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Delaware school board elections, 2015
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A total of five Delaware school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections in 2015 for eight seats. All of the elections were scheduled on May 12, 2015.
- The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Christina School District with 16,384 K-12 students.
- The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Appoquinimink School District with 9,380 K-12 students.
- Red Clay Consolidated School District, Brandywine School District and Colonial School District were tied for the most seats on the ballot in 2015 with two seats up for election in each.
- Christina School District and Appoquinimink School District were tied for the fewest seats on the ballot in 2015 with one seat up for election in both.
The districts listed below served 62,469 K-12 students during the 2012-2013 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district name for more information on the district and its school board elections.
| 2015 Delaware School Board Elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Date | Seats up for election | Total board seats | Student enrollment |
| Appoquinimink School District | 5/12/2015 | 1 | 5 | 9,380 |
| Brandywine School District | 5/12/2015 | 2 | 7 | 10,851 |
| Christina School District | 5/12/2015 | 1 | 7 | 16,384 |
| Colonial School District | 5/12/2015 | 2 | 7 | 9,697 |
| Red Clay Consolidated School District | 5/12/2015 | 2 | 7 | 16,157 |
Trends in Delaware school board elections
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2015 elections for Delaware's five largest school districts were the most competitive out of the last six years. From 2010 to 2015, these districts averaged less than two candidates filing per seat up for election. Additionally, 36.17 percent of the races during that period were uncontested.
The following sections analyze competitiveness and incumbency advantage in Delaware's school board elections. These districts did not utilize primary or runoff elections. Winners only had to receive a plurality, or relative majority, of votes to secure a seat. All of the school board elections held in the state from 2010 to 2015 were nonpartisan.
Details of the data discussed here can be found in the table below.
Competitiveness
In 2015, Delaware's largest school district elections garnered an average of two candidates filing for each seat up for election. This was the second-highest average since 2010. The 2012 elections had the highest average at 2.20 candidates per seat, while the 2014 races had the lowest, garnering 1.67 candidates per seat.
From 2010 to 2015, an average of 1.87 candidates filed per seat up for election. This was slightly lower than the average 1.89 candidates who ran for each school board seat up for election in America's 1,000 largest school districts in 2014.
Unopposed races
Of the eight seats up for election in 2015, six saw races with multiple candidates for a contested election rate of 75 percent. This was higher than the average contested election rate of 61.70 percent from 2010 through 2015.
The 2015 elections had the lowest rate of unopposed races during that six-year period. In 2014, 33.33 percent of seats up for election were uncontested, which was the second-lowest rate over the six-year period. Alternatively, 2013 saw the highest number of unopposed races during that time period; 41.67 percent of seats up for election were unopposed that year.
No candidate races
One seat up for election in 2015, Colonial School Board District G, saw no regular candidates file for its race. Write-in candidates are not allowed in Delaware school board elections, so the seat had to be filled outside of the election.
Incumbency advantage
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Half of the seats up for re-election in 2015 saw incumbents run to retain them. Of those four incumbents seeking re-election, two ran unopposed. On average from 2010 through 2015, 57.45 percent of seats up for election saw incumbents seek re-election. From 2010 to 2015, nearly three-quarters of all incumbents seeking re-election faced opposition; 74.47 percent of incumbents who ran in those years faced at least one formal challenger. A minority of incumbents who sought re-election in that period—25.53 percent—faced no challengers. From 2010 to 2015, 85.19 percent of incumbents who sought re-election were successful in their campaigns. Opposed incumbents were retained at a rate of 73.33 percent during that six-year period. The map below details the success rates for incumbents who ran in the 2015 school board elections that were held in the largest school districts by enrollment in the U.S.
