Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Christopher Collins (Massachusetts)
Ballotpedia provides comprehensive election coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population as well as mayoral, city council, and district attorney election coverage in state capitals outside of the 100 largest cities. This board member is outside of that coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates.
Christopher Collins is the District 3 representative on the Springfield Public Schools school board in Massachusetts. First elected in 2007, Collins won a new term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Collins participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Biography
Collins earned a B.S. and an M.S. from Westfield State University before beginning his career as an educator.[1] He spent more than 35 years as a teacher, insurance administrator, and principal in Springfield Public Schools before reaching retirement.[2]
Elections
2017
Six of the seven seats on the Springfield Public Schools School Committee in Massachusetts were up for general election on November 7, 2017. Incumbent Denise M. Hurst and newcomer LaTonia Naylor won election, defeating James Ferrera III and Ryan Hess for the at-large seats. Incumbent Barbara Gresham defeated Stephanie Murchison-Brown for the District 2 seat. Newcomer Maria Perez and incumbent Christopher Collins ran unopposed and won the District 1 and 3 seats, respectively. The District 4 race was won by incumbent Peter Murphy; he defeated challenger Zaida Govan.[3][4][5][6]
A primary election was held for the at-large and District 2 seats on September 19, 2017. Four candidates advanced to the general election from the at-large primary, and two candidates advanced from the District 2 primary.[3] James Anziano, LaMar Cook, Joesiah Gonzalez, and Michael Kocmiersky were defeated in the at-large primary, and Giselle Vizcarrondo was defeated in the District 2 primary.[5]
Results
| Springfield Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Christopher Collins Incumbent (unopposed) |
97.84% | 2,314 |
| Write-in votes | 2.16% | 51 |
| Total Votes | 2,365 | |
| Source: City of Springfield, "Returns: Nov. 7, 2017 Municipal Election," accessed November 28, 2017 | ||
Funding
Collins reported no contributions or expenditures to the City of Springfield in the election, which left his campaign with $1,727.66 on hand from his previous campaign.[7]
2013
Christopher Collins ran unopposed to keep his District 3 seat in the general election on November 5, 2013.
Results
| Springfield Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Christopher Collins Incumbent |
98.4% | 2,155 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1.6% | 35 | |
| Total Votes | 2,190 | |||
| Source: City of Springfield, Massachusetts, "Springfield Vote Counts: Nov. 5 City Election Night Results," accessed December 18, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Collins began the race with an existing account balance of $2,295.16 from his previous campaigns. He reported no contributions or expenditures to the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, which left his campaign with $2,295.16 on hand in the election.[8]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsement for Collins in the election.
2009
| Springfield Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2009 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Christopher Collins Incumbent |
68.9% | 4,571 | |
| Nonpartisan | Orlando Santiago | 30.9% | 2,049 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 11 | |
| Total Votes | 6,631 | |||
| Source: Springfield, Massachusetts, "November 3, 2009 Municipal Election Returns," accessed September 24, 2013 | ||||
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
Christopher Collins participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[9] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 17, 2017:
| “ | Insure that a policy and financial decisions are student centered.[10][11] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Massachusetts. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. The Charter Schools in our district do not serve the same demographic student population. While the schools are intended to serve all students the existing Charter Schools continually talk students out. They tell the parents the school can not meet the needs of their child. The current Charter Schools serve extremely low numbers of ELL and Special Needs students. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should be involved in the district routinely. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Voucher systems support schools operated on a for profit basis. Generally these schools do not educate student with strong educational needs. To send the entire per pupil amount to a school which only serves students without educational needs or deficiencies you drain needed resources to serve students with the most need. School districts spend significantly more to educate with stronger educational needs. However, there is one per pupil amount so a larger portion of the per pupil allocation is spent on students with need. Sending the entire amount to a Private institution which does not serve students with the most needs the result is less money available in the sending district to provide those services. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| In only the most dire circumstances where safety of the school community is in doubt. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Christopher Collins Springfield Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Springfield Public Schools, Massachusetts
- Springfield Public Schools, Massachusetts elections (2017)
- Springfield Public Schools elections (2013)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Western Mass Politics & Insight, "Committee Member Christopher Collins," accessed September 24, 2013
- ↑ Springfield Public Schools, "Christopher Collins," accessed September 24, 2013
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Mass Live, "Here's who qualified for the 2017 Springfield School Committee election," August 2, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Gladys Oyola, City of Springfield, Massachusetts," August 3, 2017
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Springfield Election Office, "Returns: Sept. 19, 2017 Preliminary Election," September 19, 2017
- ↑ City of Springfield, "Returns: Nov. 7, 2017 Municipal Election," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ City of Springfield, "Campaign Finance Reporting," accessed October 31, 2017
- ↑ Springfield, Massachusetts, "OCPF Information," accessed December 20, 2013
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "Christopher Collins's responses," October 17, 2017
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Springfield Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Hampden County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | Primary election: September 19, 2017 • General election: November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Denise M. Hurst • James Anziano • LaMar Cook • James Ferrera III • Joesiah Gonzalez • Ryan Hess • Michael Kocmiersky • LaTonia Naylor District 1: • Maria Perez District 2: • Incumbent, Barbara Gresham • Stephanie Murchison-Brown • Giselle Vizcarrondo District 3: • Incumbent, Christopher Collins District 4: • Incumbent, Peter Murphy • Zaida Govan |
| Important information: | What's at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
 |
State of Massachusetts Boston (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
