Blue Valley Unified School District 229 elections (2015)

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2015 Blue Valley Unified School District 229 Elections
General Election date:
April 7, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Kansas Blue Valley Unified School District 229 Johnson County, Kansas ballot measures Local ballot measures, Kansas

Four seats on the Blue Valley Unified School District 229 Board of Education were scheduled for election on April 7, 2015. Positions 1, 2, 3 and 7 were up for election.

Position 1 incumbent Pam Robinson triumphed over challenger Alana Roethle. Meanwhile, incumbent Cindy Bowling defeated challenger Larry Fotovich to keep her Position 3 seat.

Position 2 incumbent Tony Thill was the only incumbent up for re-election who did not file for the race. Patrick J. Hurley was the sole candidate to file for the open seat and won the race without opposition. Also running unopposed was at-large Position 7 incumbent Thomas Mitchell, who won his second term on the board.

The 2015 election marked the last spring election for school boards statewide. House Bill 2104 was signed into law by Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) on June 8, 2015. Another bill, Senate Bill 171, originally proposed moving the school board elections to November of even-numbered years, in line with statewide general elections, and would have made all school boards into partisan offices.

HB 2104 did not change the nonpartisan nature of the boards, but it did move their general elections to November of odd-numbered years. A number of school boards across the state opposed the more drastic changes proposed by SB 171, particularly the possibility of partisan elections.

Election changes were not the only point of contention between the state government and Kansas school boards in 2015; all districts also had to adapt to changes in state funding for education due to budget shortfalls.

Some blamed income tax reductions championed by Brownback in 2012 and 2013 as the cause of the state's financial woes and, therefore, as the reason cuts to education spending were considered. Supporters of the changes emphasized the state's decade-old education funding formula as being the real reason a funding overhaul was necessary. Regardless of the cause, legislation was passed issuing block grants to public school districts while legislators debated how to replace the repealed 1995 funding formula.

Three of the four candidates in the contested races participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey.

See also: What was at stake in the 2015 Blue Valley Public Schools elections?

About the district

See also: Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Kansas

Blue Valley Unified School District 229 is located in Johnson County, Kan.

Blue Valley Unified School District 229 is located in Johnson County in northwestern Kansas. The county seat is Olathe. Johnson County was home to an estimated 566,933 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau. Blue Valley Unified School District 229 was the fourth-largest school district by enrollment in Kansas and served 22,162 students in the 2012-2013 school year.

Demographics

Johnson County outperformed the rest of Kansas in terms of higher education achievement, median household income and poverty rate in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 51.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.3 percent for Kansas as a whole. The median household income in Johnson County was $74,717 compared to $51,332 for the state of Kansas. The poverty rate in the county was 6.5 percent compared to 13.7 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Johnson County (%)	Kansas (%)
White	87.8	87.1
Black or African American	4.9	6.2
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.4	1.2
Asian	4.6	2.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.1
Two or More Races	2.3	2.7
Hispanic or Latino	7.4	11.2

Presidential Voting Pattern, Johnson County
Year	Republican Vote	Democratic Vote
2012	158,401	110526
2008	152,627	127,091
2004	158,103	97,866
2000	129,965	79,118

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 Blue Valley Unified Board of Education is composed of seven members who are elected to four-year terms. Six of the members are elected to serve specific geographic districts. The other member, Position 7, is elected at-large. Three or four seats are up for regular election every two years.

House Bill 2104 made this the last election for the district to be held in the spring of an odd-numbered year. Signed into law by Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) on June 8, 2015, the law changed school board election dates to November of odd-numbered years.

Candidates had to file a petition containing 50 signatures or pay a filing fee of $5 by January 27, 2015. If more than three candidates had filed for any one position up for election, a primary election would have been held on March 3, 2015. The general election was April 7, 2015.

Voters had to register by March 17, 2015, to vote in the general election.