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Data table
| Delaware school board elections, 2010 - 2015 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total | Incumbents | ||||||||
| Seats up | Candidates | Candidates/ seat |
Unopposed seats | % unopposed | % seats won by newcomers | Sought re-election | Unopposed | Retained | % retained | |
| 2015 | 8 | 16 | 2.00 | 2 | 25.00% | 50.00% | 4 | 2 | 3 | 75.00% |
| 2014 | 6 | 10 | 1.67 | 2 | 33.33% | 0.00% | 6 | 2 | 6 | 100.00% |
| 2013 | 12 | 22 | 1.83 | 5 | 41.67% | 0.00% | 6 | 2 | 6 | 100.00% |
| 2012 | 5 | 11 | 2.20 | 2 | 40.00% | 0.00% | 2 | 2 | 2 | 100.00% |
| 2011 | 8 | 15 | 1.88 | 3 | 37.50% | 62.50% | 4 | 2 | 3 | 75.00% |
| 2010 | 8 | 14 | 1.75 | 3 | 37.50% | 62.50% | 5 | 2 | 3 | 60.00% |
Survey responses
One of the 16 candidates running for a school board seat in Delaware's largest school districts in the 2015 elections responded to Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. The following sections display their answers to questions about top priorities and education issues.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priority would be if elected, Appoquinimink Board of Education challenger Ryan Scott stated:
| “ | Improving communication would be my top priority. Increasingly our community does not trust district leadership; the district needs to do more to involve the community in the mission and purpose of the school district. Additionally, we need better communication from the classroom to the district decision-makers. I will be available to any teacher, student, or parent who wishes to voice concerns or comments; I will seek out these comments in open and honest means.[2] | ” |
| —Ryan Scott (2015), [3] | ||
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 Scott's rankings, which can be sorted from most to least important:
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Issue | Scott's ranking |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked an additional 10 short answer and multiple choice questions regarding significant issues in education. Links to Scott's responses can be found below.
State profile
| Demographic data for Delaware | ||
|---|---|---|
| Delaware | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 944,076 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 1,949 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 69.4% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 21.6% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 3.6% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2.7% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 8.7% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 88.4% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 30% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $60,509 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 13.9% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in Delaware. **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. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
- See also: Presidential voting trends in Delaware
Delaware voted for the Democratic candidate in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, one is located in Delaware, accounting for 0.5 percent of the total pivot counties.[4] As of May 2017, eight state House districts and five state Senate districts intersected with a Pivot County in Delaware. The state has one at-large congressional district.
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. Delaware had one Boomerang Pivot County, 4.00% of all Boomerang Pivot Counties.
More Delaware coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in Delaware
- United States congressional delegations from Delaware
- Public policy in Delaware
- Endorsers in Delaware
- Delaware fact checks
- More...
Academic performance
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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- See also: Public education in Delaware
NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during the 2012-2013 school year. Delaware's scores were lower across the board than its neighboring states (Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) during the 2012-2013 school year.[5]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| Delaware | 42% | 33% | 38% | 33% |
| Maryland | 47% | 37% | 45% | 42% |
| New Jersey | 49% | 49% | 42% | 46% |
| Pennsylvania | 44% | 42% | 40% | 42% |
| United States | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for Delaware and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[6][7][8]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT and 1,498 out of a possible 2,400 for the SAT.[9]
Delaware schools reported a graduation rate of 80.4 percent during the 2012-2013 school year, lowest among its neighboring states.
In Delaware, more students took the SAT than the ACT in 2013, earning an average SAT score of 1,351.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| Delaware | 80.4% | Fourth | 22.9 | 15% | 1,351 | 100% | |
| Maryland | 85% | Second | 22.3 | 21% | 1,483 | 73% | |
| New Jersey | 87.5% | First | 23 | 23% | 1,521 | 78% | |
| Pennsylvania | 85.5% | Second | 22.7 | 18% | 1,480 | 71% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades 9–12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–11 and school year 2011–12. The event dropout rate for Delaware was higher than the national average at 3.6 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 3.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[10]
See also
| Delaware | School Boards | News and Analysis |
|---|---|---|
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed April 20, 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, "Ryan Scott's responses," May 8, 2015
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistices, "State Profiles," accessed May 14, 2014
- ↑ United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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