Bryan Kerr
Bryan Kerr was a candidate for District 5 representative on the Moore Public Schools Board of Education in Oklahoma. He initially filed to run in the general election on February 10, 2015. Kerr stated on January 25, 2015, that he had "decided not to run."[1] However, the deadline for candidates to withdraw from the race was December 5, 2014. Kerr's name still appeared on the ballot and votes were cast for him.[2] Nevertheless, incumbent Karen Shuey won the election which garnered a total turnout of less than 200 voters.
This was Kerr's first campaign for elected office. The school board is a nonpartisan office. Kerr is a self-described independent.[3]
Biography
Kerr attended Moore Public Schools and graduated from Moore High School in 1987. He studied political science at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., and political science and communications at the University of Oklahoma.[3]
Kerr is a businessman and owner of Moore Liquor store. He received media attention for the messages he displayed on the sign in front of his store. The sign displayed "Fred Phelps 1929-2014, Champagne 10% off! Not a coincidence," when the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church died.[4] The sign lead to threats of protests from the organization.[5]
Prior to running his own business, Kerr worked for a large multinational technology company as a senior project manager and in the broadcast industry as a program director and on-air personality. Kerr's youngest son attends Brink Junior High.[3]
Elections
2015
- See also: Moore Public Schools elections (2015)
Kerr faced incumbent Karen Shuey in the general election on February 10, 2015. Kerr announced his decision to withdraw from the race after the December 5, 2014, withdrawal deadline. His name still appeared on the ballot and votes were cast for him.[1][2]
Results
| Moore Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 5-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Karen Shuey Incumbent |
60.1% | 86 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bryan Kerr | 39.9% | 57 | |
| Total Votes | 143 | |||
| Source: Oklahoma State Election Board, "Official Results: Special Elections—February 10, 2015," accessed February 17, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Kerr reported no contributions or expenditures to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Kerr officially endorsed Shuey in January 2015 after withdrawing from the race after the withdrawal deadline.[7]
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Kerr participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Safety of the students should always be our top priority. Once that is assured, we should look at ways to keep and attract the best possible educators. We should do both of these things without increasing the financial burden on the citizens of Moore and South Oklahoma City.[8] | ” |
| —Bryan Kerr (2015)[9] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was 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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Oklahoma. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "Modifications are required before they are implemented." | |
| "No." | |
| "No." | |
| "In the specific areas they measure, yes." | |
| "By continuing to develop a model where every student feels like they have a viable path to success and teachers get the necessary support to guide each student to and through that path. Some students are very successful in a traditional academic environment while others will find their success through vocational training. The administrators, teachers and parents should be afforded the flexibility to get a student where he or she will thrive and flourish." | |
| "Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy." | |
| "The steps would be completely dependent on the issue(s) facing that school. Since there could be a myriad of reasons for a failing school, there could also be a myriad of solutions. What is important is the careful consideration of what is best for that particular school in that particular situation. The 'one-size-fits-all' approach is rarely successful when faced with complex problems." | |
| "Yes." | |
| "A combined approach of mentoring, training and monitoring to be sure the teachers have an opportunity to do their job well without putting the students at risk." | |
| "I think relations in the Moore Public School system between the community and board are already pretty good. The main improvement I would make would be to offer more forms of immediate contact as well as an ongoing open dialogue using a district-specific online forum." |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Bryan Kerr Moore Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Moore Public Schools, Oklahoma
- Moore Public Schools elections (2015)
- Merely 16 candidates for 14 seats in Oklahoma school board elections (February 11, 2015)
- What's on the ballot today? (February 10, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Bryan Kerr," January 25, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Margaret Koenig, "Phone call with the Cleveland County Election Board," January 26, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on January 7, 2015.
- ↑ KOCO.com, "Moore Liquor store celebrates Westboro Baptist Church founder’s death," March 25, 2014
- ↑ Fashion Times, "Oklahoma Liquor Store Celebrates Fred Phelps' Death, Westboro Baptist Church to Protest," March 30, 2014
- ↑ Oklahoma Ethics Commission, "Campaign Reporting Systems," accessed February 17, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Bryan Kerr," January 26, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Bryan Kerr's responses," January 7, 2015
| 2015 Moore Public Schools Elections | |
| Canadian County, Oklahoma | |
| Election date: | February 10, 2015 |
| Candidates: | District 5: • Incumbent, Karen Shuey • Bryan Kerr |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
