Bayonne School District elections (2016)
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Four of the nine seats on the Bayonne Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. The ballot included three seats with three-year terms and one seat with a two-year term.[1] Charles Ryan defeated John Cupo and Maria Valado for the seat with the two-year term. Incumbents Carol Cruden, Mary Jane Desmond, and Denis Wilbeck won re-election to the seats with three-year terms by defeating challengers Michael Alonso, Gina Irizarry, Leonard Kantor, Sharma Montgomery, George Vinc Jr., and John Sebik.[2]
From 1979 to 2014, the members of Bayonne's school board were appointed by the mayor rather than elected.[3] On November 4, 2014, voters approved a ballot question changing the board from a system of appointed membership to one of elected membership, with 76.5 percent voting for the change. The board's first elected members won their seats in the November 2015 general election.[4]
Two candidates participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Bayonne Board of Education is overseen by a nine-member board elected at large to three-year terms. Four of the nine seats were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Three of the seats came with a three year term, while one of the seats up for election had a two-year term. There was no primary election.[5]
Candidates and results
At-large (2-year term)
Results
| Bayonne School District, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Charles Ryan |
41.95% | 4,034 |
| Maria Valado | 36.76% | 3,535 |
| John Cupo | 21.17% | 2,036 |
| Write-in votes | 0.11% | 11 |
| Total Votes | 9,616 | |
| Source: Hudson County, New Jersey, "2016 General Election Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| John Cupo | Charles Ryan 
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Maria Valado | |||
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At-large (3-year term)
Results
| Bayonne School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Denis Wilbeck Incumbent |
22.03% | 6,712 |
| Mary Jane Desmond Incumbent |
18.26% | 5,563 |
| Carol Cruden Incumbent |
10.14% | 3,089 |
| Gina Irizarry | 9.53% | 2,902 |
| Leonard Kantor | 9.23% | 2,813 |
| Michael Alonso | 8.93% | 2,722 |
| George Vinc Jr. | 8.27% | 2,518 |
| John Sebik | 6.80% | 2,072 |
| Sharma Montgomery | 6.67% | 2,032 |
| Write-in votes | 0.14% | 42 |
| Total Votes | 30,465 | |
| Source: Hudson County, New Jersey, "2016 General Election Results," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Michael Alonso | Carol Cruden
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Mary Jane Desmond
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| Gina Irizarry | Leonard Kantor | Sharma Montgomery | |||
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| John Sebik | George Vinc Jr. | Denis Wilbeck
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Additional elections
- See also: New Jersey elections, 2016
The Bayonne School District Board of Education election shared the ballot with the presidential election, New Jersey House of Representatives election, Jersey City municipal elections, as well as elections for state and local ballot measures.[6]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for New Jersey school board elections in 2016:[7][8]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 25, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| September 9, 2016 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| October 10, 2016 | First pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 18, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 28, 2016 | Second pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 8, 2016 | Election day |
| November 28, 2016 | Post-election campaign finance report due |
| January 1 - January 7, 2017 | New members sworn in |
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
No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[9]
What was at stake?
Candidate survey
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from John Cupo and Gina Irizarry.
Hope to achieve
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Cupo stated:
| “ | Hello ,I'm John R. Cupo, I will negotiate a settled teachers contract immediately, "no, if's ends or but's"... I'm running for the two-year term on the board of education. I am ready to take the oath to protect and serve our children. I am ready to take the oath to protect and serve an open, transparent school board. I am ready to take the oath to protect and preserve all monies received and spent. I am ready to take the oath to keep city hall and politics out of this school board election. I not only want to win this election as a board member, I am declaring that I want to win and lead the board as its’ president. If given the opportunity on election day, I will negotiate a settled teachers contract immediately, "no, it's ends if's or but's"...[10] | ” |
| —John Cupo (October 13, 2016)[11] | ||
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Irizarry stated:
| “ | I hope to be an advocate for the community of Bayonne that has been kept in the dark about important decisions that I think are often made impulsively.[10] | ” |
| —Gina Irizarry (October 20, 2016)[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 their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
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| Issue | Cupo's ranking | Irizarry's ranking | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary 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 nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
- See also: Bayonne School District, New Jersey
Bayonne School District is located in northwest New Jersey in Hudson County. The county seat is Jersey City. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Hudson County was home to 674,836 residents between 2010 and 2015.[13] The district was the 20th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 9,691 students.[14]
Demographics
Hudson County underperformed compared to New Jersey as a whole in terms of median household income between 2010 and 2014. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median household income in Hudson County was $58,973, compared to $72,062 statewide. The poverty rate in Hudson County was 17.7 percent, compared to 10.8 percent for the entire state. The U.S. Census Bureau also found that 36.8 percent of Hudson County residents aged 25 years and older attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 36.4 percent statewide.[13]
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Bayonne School District' 'New Jersey'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Bayonne School District | New Jersey | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Bayonne School District, "Board Member Election Process," May 31, 2016
- ↑ Hudson County Clerk, "2016 (November) School Candidates," accessed October 9, 2016
- ↑ NJ.com, "Bayonne's first school board election in over 35 years is coming up: Who's running?" July 28, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "Overwhelming majority of Bayonne voters choose to have an elected school board," November 5, 2014
- ↑ Bayonne School District, "Board of Education" accessed October 10, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "General Election Information," accessed September 20, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey School Boards Association, "2016 School Board Candidacy & Election Dates," accessed September 20, 2016
- ↑ State of New Jersey Department of State, "General Election Timeline," accessed September 20, 2016
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Public Information," accessed December 8, 2016
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "John Cupo's responses," October 13, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Gina Irizarry's responses," October 20, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 United States Census Bureau, "Hudson County, New Jersey," accessed September 20, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "NJ Election Information and Results Archive," accessed October 9, 2016