Position 1

Pam Robinson		Alana Roethle
	Incumbent Member from 2003-2015 Retired classroom teacher B.S., Creighton University		Marketing consultant, Roethle Consulting MBA, University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management

Position 2

Patrick J. Hurley
	Prosecutor, Douglas County District Attorney's office

Position 3

Cindy Bowling		Larry Fotovich
	Incumbent Member from 2011-2015 Pediatrician		Owner and real estate broker, Suburbian, Inc. Former at-large member, Gardner City Council, 2011-2014 B.S., University of Kansas Veteran, United States Navy, 1989-1997

Position 7 - At-large

Thomas Mitchell
	Incumbent Member from 2011-2015 Marketing leader and principal in the firm, DLR Group M.A., University of Missouri-Kansas City B.A., Kansas State University

District map

Election results

Position 1

Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Position 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Pam Robinson Incumbent	80.1%	5,536
	Nonpartisan	Alana Roethle	19.8%	1,370
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	8
Total Votes				6,914
Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015

Position 2

Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Position 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Patrick J. Hurley	99.5%	5,262
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.5%	27
Total Votes				5,289
Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015

Position 3

Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Cindy Bowling Incumbent	88.2%	5,789
	Nonpartisan	Larry Fotovich	11.7%	768
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.1%	5
Total Votes				6,562
Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015

Position 7, at-large

Blue Valley Unified School District 229, At-Large Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Thomas Mitchell Incumbent	99.4%	5,242
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.6%	29
Total Votes				5,271
Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015

Endorsements

Pam Robinson and Cindy Bowling were endorsed by MainPAC and The Kansas City Star.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

Candidates received a total of $13,980.96 and spent a total of $13,346.91 in this election, according to the Johnson County Election Office. The contribution totals in this section include in-kind contributions.

Candidates who intended to receive or expend less than $500.00 in their campaign were allowed to file a K.S.A. 25-904(a) form called an "Affidavit of Exemption" attesting to those intentions. Candidates' contributions to their own campaigns were included in those limits. If a candidate were to have subsequently exceeded these limits after filing as exempt, he or she would have been required to comply with the reporting requirements from that point forward.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Position 1
Pam Robinson	$13,390.96	$12,756.91	$362.09
Alana Roethle	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Position 2
Patrick J. Hurley	$590.00	$590.00	$0.00
Position 3
Cindy Bowling	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Larry Fotovich	Filed Affidavit of Exemption		$0.00
Position 7: At-large
Thomas Mitchell	Filed Affidavit of Exemption		$450.00

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2013 Position 4 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sue Matson Incumbent 99.1% 3,034      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.9% 28 Total Votes 3,062 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2013 Spring General," April 8, 2013 Position 5 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Stacy Obringer-Varhall Incumbent 99.3% 2,965      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.7% 22 Total Votes 2,987 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2013 Spring General," April 8, 2013 Position 6 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Mike Seitz Incumbent 99.1% 2,993      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.9% 26 Total Votes 3,019 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2013 Spring General," April 8, 2013 2011 Position 1 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Pam Robinson Incumbent 72.3% 3,337      Nonpartisan Beth Brandel 27.5% 1,269      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 10 Total Votes 4,616 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011 Position 2 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Tony Thill Incumbent 59.3% 2,771      Nonpartisan Stacy Obringer-Varhall 40.5% 1,892      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 7 Total Votes 4,670 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011 Position 3 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Cindy Bowling 99.3% 3,926      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.7% 27 Total Votes 3,953 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011 Position 6 Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 6 General Election, 2-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Michael Seitz 99.6% 3,926      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.4% 16 Total Votes 3,942 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011 Position 7 - At-large Blue Valley Unified School District, At-Large Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Thomas Mitchell 99.4% 3,929      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.6% 22 Total Votes 3,951 Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011

What was at stake?

2015

The BVUSD Board of Education was guaranteed to see at least one returning incumbent and one newcomer following the 2015 election. The contested Position 1 and 3 races each featured one incumbent and one challenger, meaning the board could have retained as many as three incumbents or gained as many as three newcomers.

The district, like the rest of Kansas' public schools, was affected by state budget issues including a restructuring of state education financing in early 2015. Additionally, its election system was changed from a spring cycle to a fall cycle.

