Blount County Schools elections (2016)
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Three of the seven seats on the Blount County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on August 4, 2016.[1] In his bid for re-election, District 2 incumbent Bill Padgett ran unopposed and won re-election. District 4 incumbent Trevis Gardner did not file to run for re-election. Robby Kirkland defeated Sandra Worthington to fill that open seat. The District 6 race featured incumbent Jim Compton and challenger Robert McDaniel. Compton was re-elected to another term.[2][3][4]
Fewer candidates filed to run in this election than in the district's 2014 election. To see how this race compared to past elections in the both the district and the state, check out the "Election trends" section below.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Blount County Board of Education consists of seven members elected by district to four-year terms. Elections are held on a staggered basis every August of even-numbered years. The District 1, 3, 5, and 7 seats were up for election on August 7, 2014, and the District 2, 4, and 6 seats were up for general election on August 4, 2016. There was no primary election.[3][5]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file their qualifying documents by April 7, 2016. The deadline to withdraw from the election was April 14, 2016.[1]
To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by July 5, 2016.[1] Photo identification was required to vote in this election.[6]
Candidates and results
District 2
Results
| Blount County Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Bill Padgett Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 1,215 |
| Total Votes | 1,215 | |
| Source: Blount County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report," accessed January 12, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Bill Padgett 
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District 4
Results
| Blount County Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Robby Kirkland |
52.64% | 868 |
| Sandra Worthington | 47.36% | 781 |
| Total Votes | 1,649 | |
| Source: Blount County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report," accessed January 12, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Robby Kirkland
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Sandra Worthington | ||
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District 6
Results
| Blount County Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Jim Compton Incumbent |
66.88% | 1,042 |
| Robert McDaniel | 33.12% | 516 |
| Total Votes | 1,558 | |
| Source: Blount County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report," accessed January 12, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Jim Compton
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Robert McDaniel | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Tennessee elections, 2016
The Blount County Schools election shared the ballot with primary elections for the 2nd Congressional seat on the U.S. House of Representatives, the District 2 seat on the Tennessee State Senate, and the District 8 and District 20 seats on the Tennessee House of Representatives. It also shared the ballot with general elections for Blount County Clerk, Blount County Highway Commissioner, and some city-level offices.[2]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Tennessee school board elections in 2016:[1]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| April 7, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| April 11, 2016 | 1st quarter campaign finance report due |
| April 14, 2016 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| July 5, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| July 11, 2016 | 2nd quarter campaign finance report due |
| July 15, 2016 - July 30, 2016 | Early voting period |
| July 28, 2016 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| August 4, 2016 | Election day |
| October 11, 2016 | 3rd quarter campaign finance report due |
| January 25, 2017 | 4th quarter campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
District 2 incumbent Bill Padgett and District 6 incumbent Jim Compton were endorsed by the Blount County Education Association.[7]
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
The pre-general campaign financial disclosure report for this election was due July 28, 2016. Candidates were also required to file quarterly reports for the 2016 election year. Those reports were due on April 11, 2016; July 11, 2016; October 11, 2016; and January 25, 2017.[1]
Reports
Candidates received a total of $2,350.00 and spent a total of $1,917.78 in the election, according to the Blount County Election Commission.[8]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Compton | $2,350.00 | $1,917.78 | $432.33 |
District 2 incumbent Bill Padgett, District 4 challengers Robby Kirkland and Sandra Worthington, and District 6 challenger Robert McDaniel filed financial disclosure statement exemptions detailing they would not raise or spend more than $1,000 on their campaigns. Because of this, they did not have to file any additional campaign finance statements.[9][10][11][12]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2016
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2014
Blount County's 2016 board of education election attracted fewer candidates per seat than the district's 2014 election. In 2016, five candidates ran for three seats, which averaged to 1.67 candidates per seat. In 2014, 10 candidates ran for four seats (an average of 2.5 candidates per seat). Overall in 2014, Tennessee's largest school districts attracted an average of 1.94 candidates per seat.
