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Elizabeth Sparks
Elizabeth Sparks was a member of the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. Sparks assumed office in 2016. Sparks left office in 2018.
Sparks ran for re-election to the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education At-large in Wisconsin. Sparks won in the general election on April 5, 2016.
Biography
Sparks graduated from the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District. She earned a bachelor's degree in business and management and a master's degree in business administration from Alverno College. She obtained a master's certificate in business analytics from Alverno College. Sparks' career experience includes serving as a director of business development with the executive development organization Executive Agenda (EA) beginning in 2016, in business and personal finance, and as a senior relationship manager with PNC Bank's Private Client Group.[1][2][3]
As of February 2021, Sparks has been serving as a member and as a Vice President of Programs with TEMPO Waukesha. She has served as a director of finance and operations with the non-profit organization Joseph Cocking Memorial Hockey Scholarship Fund, which Sparks assisted to establish. In 2018, Sparks was appointed to the Plan Commission in Brookfield, Wisconsin. She resigned the post upon moving out of the village. In 2015, she served as a community representative with the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Ad Hoc Boundary Committee. From 2012 to 2014, she served as a member with the Seeds of Health Elementary school board.[1][2][3]
Elections
2016
Four of the seven seats on the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 5, 2016. A primary election was held on February 16, 2016, to narrow the field of candidates from 13 down to eight.[4] Incumbent Frank Carini and challengers Veronica Baricevic, Joshua Borzick, Jeffrey Gassenhuber, Darin Grabowski, Elizabeth Sparks, Amy Mlot, and Beth Waschow won the primary election.[5][6] They faced off again in the general election, where Carini, Sparks, Grabowski, and Mlot were elected to the board.[7]
Two of the four seats on the ballot were up for election to regular three-year terms. The other two seats were on the ballot in order to increase the size of the board from five members to seven. Carini and Sparks, the top two vote-getters, won three-year terms. Grabowski, who came in third place, won a two-year term, and fourth-place candidate Mlot won a one-year term.[5][7]
Incumbent Jonathan Jossart and challengers Rosemarie Annonson, Sean Kingston, Thomas Kroon and Gregory Loreck were defeated in the primary election.[5][6]
The 2016 primary election was her first time running for office.[8] She received the eighth-most votes in the primary on February 16, 2016, which allowed her to advance to the general election.[5] [6][7]
Results
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large General and Special Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Frank Carini Incumbent |
17.20% | 5,131 |
| Elizabeth Sparks |
13.16% | 3,926 |
| Darin Grabowski |
12.42% | 3,705 |
| Amy Mlot |
11.78% | 3,514 |
| Jeffrey Gassenhuber | 11.44% | 3,412 |
| Joshua Borzick | 11.34% | 3,382 |
| Beth Waschow | 11.30% | 3,371 |
| Veronica Baricevic | 10.86% | 3,241 |
| Write-in votes | 0.51% | 153 |
| Total Votes | 29,835 | |
| Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official Results of the General Election," April 11, 2016 | ||
| Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large Primary Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Frank Carini Incumbent |
14.74% | 1,629 |
| Joshua Borzick |
9.20% | 1,017 |
| Veronica Baricevic |
9.14% | 1,010 |
| Beth Waschow |
9.08% | 1,003 |
| Amy Mlot |
8.10% | 895 |
| Darin Grabowski |
7.98% | 882 |
| Jeffrey Gassenhuber |
7.85% | 868 |
| Elizabeth Sparks |
7.19% | 795 |
| Gregory Loreck | 7.10% | 785 |
| Jonathan Jossart Incumbent | 6.70% | 741 |
| Rosemarie Annonson | 5.94% | 656 |
| Sean Kingston | 3.56% | 394 |
| Thomas Kroon | 3.41% | 377 |
| Total Votes | 11,052 | |
| Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official results for spring primary," February 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
Sparks filed an exemption statement detailing she would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward her campaign. Because of this, she did not have to file additional campaign finance reports for this election.[9][10]
Campaign themes
2016
Candidate website
Sparks highlighted the following priorities on her campaign website:
| “ |
|
” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[12] | ||
Yes for Oak Creek Schools candidate profile
The group Yes for Oak Creek Schools published candidate profiles on its website. Sparks' answers to the group's questions can be found below. The bolded text indicates the questions provided by Yes for Oak Creek Schools.