Issues in the district

State education funding cuts

See also: Kansas state budget and finances

A looming state budget deficit of $600 million led the state legislature to approve a block-grant funding system to replace the state's public school funding formula. Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) had proposed that $44.5 million be cut from state funding for education to make up for budgetary shortcomings on February 5, 2015.

Response from BVSD
Blue Valley Assistant Superintendent Mike Slagle discussed the benefits and pitfalls of the block-grant funding system with BVNWnews in April 2015. He noted that the grants do not place any requirements upon the exact allocation of those funds by the districts. At the same time, the flat funding rate of the grants could not account for demographic changes.

“If we get more kids, we’re still going to have the same amount of money to educate them on. If we have high risk needs or more non-English speakers, we are going to have to educate them on the same amount of dollar [sic] as we did before, whereas under the old formula, we’d be weighted accordingly,” Slagle stated. He also indicated such increased demands would affect the district in the 2015-2016 school year.

While Slagle expressed concerns that the state's overall budget deficit might still impact the block-grant amounts, he also stated he was "confident in what we’ve been told that the governor and our representatives will find a way to fund this block grant formula." He further stated, "They simply must, because for us to have any further reductions in education will not be healthy for Blue Valley or any district in the state of Kansas.”

Cuts proposed by governor

Gov. Sam Brownback (R)

Of the total cuts Brownback suggested, $28 million would have come from elementary and secondary education funding, while another $16 million would have been taken from higher education funding. BVUSD was poised to lose about $1.18 million as a result of the cuts.

Superintendent Tom Trigg commented on the proposed cuts, saying, "This will cause Blue Valley to fill a budget hole that was unanticipated and unplanned for." Critics of Brownback pointed to his campaign promises supporting education in 2013. Kansas State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley (D-19) called the move “just another deception [Brownback] put upon the voters of Kansas." Brownback's spokesperson, however, stated that the governor “has consistently maintained that the education funding formula is broken and reform is needed to ensure more money goes to the classroom to benefit Kansas students."

Income taxes blamed and defended
Some blamed the income tax reductions signed into law by the governor for the significant shortfall looming for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015. Income tax cuts were championed by Brownback and passed by the Legislature in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, the state had to reassess its spending and consider new forms of revenue. Possible revenue sources that were considered included raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol or changing tax assessments for farmland, gasoline, and sales and passive income. In 2013, the state collected $2.96 billion in individual income taxes, which made up 38.80 percent of the state's tax collections.

Brownback defended the income tax cuts and pushed for consumption taxes to replace lost funds in April 2015. “I still want to get away from the income tax. Over time, I would like to see us move toward the consumption basket of taxes," he stated at that time. He also voiced support for a higher sales tax. The governor remained vague about exactly which consumption taxes might be used but noted his support for tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol.

At the same time, Brownback responded to criticisms over the fact that he shared budget information prior to the legislative session with David Kensinger, his former chief of staff and current lobbyist for Reynolds American tobacco company. Brownback defended the move, saying, “What I try to do is get as much input from people as possible. I’ve tried to operate most of my public career in trying to solicit lots of input. I wish he wasn’t lobbying for that group. He’s free to do what he’s doing.”

Legislative response
In response to Brownback's proposal, the Kansas State Legislature outlined a plan in March 2015 to fund public schools with block grants for two years while they rewrite the school funding formula. According to The Kansas City Star, the block grants would provide an increase of more than $4.2 billion for the 2016-2017 school year, which would represent a 9 percent increase from the 2013-2014 allocations. Additionally, the block grants would return the 2014-2015 district allocations to the amounts they were set at before Brownback announced his planned budget cuts. Whether or not these funds actually indicate an increase in classroom spending and how the Legislature would pay for the increase in funding remained unclear as of the bill's introduction.

Democratic legislators criticized the bill, arguing that the majority of the additional funding would go toward retirement and meeting the requirements of a 2014 Kansas Supreme Court ruling mandating more funding for schools. Sen. Hensley argued, "Their proposal does not do what they claim it’s going to do. It does not allocate $300 million in new money, nor does it put more money into the classroom.”