At least one new member was guaranteed to join the Blount County Board of Education in 2016. There was also the chance for a second one to join, but he was defeated by an incumbent. In 2014, three new members were elected to the board. Two won open seats, and one defeated an incumbent. The only incumbent to win in that election ran unopposed. Overall in 2014, newcomers won 45.98 percent of seats up for election statewide, and incumbents saw a re-election rate of 75.41 percent.
One of the three seats on the ballot was unopposed in the district's 2016 election, and one of the four seats was unopposed in 2014. Statewide in 2014, 36.78 percent of school board seats were unopposed.
Issues in the district
Testing suspended in wake of state terminating TNReady contract
After the Tennessee Department of Education terminated the contract with the provider of the state's new TNReady test assessments on April 27, 2016, Blount County Schools halted its assessments for students in grades three through eight. Education Commissioner Candice McQueen said the contract was terminated with North Carolina-based Measurement Inc. after it failed to deliver all of the testing materials.[13]
McQueen called Measurement Inc.'s performance "deeply disappointing" after months of delivery delays and a failure to rollout the assessment online in February 2016. "We’ve exhausted every option in problem solving with this vendor to assist them in getting these tests delivered. Districts have exceeded their responsibility and obligation to wait for grade 3-8 materials, and we will not ask districts to continue waiting on a vendor that has repeatedly failed us," said McQueen.[14]
Measurement Inc. President Henry Scherich said the contract termination was a disappointment. "It has been a very difficult job, and we were within a couple days or so of having all the tests in the state," said Scherich.[15]
Scherich said that the company had been put in a "difficult, and even impossible, situation" after they were required to switch to a paper test in response to the failed online assessment, according to Chalkbeat Tennessee. McQueen said the state's contract had included provisions for paper tests in the case of technical difficulties.[14] The state first contracted with Measurement Inc. in 2014 in response to displeasure with the Common Core standards. As of the termination, the state had paid $1.6 million toward the $108 million contract.[15]
The state decided to continue testing high school students, as those materials had been received, but it suspended the tests for younger students. School districts that received the needed materials for testing younger grades were allowed to choose between continuing the assessments or suspending them.[13][14]
Due to the suspension, accountability measures related to test scores, such as teacher evaluations, were also delayed for one year. Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) said that despite the delay, the state was still moving forward.[14]
| “ | The failure of the testing vendor to deliver the tests and meet its own obligations does not take away from the fact that Tennessee has created our own, higher standards, we have an improved assessment fully aligned with those standards, and we remain committed going forward to measuring student performance fairly and ensuring accountability for those results.[16] | ” |
| —Gov. Bill Haslam (R)[14] | ||
Issues in the state
Transgender bathroom bill withdrawn
State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-57) proposed legislation in January 2016 that would require public school students in kindergarten through college to use the bathroom and locker room that corresponded with the sex listed on their birth certificates. Four months later, she withdrew the bill. "I am still absolutely 100 percent in support of maintaining the privacy of all students. But I'm going to roll the bill over until next year so we can work on those issues," Lynn said.[17][18]
House Bill 2414 drew criticism from local media and some companies threatened to withhold business from the state if the bill were passed. Lynn said that was not why she withdrew the bill; instead, she put it on hold in order to further study the issue. She said school districts in Tennessee were "largely following what the bill says."[17][19]
While HB 2414 was still in committee, Gov. Bill Haslam (R) expressed concern about the bill. “I’m hearing that our school boards have figured out how to adjust to each situation that arises, and to date, I’m not hearing parents say we have [a] problem in our schools today,” said Haslam.[20]
State Reps. Mike Stewart (D-52) and Harry Brooks (R-19) asked for an opinion on the issue from Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery (R). Slatery responded by warning that the state could lose federal Title IX funding if the bill were passed.[21]
| “ | As things currently stand, we must, as a practical matter, assume that H.B. 2414 would violate Title IX, because the enforcer of Title IX has clearly interpreted — and enforced — Title IX to prohibit as 'discriminatory on the basis of sex' what H.B. 2414 is designed to accomplish.[16] | ” |
| —Attorney General Herbert Slatery (April 2016)[21] | ||
