Delaware school board elections, 2016

← 2015

2016 school board elections Election details and procedures List of elections Poll opening and closing times By geographic region Northeast Connecticut Maine Massachusetts New Hampshire New Jersey New York Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Midwest Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Michigan Minnesota Missouri Nebraska North Dakota Ohio South Dakota Wisconsin South Alabama Arkansas Delaware Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Maryland Mississippi North Carolina Oklahoma South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia West Virginia West Arizona California Colorado Idaho Montana Nevada New Mexico Oregon Utah Washington Wyoming Pacific Alaska Hawaii Past elections 2015 2014 2013 Learn more about Delaware Federal government Presidential election Congressional delegation Federal courts State government State executives Delaware State Legislature Ballot measures State courts Local government Cities in Delaware Local ballot measures Recall efforts Public education Charter schools Higher education School choice See also External links Footnotes

2017 →

Elections

General elections for Delaware school boards were held on May 10, 2016; unopposed elections were canceled and did not appear on the ballot. The six Delaware school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held school board elections for nine seats in 2016. Special elections were held in conjunction with some general elections to fill vacancies.

Here are several quick facts about Delaware's school board elections in 2016:

• The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2016 was the Red Clay Consolidated School District with 16,538 K-12 students.
• The smallest Delaware school district among the nation's largest with an election in 2016 was the Indian River School District with 9,313 K-12 students.
• Three districts tied for the most seats on the 2016 ballot with two seats up for election each.
• The other four largest districts tied for the fewest seats on the 2016 ballot with one seat up for election each.

The district listed below served 72,306 K-12 students during the 2013-2014 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Click on the district names for more information on each one and its school board elections.

2016 Delaware School Board Elections
District	General date	Regular term (years)	Seats up for election	Total board seats	Student enrollment
Appoquinimink School District	5/10/2016	5	1	5	9,482
Brandywine School District	5/10/2016	5	1	7	10,799
Christina School District	5/10/2016	5	2	7	16,326
Colonial School District	5/10/2016	5	2	7	9,848
Indian River School District	5/10/2016	5	2	10	9,313
Red Clay Consolidated School District	5/10/2016	5	1	7	16,538

Election trends

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

See also: School board incumbency analysis: 2015 in brief

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.

The map above details the success rates of incumbent who ran to retain their school board seats in the largest school districts in each state. States depicted in gray did not hold school board elections.

Data table

Delaware school board elections, 2014 - 2015
	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015
All candidates
Seats up	8	8	5	12	6	8
Candidates	14	15	11	22	10	16
Candidates/seat	1.75	1.88	2.20	1.83	1.67	2.00
Unopposed seats	3	3	2	5	2	2
% unopposed	37.50%	37.50%	40.00%	41.67%	33.33%	25.00%
% seats won by newcomers	62.50%	62.50%	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%	50.00%
Incumbents
Sought re-election	5	4	2	6	6	4
Unopposed	2	2	2	2	2	2
Retained	3	3	2	6	6	3
% retained	60.00%	75.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	75.00%

Academic performance

See also: Public education in Delaware

---

The sections below do not contain the most recently published data on this subject. If you would like to help our coverage grow, consider donating to Ballotpedia.

---

Education terms
For more information on education policy terms, see this article.
School board elections portal Glossary of education terms School choice on the ballot Education on the ballot

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 school year 2012-2013. Delaware's scores were lower across the board than its neighboring states, (Maryland, New Jersey and Pennsylvania).

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

See also: Graduation rates by groups in state and ACT and SAT scores in the United States

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.

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 1498 out of a possible 2400 for the SAT.

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 1351.

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%	1351	100%
Maryland	85%	Second	22.3	21%	1483	73%
New Jersey	87.5%	First	23	23%	1521	78%
Pennsylvania	85.5%	Second	22.7	18%	1480	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 nine through 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 2010–2011 and school year 2011–2012. 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.

State profile

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. 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...

See also

Delaware	School Boards	News and Analysis
Public education in Delaware List of school districts in Delaware	School board elections, 2016 Delaware school board elections, 2015 Delaware school board elections, 2014	Education reform at the state and local levels (2016) School boards in session: 2015 in brief Analysis of spending in America's largest school districts Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey