Chris LaFerla
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Chris LaFerla is an at-large member of the Council Bluffs Board of Education in Iowa. The seat was up for general election on September 8, 2015. He defeated Richard Dallinger for the seat.[1]
LaFerla participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
Biography
LaFerla is the dean of admissions and records for Iowa Western Community College. He serves on the board of directors for the Southwest Iowa Educational Foundation and as an advisory council member for GEAR UP Iowa. LeFerla obtained his associate degree from Iowa Western Community College. He went on to earn his bachelor's degree in education from Simpson College and his master's degree in organizational leadership from Gonzaga University.[2]
Elections
2015
Four of the seven seats on the Council Bluffs Board of Education were up for election on September 8, 2015. The available seats represented the district at-large.
Incumbents Troy Arthur, David Coziahr and Bill Grove ran for re-election in a race for the four available seats. Challengers included Richard Dallinger and Chris LaFerla. Incumbent J.J. Harvey did not seek re-election.[1][3]
Arthur, Coziahr, Grove and LaFerla defeated Dallinger and won the election for the four seats.[4]
Results
This election was held September 8, 2015.
| Council Bluffs Community School District, At-Large, 4-Year Term, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Troy Arthur Incumbent |
22.7% | 608 |
| David Coziahr Incumbent |
22.6% | 606 |
| Bill Grove Incumbent |
21.8% | 585 |
| Chris LaFerla |
19.6% | 525 |
| Richard Dallinger | 13.3% | 356 |
| Total Votes | 2,680 | |
| Source: 'Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Pottawattamie County Elections <marilyn.kennedy@pottcounty-ia.gov> Marilyn Kennedy," November 13, 2015 | ||
Funding
LaFerla reported no contributions or expenditures to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board during the election.[5] Any candidate spending, receiving or incurring debt in the amount of $1,000 or less was not required to file the disclosure form for campaign finances.[6]
Endorsements
LaFerla received no official endorsements during the election.
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Chris LaFerla 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:
| “ | My highest priority as a board member will be to ensure that the district and other board members are intensely focused on the continuous improvement and strategic planning. [7] | ” |
| —Chris LaFerla (2015)[8] | ||
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 Iowa. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| 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 |
|---|---|
| They should be implemented. | |
| No | |
| No | |
| No | |
| Working within the limitations of state and federal regulations, budgetary constraints, and other local challenges, school districts need to continuously move toward addressing individual student needs in teaching and learning. | |
| Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools. | |
| The board has an obligation to ensure that the district develops a strategic plan to address the needs of the building, from facilities, staffing and leadership, to curriculum and programming, and then hold the district accountable for executing the strategy and measuring progress. | |
| No | |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. | |
| Encourage attendance and participation at school board meetings, provide opportunity for community members to submit private questions or concerns to the board, and ensure that the district develops a strong community relations and communication program. |
What was at stake?
2015
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Three incumbents and two challengers ran for the four seats. One new member won a seat on the board.
The district continued planning for massive renovations and additions to its athletic complex in 2015. The renovations and additions were estimated to cost approximately $15 million.[9]
Athletic complex renovations
The Community Bluffs School District athletic complex was home to a football stadium, track, softball fields, baseball fields and soccer fields that were outdated and in need of repairs. The district was not able to host certain sporting events due to the conditions of the facilities. In 2014, the district began a fundraising campaign for the three phase project. The district raised $13.2 million of the $15 million budget in the first year of fundraising. By September 2015 the district raised the remaining $2 million to fully fund the renovations.[10]
The first phase of the project included renovations to the football stadium and track that surrounds it. The cost was approximately $2 million dollars, and it was completed by the start of the 2015 football season. The second phase plan included work on the softball, baseball and soccer fields. The bids for the second phase came in over budget, but the board hired an engineering firm to conduct a value engineering audit that saved the district $1.36 million. The engineering firm suggested decreasing the depth of the concrete and the width of the sidewalks among other suggestions in an effort to find savings.[9]
The second phase of the project was expected to be finished in August 2016. The plan for the third phase of the project required procuring additional property to expand the footprint of the complex and did not have a set timeline as of September 2015.[11]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Chris LeFerla Council Bluffs Community School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Council Bluffs Community School District, Iowa
- Council Bluffs Community School District elections (2015)
- Newcomers and incumbents share the victories in Iowa's largest school district elections (September 9, 2015)
- Analysis of incumbency advantage in the 2014 school board elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tiffany Rouse, Email correspondence with Pottawattamie County Auditor's Office Marilyn Kennedy," August 6, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Chris LeFerla," accessed August 17, 2015
- ↑ Council Bluffs Community School District, "Board Members," accessed March 5, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Council Bluffs Community School District," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "State/Local Campaign Disclosure Forms," accessed February 2, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "Reporting Dates," accessed August 13, 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, "Chris LaFerla responses," September 1, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedvalue - ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "CBCSD launches effort to renovate stadium," March 22, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "More property purchased for athletic complex," August 27, 2015
| 2015 Council Bluffs Community School District Elections | |
| Pottawattamie County, Iowa | |
| Election date: | September 8, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Troy Arthur • Incumbent, David Coziahr • Incumbent, Bill Grove • Richard Dallinger • Chris LaFerla |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
