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Appoquinimink School District elections (2015)
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One seat on the Appoquinimink School District Board of Education was up for general election on May 12, 2015. At-large incumbent Julie Johnson's seat was up for election. While Johnson did not file to run for re-election, one former officeholder, one returning candidate and six others filed for the open seat. Michelle Myers Wall, a first-time candidate for the board, won the election.
Joanne Christian served on the board from 2002 to 2012, but did not seek re-election at the end of her last term. She faced Debbie Harrington, who sought election to the board in 2014, as well as newcomers Tara Greathouse, Michelle Myers Wall, Ryan Scott and William Weller.[1]
Dainelle Hampton-Morton and Mark Heck initially filed for the races, as well, but withdrew prior to the election. Their names did not appear on the ballot.
Compared to the previous 16 years, the 2015 election was the most competitive in the district. Competitiveness in Appoquinimink's school board elections had been on the rise in recent years, outstripping other school districts in Delaware. In 2015, Appoquinimink saw a candidate filing rate 3.2 times the average for the state's five largest school districts.
One of the candidates in this race, Ryan Scott, participated in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey.
About the district
- See also: Appoquinimink School District, Delaware
Appoquinimink School District is located in New Castle County in northern Delaware. The county seat is Wilmington. The county was home to an estimated 549,684 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] Appoquinimink School District was the fifth-largest school district in Delaware, serving 9,380 students in the 2012-2013 school year.[3]
Academic performance
In the 2013-2014 school year, Appoquinimink School District had a graduation rate of 94.7 percent, up from 86.5 percent the year before. The district's dropout rate rose slightly from 0.7 percent to 0.8 percent but was still lower than the 2011-2012 rate of 2.1 percent. District 11th-graders participated in the SAT at a higher rate than the state average in 2013-2014 and performed better on all parts of the test. The state average overall score was 1,303 while it was 1,373 for the district.[4]
Disciplinary action
In the 2013-2014 school year, the district suspended or expelled students less than the state average. The district expelled four students and 2,134 suspensions were administered. A total of 755 students were either suspended or expelled. Overall, 8 percent of the student body received either of these disciplinary actions, compared to 13 percent statewide.[4]
Demographics
New Castle County outperformed Delaware as a whole in terms of higher education achievement, median household income and poverty rate in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 33.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 28.9 percent for the state. The median household income in the county was $64,537 compared to $59,878 for Delaware. The poverty rate in New Castle County was 10.7 percent compared to 11.7 percent for the entire state.[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 Appoquinimink School Board consists of five members elected to five-year terms in at-large elections. While elected at-large, candidates must live within the nominating district of the seat for which they are running. Candidates filed to run for the seat in their nominating districts, but all voters in the school district were eligible to vote for both seats up for election.
There was no primary election, and the general election was scheduled for May 12, 2015. One at-large seat was up for election. Candidates had to file for the election by March 6, 2015.
Voters were required to register to vote at least 24 days prior to the election. All voters were required to provide identification at the polls. Valid identification included a photo ID, utility bill, paycheck or any other government document featuring the voter's name and address.[6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
| Joanne Christian | Tara Greathouse | Michelle Myers Wall 
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| Debbie Harrington | Ryan Scott | William Weller | |||
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Withdrawn candidates
Sample ballot
District map
Election results
| Appoquinimink School District, At-Large General Election, 5-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Michelle Myers Wall |
55.9% | 609 | |
| Nonpartisan | Debbie Harrington | 19.8% | 216 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joanne Christian | 10.7% | 117 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tara Greathouse | 8.9% | 97 | |
| Nonpartisan | William Weller | 2.4% | 26 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ryan Scott | 2.2% | 24 | |
| Total Votes | 1,089 | |||
| Source: Department of Elections for New Castle County, "Appoquinimink School District: May 12, 2015 School Board Election," accessed May 28, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Michelle Myers Wall received endorsements from the following organizations:[7]
- Appoquinimink Education Association
- Appoquinimink Education Paraprofessional Support Association
- Appoquinimink Food Service Workers Association.