Sen. Susan Wagle (R-30)

In a 64 to 57 vote on March 13, 2015, the House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 7, a plan to overhaul the state's 13-year-old school finance system. State law required at least 63 votes in favor of the measure for it to pass the House. The bill was immediately moved back to the Senate. This prevented any motions to reconsider the House vote. On March 16, 2015, the Senate approved the revised bill 25 to 14. Because the bill sent back from the House had been a Senate bill with additions from the House, senators only had to vote yes or no to the House revisions and were not able to offer amendments. The bill was signed into law by Brownback on March 25, 2015.

The approved bill replaced the current system with block grants for two years while the funding formula is overhauled. Republican leaders argued that the state's funding formula, which is based on a per-pupil formula and includes weighting for bilingual and low-income students, was broken. Senate President Susan Wagle (R-30), who voted in favor of the old formula in 1992 and in favor of SB 7, said, "We are no longer talking about student outcomes and student achievement. We’re fighting for money."

Sen. Tom Holland (D-3)

Not all of her colleagues agreed that SB 7 was a solution to education funding woes. Some senators objected to how quickly the bill was passed and to the lack of discussion before the final Senate vote on the matter. Sen. Tom Holland (D-3) voted against the measure and said:

“	While Charles and David Koch may have won this particular battle, Kansas families can at least take some small measure of comfort in knowing that our Kansas courts — as yet uncorrupted by the supply-side ideology cancer that has metastasized Kansas’ legislative and executive branches of government — that they are keeping a watchful eye on this Legislature’s actions.	”
—Sen. Tom Holland (D-3) (2015)

Judicial response
Holland was referencing judicial action taken the same day the House passed SB 7, when a three-judge district court panel ordered the reopening of a school funding lawsuit that had been settled in 2014. The lawsuit was settled after the Legislature equalized funding between districts through increased allocations, but the new court order reopened the equity portion of the case. It also added new state officials to the list of defendants in the case, including the state treasurer and revisor of statutes. The panel announced that it might issue temporary orders blocking the recent legislative action if necessary "to preserve the status quo and to assure the availability of relief, if any, that might be accorded should the Court deem relief warranted.”

Election date changes

Early legislative action in 2015 could have made all Kansas school board elections into partisan races held in November of even-numbered years. Those changes were not approved, but a smaller change was signed into law on June 8, 2015; House Bill 2104 changed all school board election dates to November of odd-numbered years.

HB 2104
HB 2104 was introduced to the Kansas House of Representatives on January 23, 2015, and sponsored by the House Elections Committee. The house approved the measure 69 to 54 on February 26, 2015. Following the withdrawal of a similar senate bill, HB 2104 was approved by the senate by a vote of 28 to 12.

The portion of the Conference Committee Report of the bill relating to the election date changes states:

“	The bill would move all elections for office holders of local governments currently held in the spring of odd-numbered years to the fall of odd-numbered years, with one exception (described below). In general, the elections would remain nonpartisan, although a city could choose to make its elections partisan. Sections to be added to the law, Sections 7, 8, and 13 through 16, would be cited as the Help Kansas Vote Act. Beginning in 2017, the election dates for the specified units of local government would mirror the election dates for the elections held in even-numbered years. That is, the primary election would be held on the first Tuesday in August, and the general election would be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The elections, to be administered by the county election officers, would be consolidated into one ballot, which would be prescribed by the Secretary of State through rules and regulations. Those entities currently with district method elective offices (i.e., cities and school districts) would retain that authority.	”
—HB 2104 Conference Committee Report (2015)

SB 171

Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-33) introduced SB 171 on February 9, 2015.

On February 9, 2015, Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-33) introduced Senate Bill 171 to the Ethics, Elections and Local Government Committee. The bill, as it was initially introduced, would have moved school board and other local elections to November in even-numbered years, in addition to changing school boards from their current nonpartisan status by requiring candidates to declare party affiliations.

