Duval County Public Schools elections (2014)
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Three seats on the Duval County School Board were up for general election on August 26, 2014. The general election determined if candidates for each seat could garner a majority of the vote total. Because no candidate received 50 percent plus one of the general election votes in District 2, the top two vote recipients advanced to the runoff election on November 4, 2014.
The District 2 race featured four newcomers running to replace incumbent Fred Lee, who did not file for re-election. While Scott Shine easily advanced to the runoff election, Samuel Hall and Theresa Graham were separated by just two votes to take the second ballot position in the runoff at the end of the night. A recount was held that found Hall the second place victor with four vote lead over Graham.[1] Shine ultimately won the seat after defeating Hall in the runoff election.
Incumbent Paula D. Wright faced and defeated challenger Darryl Willie in the District 4 race. District 6 incumbent Becki Couch won re-election without opposition.
About the district
- See also: Duval County Public Schools, Florida
Duval County Public Schools is based in Jacksonville, the county seat of Duval County, Florida. Duval County is home to 885,855 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] Duval County Public Schools was the sixth-largest school district in Florida, serving 125,429 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[3]
Demographics
Duval County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Florida in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.6 percent of Duval County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.2 percent for Florida as a whole. The median household income in Duval County was $48,906 compared to $47,309 for the state of Florida. The poverty rate in Duval County was 15.8 percent compared to 15.6 percent for the entire state.[2]
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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.
Voter and candidate information
The Duval County School Board consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Each member represents a specific geographic district. There was a general election on August 26, 2014, and the runoff election took place on November 4, 2014, for races where no candidate received 50 percent or more of the general election vote.
Candidates for the school board filed for the election by June 20, 2014. The county's elections office hosted early voting for the general election at various locations from August 16, 2014, to August 23, 2014. The early voting window for the runoff election ran from October 25, 2014, to November 1, 2014. The last day to request a mailed absentee ballot in the general election was August 20, 2014, and the runoff election deadline was October 29, 2014.
Elections
2014
Candidates
District 2
- Samuel Hall
- Former analyst, Anheuser-Busch
- Scott Shine
- Graduate, Virginia Commonwealth University
- Political and business consultant
- Member, Jacksonville Waterways Commission
Candidates defeated in the general election:
- Theresa Graham
- Graduate, Florida Community College and Logos University Jacksonville
- Realtor
- Shannon Russell
- Graduate, Central Michigan University
- High school teacher in district
District 4
- Paula D. Wright
- Incumbent
- Graduate, Jacksonville University
- Former radio show host and educator
- Darryl Willie
- Graduate, North Carolina State University and University of Georgia
- Community partnership director, Teach for America
Note: Bradford Hall initially filed for the District 4 primary but withdrew from the race on June 18, 2014.
District 6
- Becki Couch
- Incumbent
- Graduate, University of North Florida
- Former high school teacher
Election results
Runoff election
District 2
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Scott Shine |
57.6% | 20,810 | |
| Nonpartisan | Samuel Hall | 42.4% | 15,295 | |
| Total Votes | 36,105 | |||
| Source: Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 General Election Official Results," November 14, 2014 | ||||
General election
District 2
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Scott Shine |
45.8% | 5,788 | |
| Nonpartisan | Samuel Hall |
19.4% | 2,449 | |
| Nonpartisan | Theresa Graham | 19.3% | 2,445 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shannon Russell | 15.5% | 1,965 | |
| Total Votes | 12,647 | |||
| Source: Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed September 10, 2014 | ||||
District 4
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Paula D. Wright Incumbent |
53.3% | 6,111 | |
| Nonpartisan | Darryl Willie | 46.7% | 5,353 | |
| Total Votes | 11,464 | |||
| Source: Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Primary Election Official Results," accessed September 10, 2014 | ||||
District 6
Becki Couch was unopposed in her bid to retain the District 6 seat.
Endorsements
Scott Shine earned endorsements from current District 2 member Fred Lee, District 7 member Jason Fischer and previous District 2 members Nancy Broner and Susan Wilkinson.[5] Shannon Russell received endorsements from Duval Teachers United, the North Florida Central Labor Council and the Adjunct Faculty Union.[6]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $227,934.03 and spent a total of $166,779.78 as of October 28, 2014, according to the Duval County Supervisor of Elections.[7]
District 2
In the District 2 race, candidates raised a total of $103,415.99 and spent a total of $65,988.86.
| Candidate | Monetary contributions |
In-kind contributions |
Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Theresa Graham | $2,077.00 | $0.00 | $1,675.44 | $401.56 |
| Samuel Hall | $13,076.00 | $1,774.56 | $12,542.38 | $533.62 |
| Shannon Russell | $3,858.83 | $800.00 | $3,354.19 | $504.64 |
| Scott Shine | $81,280.00 | $549.60 | $48,416.85 | $32,863.15 |
District 4
In the District 4 race, candidates raised a total of $96,165.36 and spent a total of $72,980.92.