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported as of May 7, 2015, according to the Delaware Commissioner of Elections.[8]
Candidates for public offices in Delaware that pay less than $1,000 are not required to form a candidate committee. Candidates who do not receive or spend more than $2,000 from the date of the first contribution or expenditure to the end of the calendar year are also not required to form a committee.[9]
Candidates who do receive or expend more than $2,000, including contributions or expenditures by the candidates themselves, are required to notify the Delaware Commissioner of Elections within seven days of the receipt or expenditure which brings the total to more than $2,000.[9]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the election
Competition rises; biggest contest in Delaware's largest districts
In the 16 years prior to this election, no race for the Appoquinimink Board of Education garnered as many candidate filings per seat as in 2015. Competitive races, however, have been on the rise in recent years leading up to 2015's extreme. Compared to the other school districts in Delaware's largest five, Appoquinimink has been the most competitive in recent elections.[10]
From 1999 to 2014, each seat up for election in the district averaged less than three candidate filings; only two elections had more than four candidates. More than half of the time, candidates were unopposed or faced only one other candidate in their election bid.[10]
From 2010 to 2015, however, an average of four candidates ran for each election, ranging from a low of two to 2015's high of eight. Just one seat was up for election each year. During this period, incumbents sought re-election twice and faced opposition both times. Ultimately, the two incumbents who sought re-election won against their challengers.[10]
Compared to the four other school districts included in Delaware's largest five by enrollment, Appoquinimink School District had the most competitive races from 2010 to 2015 and the lowest incumbent retention rate from 2010 to 2014. From 2010 to 2015, these school districts saw unopposed school board races 44.44 percent of the time. Appoquinimink, alternatively, saw no unopposed races during that period. In that same period, only one other district, Brandywine School District, averaged less than one incumbent per election at 0.83 incumbents per seat up for election. Appoquinimink was significantly lower at just 0.33 incumbents per seat in the six-year window.[10]
Appoquinimink's races from 2010 to 2015 have been more than twice as competitive as the average for the state's largest districts in that time period. In 2015 alone, Appoquinimink saw 3.2 times as many candidates as the average for all five districts.[10]
Ballotpedia survey responses
One candidate in this election participated in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. The following sections display the responses from Ryan Scott.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priority would be if elected, Scott stated:
| “ | Improving communication would be my top priority. Increasingly our community does not trust district leadership; the district needs to do more to involve the community in the mission and purpose of the school district. Additionally, we need better communication from the classroom to the district decision-makers. I will be available to any teacher, student, or parent who wishes to voice concerns or comments; I will seek out these comments in open and honest means.[11] | ” |
| —Ryan Scott (2015), [12] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were 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 the candidates' rankings which can be sorted from most to least important:
| Education policy |
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Click here to learn more about education policy in Delaware. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
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| Issue | Scott's ranking |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidate's responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the 2015 Delaware school board elections:[13]
| Deadline | Event |
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| March 6, 2015 | Candidate filing deadline |
| May 8, 2015 | Last day absentee ballots are mailed |
| May 11, 2015 | Last day absentee ballots issued |
| May 12, 2015 | Election Day |
| May 14, 2015 | Election results certified |
| June 2, 2015 | New school board terms begin |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Delaware elections, 2015
Public school elections were the only elections scheduled for May 12, 2015, in New Castle County.[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Appoquinimink School District Delaware. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Appoquinimink School District | Delaware | School Boards |
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External links
- Appoquinimink School District
- Odessa, Delaware
- Middletown, Delaware
- New Castle County Elections Office
Footnotes
- ↑ New Castle County Department of Elections, "May 12, 2015 School Board Candidates & Filing Dates," March 6, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "New Castle, Delaware," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 20, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 State of Delaware, "Appoquinimink District," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ Delaware Office of the State Election Commissioner, "Election Results Archive," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ The State of Delaware, "Frequently asked questions on voting," accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ Middletown Transcript, "Q&A with Appoquinimink Board of Education candidate Michelle Myers Wall," April 23, 2015
- ↑ State of Delaware, "Campaign Finance Reporting System," accessed May 7, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Delaware Elections, "Campaign Finance Section: School Board Member Filing Packet," accessed January 22, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 New Castle County Department of Elections, "Election Results: Appoquinimink School District," accessed March 9, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Ryan Scott's responses," May 8, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Department of Elections for New Castle County, "2015 Election Calendar," January 12, 2015
| 2015 Appoquinimink School District Elections | |
| New Castle County, Delaware | |
| Election date: | May 12, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Joanne Christian • Tara Greathouse • Michelle Myers Wall • Debbie Harrington • Ryan Scott • William Weller |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