Supporters claimed that moving the school board elections to a date when there are more elections would increase voter turnout for such races as well as reduce the costs of printing the number of current ballot variations. Others questioned whether or not a move would actually improve turnout, as it would place school board elections on an already lengthy ballot.

The bill was amended before being approved 21 to 18 by the Senate on February 26, 2015. The approved version would move school board and other local elections to the November general election date in odd-numbered years. It removed the language that would have made those elections partisan. During the debate of the revised version, Holmes expressed frustration with the resistance to moving local elections. He argued that such a move would increase voter turnout and bring greater transparency to local government, saying that such offices are "elected on a day that nobody notices."

Holmes also argued that the disproportionately white city council of Ferguson, Mo., was caused by holding off-year elections and postulated that "minorities vote better in on-cycle elections than off-cycle elections." Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D-29), the first African American woman elected to the State Senate and one of the two African American members of the body, dismissed this argument, saying, “I don’t live in Ferguson. I don’t know anybody who lived there. ... We’re here in Kansas."

On March 4, 2015, the revised Senate bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. The House Elections Committee recommended the revised bill be approved with some amendments regarding date changes in the law on March 19, 2015. The measure was withdrawn from the Senate calendar shortly thereafter.

Ballotpedia survey responses

Three of the six candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Cindy Bowling, Larry Fotovich and Pam Robinson.

Top priorities

Cindy Bowling

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Bowling stated:

“	We are facing challenging financial times in the state of Kansas. Blue Valley has a long record of excellent education, and we have been fortunate to have our patrons support local option budgets and bond referendums to supplement our funding. As with any budget, we must always look for ways to ensure that our spending is both efficient and meets the needs of our students and patrons. We must re-evaluate out our current budget based on needs and benefits rather than history.	”
—Cindy Bowling (2015)

Larry Fotovich

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Fotovich stated:

“	My top priority would be prevent further looting of the district's funds by the governor and legislature and to find a creative way to enlist the help of students, parents and staff to persuade our state elected officials to restore proper levels of funding.	”
—Larry Fotovich (2015)

Pam Robinson

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Robinson stated:

“	State revenue is under projected amounts. Schools are feeling serious political and financial pressure. I have been on the board for some of the district's most successful years. Our schools are recognized as being some of the best in the nation. Making financial decisions based on what is best for our students will be my first priority. We will need to look for additional ways to offer an "Education Beyond Expectations" with fewer dollars.	”
—Pam Robinson (2015)

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 from most to least important:

Issue importance ranking
Issue	Position 1	Position 3
	Robinson's ranking	Bowling's ranking	Fotovich's ranking
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget	1	2	3
Closing the achievement gap	3	3	6
Expanding arts education	6	6	4
Expanding career-technical education	5	4	5
Expanding school choice options	7	7	7
Improving college readiness	2	1	1
Improving education for special needs students	4	5	2

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. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.

• Cindy Bowling survey responses
• Larry Fotovich survey responses
• Pam Robinson survey responses

Key deadlines

The following were the key deadlines for the 2015 Kansas school board election cycle:

Deadline	Event
January 27, 2015	Candidate filing deadline
March 17, 2015	Voter registration deadline
March 28, 2015	In-person advance voting begins
April 2, 2015	Last campaign finance deadline before the election
April 7, 2015	Election Day
May 7, 2015	Last campaign finance deadline for the election cycle
July 1, 2015	Election winners begin terms

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Kansas elections, 2015

General elections for county, municipal and other local offices were also on the ballot on April 7, 2015. The election included races for Overland Park Council Members, Johnson County Community College Trustees and Water District Board Members.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Blue Valley Unified School District Kansas. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Blue Valley Unified School District 229 elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Blue Valley Unified School District 229	Kansas	School Boards
List of school districts in Kansas	Kansas school board elections, 2015 Public education in Kansas Local ballot measures, Kansas	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014 School board election data analysis, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Blue Valley Unified School District 229
• Johnson County Election Office