| Candidate | Monetary contributions |
In-kind contributions |
Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford Hall | $2,911.00 | $130.00 | $2,911.00 | $0.00 |
| Darryl Willie | $55,170.71 | $272.79 | $44,813.95 | $10,356.76 |
| Paula D. Wright | $31,939.61 | $5,741.25 | $25,255.97 | $6,683.64 |
District 6
In the District 6 race, unopposed candidate Becki Couch raised a total of $28,352.68 and spent a total of $27,810.00.
| Candidate | Monetary contributions |
In-kind contributions |
Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Becki Couch | $27,810.00 | $542.68 | $27,810.00 | $0.00 |
Past elections
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What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Firing, suspension of district teachers
School board members voted unanimously during a July 1, 2014, meeting to fire Julie Bennett and suspend Courtney Spruill from their teaching positions due to separate disciplinary issues. Bennett, a sixth-grade history teacher at Fletcher Middle School, was fired for making fun of a student's weight in February 2014. Her disciplinary record dated back to 2003 with reprimands and fines in 2005, 2012, and 2013 for volatile behavior, leaving students unattended, and insulting students.[8]
Spruill, a physical education teacher at Kernan Middle School, was suspended for 15 days for showing poor judgement when dealing with students. She was accused of attending a party for the school's soccer team where she received a lap dance, drank alcohol, and demonstrated a sexually suggestive dance known as twerking. The host of the party noted that Spruill brought vodka as a house-warming gift but did not drink alcohol around students. The board concluded that there was enough evidence to warrant the suspension, including a video of Spruill dancing with students.[8]
State investigation of special education programs
The Florida Department of Education issued a report in July 2014 showing that the district violated federal laws guaranteeing "free and appropriate education" for students with disabilities. A complaint was lodged against the district's Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program by advocacy group Disability Rights Florida in April 2014. The group received reports from district parents that students with disabilities were not receiving sufficient assistance in reading and math courses. State investigators found that 53 out of the 93 individualized education plans at 18 district schools were not compliant with state or federal education laws. The investigation determined that some teachers were unable to provide additional assistance because they were assigned to proctor state assessments. The state report also found confusion between ESE teachers and principals about requests for substitutes during teacher absences. District schools are required to revise their approach to ESE courses by September 1, 2014, with reports on student progress due by October 1, 2014 and December 15, 2014.[9]
Mixed results of 2013-2014 state grades
Duval County Public Schools experienced an increase in schools receiving failing grades from the Florida Department of Education, according to the state's 2013-2014 report on academic performance. Twenty-two schools in the district were considered failing by state standards in 2013-2014 compared to 11 schools during the 2012-2013 school year. The district also received A grades for 32 schools and four schools moved up three letter grades compared to the previous year. The state's annual grading system is based on student test scores and faces scrutiny from parents, teachers, and education advocates concerned about a heavy focus on standardized testing.[10]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the school board election in 2014:[11]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 20, 2014 | Last day of candidate filing period |
| August 16, 2014 | First day of early voting in general election |
| August 20, 2014 | Last day to request mailed absentee ballot for general election |
| August 23, 2014 | Last day of early voting in general election |
| August 26, 2014 | General election day |
| October 25, 2014 | First day of early voting in runoff election |
| October 29, 2014 | Last day to request mailed absentee ballot for runoff election |
| November 1, 2014 | Last day of early voting in runoff election |
| November 4, 2014 | Runoff election day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Florida elections, 2014
Area residents voted on county and statewide races on November 4, 2014. Residents of Duval County voted on races for county judge and soil and water conservation district seats. The November 4, 2014, ballot included races for state legislature, state executive and U.S. House seats.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Duval + County + Schools + Florida"
See also
- Florida
- Duval County Public Schools, Florida
- Florida school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Duval County, Florida ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Florida
- Florida and Alabama elections lead to runoffs, school boards to welcome newcomers
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "2014 Duval Primary Recount Results," August 29, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Duval County, Florida," accessed June 11, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed June 3, 2014
- ↑ Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "Candidates for 2014 Election Cycle," accessed June 11, 2014
- ↑ Scott Shine for Duval County School Board, "Endorsements," accessed July 21, 2014
- ↑ Facebook, "Elect Shannon Russell," accessed July 22, 2014
- ↑ Duval County Supervisor of Elections, "List of Candidates and Committees," accessed October 28, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Florida Times-Union, "Duval School board fires 1 teacher, suspends another for unprofessional conduct including report of twerking," July 7, 2014
- ↑ The Florida Times-Union, "State: Duval County Public Schools violated some laws for educating children with disabilities," July 3, 2014
- ↑ News4Jax, "22 Duval County elementary, middle schools given 'F' grades," July 11, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
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| 2014 Duval County Public Schools Elections | |
| Duval County, Florida | |
| Election date: | August 26, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Theresa Graham • Samuel Hall • Shannon Russell • Scott Shine District 4: • Incumbent, Paula D. Wright • Bradford Hall • Darryl Willie |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
