This Giving Tuesday, help ensure voters have the information they need to make confident, informed decisions. Donate now!
Deer Park Independent School District elections (2017)
2018 →
← 2016 |
|---|
 |
|
|
| Enrollment (14-15) |
|
|
Two of the seven seats on the Deer Park Independent School District school board in Texas were scheduled for at-large general election on May 6, 2017. However, the election was canceled due to lack of opposition. Board incumbents Brenda Cothran and Jason Morris were automatically re-elected.[1]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Deer Park school board consists of seven members elected to three-year terms. Although members hold a specific seat on the board, they are elected at large. Members are not paid but receive compensation for travel expenses and conference fees associated with district business.[2]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file for office by February 17, 2017. In order to run for a school board in Texas, candidates had to be U.S. citizens, 18 years old by their first day in office, and have resided in the state for 12 months and the district in which they ran for six months.[3]
In order to vote in this election, Texas residents had to register to vote by April 6, 2017. To vote in Texas, one must be a U.S. citizen, a resident of the county in which one registers, and at least 18 years old.[4][5][6]
Candidates and results
At-Large
Brenda Cothran 
|
Jason Morris
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional elections on the ballot
No other races would have appeared on the May 6, 2017, ballot for the Deer Park school district election.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for this Texas school board election in 2017:[7][8]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| February 17, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| April 6, 2017 | Deadline to register to vote |
| April 6, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (30th day report) |
| April 28, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (8th day report) |
| April 24, 2017 - May 2, 2017 | Early voting period |
| May 6, 2017 | General election date |
| July 17, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline (July semiannual report) |
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
No school board candidate in this race had filed a campaign finance report with the Harris County Department of Education as of April 17, 2017.[9]
There were three campaign finance deadlines for Texas school board candidates in 2017:[10]
- The 30th day report was due on April 6, 2017,
- The 8th day report was due on April 28, 2017, and
- The July semiannual report was due on July 17, 2017.
All school board candidates in the state were also required to file July semiannual campaign finance reports. Opposed school board candidates could choose "modified reporting" if they did not plan to exceed either $500 in contributions or $500 in expenditures in the election. Modified reporting exempts a candidate from filing the 30th and 8th day reports normally due before an election. If a candidate opted for modified reporting but exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, he or she had to file the 30th and 8th day reports. Unopposed school board candidates were only required to file a campaign finance report on the July semiannual deadline.[11]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2016Due to lack of opposition, the election was canceled and incumbents Lynn Kirkpatrick and Ken Donnell were automatically re-elected. 2015Incumbent Rhonda Leigh Lowe won re-election without opposition. Incumbent Albert Lee Giddens won re-election without opposition. Incumbent Ryan Taylor won re-election without opposition.
2014Position 6 incumbent Mike Mills and Position 7 incumbent Donna Thomas were the only candidates to file by the February 28, 2014 deadline. The district canceled elections in early April as allowed by state election law.[12][13]
2013Lynn Kirkpatrick and Ken Donnell won seats in Positions 3 and 4 by default after the district canceled elections on March 18, 2013.[14] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
|
|
Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
About the district
Deer Park Independent School District is located in Southeast Texas in Harris County. The seat of county government is Houston. Harris County was home to 4,538,028 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 89th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 13,140 students.[15][16]
Demographics
Harris County outperformed Texas as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.6 percent for the state as a whole. The median household income in the county was $54,457, compared to $53,207 for the entire state. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 16.6 percent, while that rate was 15.9 percent for all state residents.[16]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[16] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Harris County (%) | Texas (%) |
| White | 70.2 | 79.7 |
| Black or African American | 19.6 | 12.5 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Asian | 7.2 | 4.7 |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 42.0 | 38.8 |
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 Deer Park Independent School District Texas election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Deer Park Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
|
|
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email conversation with Sheri Vaughn, Coordinator for Superintendent and Board Services," February 21, 2017
- ↑ Deer Park Independent School District, "Eligibility/Qualifications," October 21, 2011
- ↑ Texas Association of School Boards, "Frequently Asked Questions About Running for a School Board," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Request for Voter Registration Applications," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ VoteTexas.org, "ID Voter," accessed June 10, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed March 14, 2017
- ↑ Vote Texas, "Important 2017 Election Dates," accessed March 11, 2017
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "2017 Filing Schedule for Reports Due in Connection with Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed March 28, 2017
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Winford Adams, Public Information & Policy Manager for the Harris County Department of Education," April 17, 2017
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "2017 Filing Schedule for Reports Due in Connection with Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed March 28, 2017
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File with Local Filing Authorities," accessed March 28, 2017
- ↑ Bobby Vasquez, InsideDP.com, "Ballots for city council, school board set," March 3, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Election Advisory No. 2013-17," accessed April 7, 2014
- ↑ Deer Park Independent School District, "Minutes of the Board of Trustees," March 18, 2013
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 United States Census Bureau, "Harris County, Texas," accessed March 17, 2017
| Deer Park Independent School District elections in 2017 | |
| Harris County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 6, 2017 (Canceled) |
| Candidates: | At-Large: Incumbent, Brenda Cothran • Incumbent, Jason Morris |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
