Council Rock School District elections (2015)
2017 →
← 2013
|
 |
Method of election Elections Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
Council Rock School District Bucks County, Pennsylvania ballot measures Local ballot measures, Pennsylvania |
 |
Five seats on the Council Rock School District Board of Directors were up for general election on November 3, 2015. A primary election was held on May 19, 2015. The nine member board represents nine geographical regions.
Region 1 incumbent Bill Foster and Region 2 candidate Edward Tate won election without opposition. Region 4 incumbent Wendi Thomas (R) defeated challenger Richard Wilkinson (D). Region 5 incumbent Jerold S. Grupp (R) won re-election against challenger Leslie Rothberg (D). Michael Thorwart (R) defeated Michelle Held (D) in the Region 7 race. No independent candidates filed for the election.[1]
Two of the eight candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see the candidates' answers.
About the district
The Council Rock School District is located in east-central Pennsylvania in Bucks County. The county seat is Doylestown. Bucks County was home to 626,976 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2012-2013 school year, the Council Rock School District was the 12th-largest school district in Pennsylvania and served 11,426 students.[3]
Demographics
Bucks County outperformed the rest of Pennsylvania in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 35.8 percent of Bucks County residents age 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.5 percent for Pennsylvania as a whole. The median household income in Bucks County was $76,555, compared to $52,548 for the state of Pennsylvania. The poverty rate in Bucks County was 5.4 percent, compared to 13.4 percent for the entire state.[2]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Council Rock Board of Directors consists of nine members elected to four-year terms. The members of the board are elected by voters in nine geographical regions. The primary election for the Council Rock School Board of Directors was held on May 19, 2015. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. Five seats were up for election on November 3, 2015. There was one seat available in Region 1, Region 2, Region 4, Region 5 and Region 7.[5]
School board candidates had to file for this election with Bucks County by March 10, 2015. Those wishing to run as an independent candidate had until August 3, 2015, to file. To vote in the primary election, residents had to register by April 20, 2015, and to vote in the general election, residents had to register by October 5, 2015.[6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
Region 1
 Bill Foster 
| |
|---|---|
|
|
Region 2
| Edward Tate
| |
|---|---|
|
|
Region 4
 Wendi Thomas
|
Richard Wilkinson 
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Region 5
| Jerold S. Grupp
|
Leslie Rothberg
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Region 7
| Michelle Held
|
Michael Thorwart
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
Election results
Region 1
| Council Rock School District, Region 1, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Bill Foster Incumbent |
100.0% | 2,138 | |
| Total Votes | 2,138 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed January 4, 2016 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 1 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Bill Foster Incumbent |
100% | 417 | |
| Total Votes | 417 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 1 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Bill Foster Incumbent |
100% | 562 | |
| Total Votes | 562 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
Region 2
| Council Rock School District, Region 2, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican | Edward Tate |
100.0% | 1,676 | |
| Total Votes | 1,676 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed January 4, 2016 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 2 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Edward Tate |
100% | 276 | |
| Total Votes | 276 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 2 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Edward Tate |
100% | 393 | |
| Total Votes | 393 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
Region 4
| Council Rock School District, Region 4, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Wendi Thomas Incumbent |
61.7% | 1,126 | |
| Democratic | Richard Wilkinson | 38.3% | 699 | |
| Total Votes | 1,825 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed January 4, 2016 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 4 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Richard Wilkinson |
52.2% | 130 | |
| Democratic | Wendi Thomas Incumbent | 47.8% | 119 | |
| Total Votes | 249 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 4 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Wendi Thomas Incumbent |
54.4% | 265 | |
| Republican | Richard Wilkinson | 45.6% | 222 | |
| Total Votes | 487 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
Region 5
| Council Rock School District, Region 5, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jerold S. Grupp Incumbent |
61.7% | 859 | |
| Democratic | Leslie Rothberg | 38.3% | 534 | |
| Total Votes | 1,393 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed January 4, 2016 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 5 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Leslie Rothberg |
59.8% | 155 | |
| Democratic | Jerold S. Grupp Incumbent | 40.2% | 104 | |
| Total Votes | 259 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 5 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Jerold S. Grupp Incumbent |
56.5% | 217 | |
| Republican | Leslie Rothberg | 43.5% | 167 | |
| Total Votes | 384 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
Region 7
| Council Rock School District, Region 7, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Michael Thorwart |
