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Brian Walker (South Carolina)
Brian Walker was a candidate for at-large representative on the Spartanburg School District 2 Board of Trustees in South Carolina. The general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1]
Walker was previously a candidate for an at-large seat on the school board. He lost the election on November 5, 2013 against five incumbents.
Brian Walker (South Carolina) lost the general election on November 3, 2015.
Biography
Walker is a lifelong Boiling Springs resident. He graduated with honors from Boiling Springs High School in 1992, and went on to graduate from Winthrop University with a degree in computer science. Brian has worked in IT for 16 years. He is married to wife, Jessie, and the two have three children. Walker regularly attends school board meetings in the district.[2]
Elections
2015
Five of the ten seats on the Spartanburg School District 2 Board of Trustees were up for election on November 3, 2015.
Incumbents Angie Horton, Sarah Simmons, and David Sereque won re-election to their seats. Rachel Yelton won the seat previously held by Gordan Ray. David Garner won a seat representing Cherokee County residents left empty by Rusty Tucker. Along with Ray, candidates Brian Walker and Connie Banks were defeated in the election.[1][3][4]
Four of the seats were at-large seats. One seat was voted on by the residents in Cherokee County that reside within the boundaries of Spartanburg School District 2. The Cherokee County voters voted on the entire slate of candidates. All other voters in the district voted for four seats.
Results
| Spartanburg School District 2, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Angie Horton Incumbent |
17.7% | 1,191 |
| Rachel Yelton |
17.3% | 1,165 |
| Sarah Simmons Incumbent |
15.0% | 1,007 |
| David Sereque Incumbent |
14.9% | 1,005 |
| Connie Banks | 14.0% | 940 |
| Brian Walker | 12.7% | 858 |
| Gordon Ray Incumbent | 7.9% | 534 |
| Write-in votes | 0.45% | 30 |
| Total Votes | 6,730 | |
| Source: 'Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Spartanburg County's Office of Registration and Elections Karmilla Brannon Williams," January 11, 2016 | ||
Funding
Walker reported $15.21 in contributions and $15.21 in expenditures to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission, which left his campaign with $0 on hand as of October 29, 2015.[5]
Endorsements
Walker received no official endorsements in this election.
2013
Results
| Spartanburg County School District 2, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Jack Marby Incumbent |
19.4% | 913 | |
| Nonpartisan | Craig Sims Incumbent |
18.4% | 869 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joyce Wright Incumbent |
17.3% | 814 | |
| Nonpartisan | Connie Smith Incumbent |
16.3% | 767 | |
| Nonpartisan | Harriette Hipp Incumbent |
15.2% | 716 | |
| Nonpartisan | Brian Walker | 12.4% | 584 | |
| Total Votes | 4,714 | |||
| Source: Spartanburg County, "Office of Registration and Election, accessed December 17, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Walker reported $1,000.00 in contributions and $1,000.00 in expenditures to the South Carolina State Ethics Commission.[6]
Endorsements
Walker did not receive any endorsements for his campaign during the election.
Campaign themes
2013
Walker identified the following campaign themes:[7]
Security
|
"Recent events like Sandy Hook and DeKalb County have forced school districts to reevaluate their security policies and procedures. While we’ve made some progress in our district by implementing keyless entry and focusing on keeping doors closed at all times (except the front entrance to each school), I think our district can do more. Other local districts have committed funds to put a school resource officer (SRO) at every school and I think we should do the same. While the additional yearly cost for 9 SROs at $450,000 isn’t cheap, I think it would provide added safety and reduce initial response time to a threat." |
Transparency
|
"I’ve been going to district 2 school board meetings for 3 years now. Anyone who has attended has probably noticed the same thing that I did, that the administrators and trustees have a detailed agenda and lot of information in front of them that is not directly discussed in the meeting and not given out to the public. While I doubt there is anything illegal or wrong going on, I think it would be better to provide that information to the public on the district website where the meeting minutes are also published. I think the meeting minutes could also use more details, especially when a vote is not unanimous." |
Providing more proactive leadership
|
"While the school board should not micro-manage every action and decision in our district, it does need to be more proactive in solving major issues. I have had two recent disappointments in this regard. The first is that the band director at Boiling Springs High School left at the end of the 2012-2013 school year to take a similar position in another Spartanburg county school district. In 2010 the band directors and the band booster club created a proposal for the Superintendent and the school board to consider. In the proposal was a request for additional funds (to help purchase uniforms and instruments) and resources (more instructors to help with band class sizes). A response to the proposal was never received. The second is that the head football coach at Boiling Springs High School resigned with only a few weeks until the first game. I don’t know what the disagreement was between the coach and the administration or if either or both parties were at fault. I don’t know why the coach stepped down or was demoted from athletic director the year before. What I do know is that the situation should have been resolved sooner so that the players didn’t have to deal with a new head coach right before the start of the season. Another situation that I was disappointed with in 2011 and 2012 was the Title IX complaint. I think that steps could have been taken to work with the parent who had valid concerns and complaints about female sports options and participation. Instead, the federal government was called in to do an investigation which resulted in the district spending a lot of time and resources to provide information." |
Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Brian Walker' 'Spartanburg School District 2'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Spartanburg County School District 2, South Carolina
- Spartanburg School District 2 elections (2013)
- Spartanburg School District 2 elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Spartanburg County Office of Registration and Elections Henry Laye," August 28, 2015
- ↑ Brian Walker, "About," accessed October 21, 2013
- ↑ Spartanburg County School District 2, "Board of Trustees," accessed August 12, 2015
- ↑ FOX Carolina, "You Decide 2015," Novmeber 4, 2015
- ↑ South Carolina State Ethics Commission, "Public Disclosure and Accountability Reporting System," accessed October 29, 2015
- ↑ State Ethics Commission," "Public Disclosure and Accountability Reporting," accessed December 23, 2013
- ↑ Brian Walker, "Issues," accessed October 21, 2013
| ||||||||||
| 2015 Spartanburg School District 2 Elections | |
| Spartanburg County, South Carolina | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Angie Horton • Incumbent, Gordon Ray • Incumbent, David Sereque • Incumbent, Sarah Simmons • Connie Banks • Brian Walker • Rachel Yelton Cherokee County seat: • David Garner |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