Stewart said Slatery's opinion was the "final nail in the coffin" for the bill. He and State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-55) said the bill could also hinder the state's goal of creating a business-friendly climate.[21] Executives of dozens of companies had signed a letter to state lawmakers asking them to reject the bill on the grounds that it was discriminatory.[22]
David Fowler, former state senator and president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, objected to Slatery's opinion. He said the attorney general had used settlement agreements rather than court decisions to warn the state legislature away from passing the bill. "Settlement agreements have no persuasive value as a matter of law, unlike the court decisions that have actually ruled in favor of sex-designated bathrooms," Fowler said.[21]
After the bill was withdrawn, Fowler issued a statement:
| “ | But we join the thousands of parents across the state who are profoundly disappointed that at this point in the process Rep. Lynn has decided not to proceed with a bill that would have simply protected the privacy of the children they have entrusted to our public schools.[16] | ” |
| —David Fowler (April 2016)[17] | ||
In addition to receiving support from the Family Action Council of Tennessee, the bill was backed by approximately 30 pastors from the Tennessee Pastors Network. At least 67,000 state citizens opposed the bill, as two transgender high school students turned in that many signatures to the governor's office. They were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the Tennessee Equality Project, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, and the Human Rights Campaign.[17]
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Blount County Schools, Tennessee
The Blount County school district is located in Blount County in eastern Tennessee. The county seat is Maryville. Blount County was home to 127,253 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[23] The district was the 15th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 11,215 students.[24]
Demographics
Blount County underperformed compared to Tennessee as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 21.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 24.4 percent of state residents. The median household income in Blount County was $46,518, compared to $44,621 for the entire state. The poverty rate was 14.7 percent, compared to 18.3 percent statewide.[23]
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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 'Blount County Schools' 'Tennessee'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Blount County Schools | Tennessee | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Calendar 2016," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Blount County Election Commission, "Petitions for August 4, 2016 Election," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Blount County Schools, "Board of Education," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report - Unoffial August 4, 2016," accessed August 4, 2016
- ↑ Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Blount County Administrator of Elections Susan Hughes," June 17, 2015
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "What ID is required when voting?" accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Blount County Education Association," July 15, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "Compton, James E. (Jim)," accessed October 12, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "Padgett, William (Bill)," accessed July 29, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "Kirkland, Robby," accessed July 29, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "Worthington, Sandra," accessed July 29, 2016
- ↑ Blount County Election Commission, "McDaniel, Robert," accessed July 29, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 WATE.com, "Tennessee Department of Education terminates TNReady testing contract," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 Chalkbeat Tennessee, "Tennessee fires TNReady testmaker, suspends tests for grades 3-8," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 The Tennesseean, "Tennessee terminates contract with TNReady test company," April 27, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 The Tennesseean, "Transgender bathroom bill dead for year," April 18, 2016
- ↑ Open States, "HB 2414," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Knoxville News Sentinel, "Tennessee lawmakers should stay out of students’ restrooms," April 3, 2016
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Tennessee Governor Skeptical Of Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill," April 13, 2016
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 The Tennesseean, "Attorney general: Tennessee bathroom bill threatens Title IX funds," April 11, 2016
- ↑ CBS News, "Tennessee lawmakers under fire over transgender bathroom bill," April 13, 2016
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 United States Census Bureau, "Blount County, Tennessee," accessed April 7, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed June 26, 2014
| 2016 Blount County Schools Elections | |
| Blount County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 4, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Incumbent, Bill Padgett District 4: • Robby Kirkland • Sandra Worthington District 6: • Incumbent, Jim Compton • Robert McDaniel |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