55.9% | 863 | |
| Democratic | Michelle Held | 44.1% | 680 | |
| Total Votes | 1,543 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed January 4, 2016 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 7 Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Michelle Held |
61.9% | 172 | |
| Democratic | Michael Thorwart | 38.1% | 106 | |
| Total Votes | 278 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
| Council Rock School District, Region 7 Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Michael Thorwart |
57.6% | 255 | |
| Republican | Michelle Held | 42.4% | 188 | |
| Total Votes | 443 | |||
| Source: Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Bucks County Election Results," accessed July 6, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Thomas, Grupp and Thorwart received an official endorsement from the Northampton Township Republican Committee.[7]
Campaign finance
The Bucks County Board of Elections does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013This race had a primary election. In the state of Pennsylvania, candidates can cross-file as a Democrat and a Republican. This allows them to run in both parties' primary elections.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
At least one incumbent returned to the Council Rock school board after the election in 2015. Region 1 incumbent Bill Foster ran unopposed in his bid for re-election. Region 4 incumbent Wendi Thomas and Region 5 incumbent Jerold S. Grupp both faced opposition and won re-election. One new member joined the board for the Region 2 seat, seeing as candidate Edward Tate ran unopposed.
Ballotpedia survey responses
One of the six candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates as of May 14, 2015. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Edward Tate and Leslie Rothberg.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Tate stated:
| “ | My top priority is to ensure sufficient support for our academic programs by ensuring sound financial management.[8] | ” |
| —Edward Tate (2015)[9] | ||
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Rothberg stated:
| “ | I intend to focus on bringing down the cost-per-student by utilizing the empty seats in certain buildings and filling them to capacity. This will create more efficient use of resources throughout the district. I also plan to improve current technological advances that can be integrated into the classrooms.[8] | ” |
| —Leslie Rothberg (2015)[10] | ||
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 | Tate's ranking | Rothberg's ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
| Improving college readiness | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
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.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Council Rock School District election in 2015:[6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| March 10, 2015 | Partisan candidate filing deadline |
| March 11, 2015 - August 3, 2015 |
Independent candidate filing period |
| March 25, 2015 | Withdrawal deadline for primary election |
| April 20, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for primary election |
| May 8, 2015 | Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| May 12, 2015 | Last day to file for absentee ballot for primary election |
| May 15, 2015 | Absentee ballot deadline for primary election |
| May 19, 2015 | Primary election day |
| June 18, 2015 | Post-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| August 10, 2015 | Withdrawal deadline for general election |
| October 5, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in general election |
| October 23, 2015 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline for general election |
| October 27, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for general election |
| October 30, 2015 | Absentee ballot deadline for general election |
| November 3, 2015 | General Election Day |
| December 3, 2015 | Post-general election campaign finance deadline for general election |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2015
This election shared the ballot with primary and general elections for county offices such as commissioner, register of wills, treasurer, clerk of courts and coroner. Township and borough offices on the ballot included supervisor, treasurer, auditor, council member, controller, constable and tax collector. There were also judicial positions on the ballot including justice of the supreme court, judge of the superior court, judge of the commonwealth court, judge of the court of common pleas and magisterial district judge.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Council Rock School District Pennsylvania. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Council Rock School District | Pennsylvania | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Bucks County, Pennsylvania, "Candidate List for the Municipal Election of November 3, 2015," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Bucks County, Pennsylvania," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Council Rock School District," accessed March 12, 2015
- ↑ The New York Times, "Election Results," accessed August 9, 2013
- ↑ Council Rock School District, "School Board," accessed April 2, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed March 11, 2015
- ↑ Bucks Local News, "Northampton Township Republican Committee announces endorsements for 2015 Primary," April 15, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Edward Tate's responses," February 23, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Leslie Rothberg's responses," May 15, 2015
| 2015 Council Rock School District Elections | |
| Bucks County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary election: May 19, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Region 1: • Incumbent, Bill Foster (D/R) Region 2: • Edward Tate (D/R) |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
