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Baron Braswell
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Baron Braswell is the Battlefield District representative on the Spotsylvania County Public Schools school board in Virginia. First elected in 2013, Braswell won a new term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Braswell participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Braswell said he initially got involved with the Spotsylvania County Public Schools in 2006 when his son, a student at Courtland High School, was murdered, according to The Free Lance-Star. After the incident, Braswell volunteered as a grief counselor, character educator for football programs, and coach for junior varsity football. His work experience includes serving as an insurance agent.[1]
Elections
2017
Three of the seven seats on the Spotsylvania County Public Schools school board in Virginia were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to the Battlefield District seat, incumbent Baron Braswell ran unopposed and won another term. Incumbent Erin Grampp defeated challenger April Gillespie for the Berkeley District seat. In the race for the Lee Hill District seat, Lisa Phelps defeated Kathryn “Kassie” Palmer, who was appointed to the formerly vacant seat on July 10, 2017.[2][3]
Results
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Battlefield District General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Baron Braswell Incumbent (unopposed) |
97.02% | 4,300 |
| Write-in votes | 2.98% | 132 |
| Total Votes | 4,432 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Funding
Braswell reported no contributions or expenditures to the Virginia Department of Elections in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Braswell was endorsed by the Spotsylvania Education Association.[5]
2013
Results
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Battlefield District General Election, 4-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Baron Braswell |
98.2% | 3,914 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in Votes | 1.8% | 73 | |
| Total Votes | 3,987 | |||
| Source: Spotsylvania County, Virginia, "November 2013 General Election Official Results," accessed December 12, 2013 | ||||
Endorsements
The Spotsylvania Education Association endorsed Braswell.[6]
Funding
Braswell reported no contributions or expenditures to the Virginia State Board of Elections.[7]
2009
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Battlefield District General Election, 4-year term, 2009 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Linda Wieland |
50.3% | 1,697 | |
| Nonpartisan | Baron Braswell | 49.5% | 1,668 | |
| N/A | Write-in Votes | 0.2% | 8 | |
| Total Votes | 3,373 | |||
| Source: Spotsylvania County, Virginia, "November 2009 General Election Official Results," accessed October 15, 2013 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Baron P. Braswell participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[8] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on July 24, 2017:
| “ | Students that are prepared to be college or career ready upon graduation[9][10] | ” |
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 Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
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. They have to much weight and emphasis |
| 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? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. |
| 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? |
| The extreme cases of safety violations |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Parent involvement is of critical importance as well |
2013
Braswell said his priorities were to eliminate student athlete fees and to propose a pay increase for teachers who had been with the district for five years, according to The Free Lance-Star.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Baron Braswell Spotsylvania County Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Virginia
- Spotsylvania County Public Schools elections (2017)
- Spotsylvania County Public Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Free Lance-Star, "Spotsy school board candidates line up, published May 4, 2013
- ↑ News Talk 1230, "Spotsy School Board Selects Palmer," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Christina Johnson, Spotsylvania County Chief Deputy Registrar," June 14, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports: Search Committees," accessed January 17, 2018
- ↑ Spotsylvania Education Association, "Reminder," October 16, 2017
- ↑ The Free Lance-Star, "Spotsylvania Education Association endorses school board, supervisor candidates," October 22, 2013
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections Campaign Finance Reports," accessed December 18, 2013
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Baron P. Braswell's responses," July 24, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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