was 100 percent, the Wisconsin state average was 32.00 percent, and the U.S. average was 35.95 percent. During the same year, 35.29 percent of the seats up for election in Wisconsin were filled by newcomers, while newcomers won 40.81 percent of school board seats in the largest school districts across the United States. The state saw a lower rate of seats won by newcomers in 2014 when that rate was 23.33 percent, while it was 38.24 percent in the U.S.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Appleton Area School District | |||||
| 2017 | 1.00 | 100.00% | TBD | TBD | |
| 2016 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| 2015 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2014 | 1.33 | 00.00% | 100.00% | 33.33% | |
| Wisconsin | |||||
| 2015 | 1.38 | 32.00% | 84.00% | 35.29% | |
| 2014 | 1.40 | 46.67% | 88.46% | 23.33% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.59% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
About the district
- See also: Appleton Area School District, Wisconsin
The Appleton Area School District is located in Outagamie County in eastern Wisconsin. The county seat is Appleton. Outagamie County was home to 183,245 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[14] The district was the sixth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 16,373 students.[15]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Outagamie County underperformed compared to Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education attainment between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 27.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.8 percent for the state as a whole.[14]
Median household income
The median household income for Outagamie County was $58,765 between 2011 and 2015. During that same time period, the median household income for Wisconsin as a whole was $53,357, and it was $53,889 for the entire United States.[14]
Poverty rate
Between 2011 and 2015, the poverty rate in Outagamie County was 9.0 percent compared to 12.1 percent statewide. During that same time period, the poverty rate for the country as a whole was 13.5 percent.[14]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[14] | ||
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| Race | Outagamie County (%) | Wisconsin (%) |
| White | 91.6 | 87.6 |
| Black or African American | 1.3 | 6.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.8 | 1.1 |
| Asian | 3.5 | 2.8 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 4.1 | 6.6 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Appleton Area School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Appleton Area School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Kimm Smith, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent and Board of Education," January 5, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates: 2017 Spring Election Edition," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking by Office: 2017 Spring Election - 4/4/2017," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Guided for Candidates," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Kimm Smith," April 3, 2017
- ↑ Nick Katers, "Email correspondence with Kimm Smith," January 11, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 The Post-Crescent, "Appleton schools lawsuit goes to state Supreme Court," November 18, 2016
- ↑ Post-Crescent, "Appleton schools Supt. Allinger to retire," January 10, 2017
- ↑ Appleton Area School District, "Superintendent Search," accessed March 21, 2017
- ↑ Post-Crescent, "Appleton schools seek feedback on new leader," March 1, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 United States Census Bureau, "Outagamie County, Wisconsin," accessed December 12, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Appleton Area School District elections in 2017 | |
| Outagamie County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Diane Barkmeier • Incumbent, Barry O'Connor • Alvin Dupree |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
