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DeSoto County School District elections (2016)
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Two of the five seats on the DeSoto County School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. District 1 incumbent Milton Nichols ran unopposed and won re-election to his seat. District 2 incumbent Steve Dodd did not run for re-election. Michele Henley defeated Gail Baptist Lyons and Juanita Thompson for the open seat.[1]
Click here to read more about the federal investigation of the district by the U.S. Department of Education after allegations of racism.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The DeSoto County Board of Education consisted of five members elected by specific geographic district to six-year terms. Elections are held in even-numbered years. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. Two seats were up for election in 2016.[2]
School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period, which ended on September 9, 2016.
Candidates and results
District 1
Results
| DeSoto County School District, District 1 General Election, 6-year term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Milton Nichols Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 10,952 |
| Total Votes | 10,952 | |
| Source: Mississippi Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Milton Nichols 
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District 2
Results
| DeSoto County School District, District 2 General Election, 6-year term, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Michele Henley |
64.15% | 9,069 |
| Juanita Thompson | 18.99% | 2,684 |
| Gail Baptist Lyons | 16.86% | 2,384 |
| Total Votes | 14,137 | |
| Source: Mississippi Secretary of State, "2016 General Election," accessed November 30, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Michele Henley
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Gail Baptist Lyons | Juanita Thompson | |||
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Additional elections
- See also: Mississippi elections, 2016
The DeSoto County school board election shared the ballot with federal elections for President of the United States and United States Representative.[3]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the DeSoto County school board elections in 2016:[4]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| September 9, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| October 8, 2016 | Voting registration deadline |
| October 29-November 5, 2016 | Absentee voting period |
| November 8, 2016 | Election day |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
The DeSoto County Circuit Clerk did not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports in 2016.[5]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
Election trends
The 2016 school board election in DeSoto County School District guaranteed the addition of one new member to the board since the District 2 incumbent did not run for re-election. The incumbent in District 1 ran unopposed.
The district's 2014 election saw one new member join the board when a newcomer defeated an incumbent for the District 5 seat.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| DeSoto County School District | |||||
| 2016 | 2.0 | 50.00% | TBD | TBD | |
| 2014 | 1.0 | 0.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| Mississippi | |||||
| 2015 | 1.0 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2014 | 1.8 | 20.00% | 75.00% | 40.00% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 32.57% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 35.97% | 82.66% | 40.77% | |
Issues in the district
Federal investigation underway after allegations of racism in the district
DeSoto County School District received word that the district would be under federal investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights for alleged discriminatory disciplinary practices in 2016. This investigation was in addition to an investigation that was started in 2014. The specific complaint that triggered the 2014 investigation was not made public.[6]
An advocacy group called the DeSoto County Parents and Students for Justice partnered with a Washington D.C.-based organization, Advancement Project, to file the complaint after revisions to the student code of discipline did not meet their demands for more equitable disciplinary practices. The district, Mississippi's largest, suspended black students at a rate that was 2.5 times higher than that of white students for the same infraction in the 2011-2012 school year.[7]
The group called for four specific actions to be taken by the district:
- the selection of a student and parent advocate
- a requirement for all district staff to complete anti-racism and implicit bias training
- the hiring of a consultant to assist the district in reducing suspension rates for black students
- the ongoing collection of data to monitor the suspension rates of black students.[8]
The district said they had been working with the federal office since the 2014 investigation began. The district's director of communications, Katherine Nelson, did not agree with the allegations of the new complaint. She defended the disciplinary practices of the district by saying, “The DeSoto County School District offers a fair and equitable education for all students."[7]
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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About the district
DeSoto County School District is located in DeSoto County, Mississippi. The county seat is Hernando. DeSoto County was home to 173,323 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 33,054 students.[10]
Demographics
DeSoto County outperformed compared to Mississippi as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 21.7 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 20.4 percent for state residents. The median household income for the county was $58,995, compared to $39,464 for the state. The percentage of people below poverty level for the county was 10.1 percent, while it was 22.0 percent for the state.[9]
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'DeSoto County School District' 'Mississippi'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| DeSoto County School District | Mississippi | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Tiffany Rouse, "Phone conversation with DeSoto County Circuit Clerk's Office," September 12, 2016
- ↑ Desoto County School District, "Board of Education," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ DeSoto County, Mississippi, "Elections," accessed Septemer 21, 2016
- ↑ DeSoto County, Mississippi, "2016 Presidential Election Dates," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ Tiffany Rouse, "Phone conversation with DeSoto County Circuit Clerk's Office," November 2, 2016
- ↑ DeSoto Times-Tribune, "New discrimination charges against DCS," July 20, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 The Clarion Ledger, "Feds probe discrimination claim against DeSoto schools," March 16, 2016
- ↑ The Clarion-Ledger, "New civil-rights complaint filed against DeSoto Co. schools," July 22, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quickfacts:DeSoto County, Mississippi," accessed September 29, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed September 10, 2014
| 2016 DeSoto County School District Elections | |
| DeSoto County, Mississippi | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 1: Incumbent, Milton Nichols District 2: Michele Henley • Gail Baptist Lyons • Juanita Thompson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