| “ | WHY ARE YOU SEEKING SCHOOL BOARD OFFICE AT THIS TIME? I believe that education is not the sole responsibility of teachers and administration it is truly a community effort. I grew up in this community, I attended middle school and high school in Oak Creek. I am now raising my child in this community and want to help ensure a continuation of a solid foundation for her, her peers, and generations to come. Oak Creek Schools has the ability, just like the city, to go from Really Good to Excellent. It is about defining a vision and executing the necessary steps to achieve that vision. I am a proud product of the Oak Creek-Franklin School District and want to give back to the community and district that helped to define and develop my abilities. WHAT WOULD BE YOUR PRIORITIES AS A SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER? COMMUNICATION- Ensure clear lines of communication between parents, the community and the teachers and administration. Also ensuring more communication in respect to budgeting and goals of the district. TECHNOLOGY- Focusing on students individual and personalized learning utilizing technology but making sure they are not just being taught by a computer. RESPONSIBILITY- Being responsible to the community and making informed decision on a vote. HEALTH- Making sure students health is top of mind. Encompassing Safety, emotional, creativeness, and physical health. ENVIRONMENT- Assure quality environments that are suitable for learning. Making sure facilities are safe and have enough room to grow with the community.[11] |
” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[13] | ||
Oak Creek Now candidate survey (general election)
Oak Creek Now asked the candidates in the general election the following two bolded questions. Sparks' responses are shown below.
Last summer, the school board agreed to spend $4.5 million to build a new auditorium "shell." How would you, as a board member, propose raising the additional $4 million needed to complete the project?
| “ | I suggest doing what other districts have started to do, by trying not to increase taxes, focus on forming more strategic partnerships within the business community and city. By forming stronger strategic partnerships we could see local business contribute to our district in ways that we have not seen before. Such as naming rights and other income generating ideas. To read more about this and other ideas, please go to my website www.elizabethmsparks.com.[11] | ” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[14] | ||
The school board has been criticized in the past for not being transparent enough. Do you agree? If so, how would you improve the district's relationship with the community?
| “ | The community has seen a great improvement, especially with the addition of the communications specialist this past year. Continuous improvement is necessary in the path to success. One way that we can improve would be to continuously inform the community about the ways they can access the shared information available to them, such as the school district website, email communications, Google docs, the district Facebook page, and school board meeting minutes and agendas.[11] | ” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[14] | ||
Oak Creek Now candidate survey (primary election)
Oak Creek Now asked the candidates in the primary race the following two bolded questions. Sparks' responses are shown below.
Why are you running for a seat on the school board?
| “ | I believe education is not the sole responsibility of teachers and administration. It's truly a community effort. Being a proud alumnus of the OCFSD and now raising my child in this community, I want to ensure a continuation of a solid foundation for her, her peers and generations to come.[11] | ” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[15] | ||
What is one major change you would like to see within the district?
| “ | Clearly defining a vision that encourages and promotes collaborative support from the district and community while relaying the importance of preparatory learning at all grade levels: elementary to middle to high school and beyond.[11] | ” |
| —Elizabeth Sparks (2016)[15] | ||
See also
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, Wisconsin
- Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections (2016)
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- Yes for Oak Creek Schools Candidate Profile
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Elizabeth Sparks, "About Elizabeth Sparks," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ballotpedia, "Email communication with Ballotpedia Editor account," August 23, 2018
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ballotpedia staff, "Email communication with Elizabeth Sparks," February 9, 2021
- ↑ Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District, "School Board Election Information," January 6, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Franklin Now, "Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners and Oak Creek 2016 elections begin," January 5, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official results for spring primary," February 22, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Milwaukee County Election Commission, "Election Summary Final - Unofficial," accessed April 6, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia's Biographical Information Submission Form, "Elizabeth Sparks' responses," January 25, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Campaign Financing," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jill Bebeau, Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District," February 15, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Elizabeth Sparks, "Priorities," accessed February 1, 2016
- ↑ Yes for Oak Creek Schools, "Candidate Profile: Elizabeth Sparks," accessed January 27, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Oak Creek Now, "Oak Creek-Franklin School Board candidates address auditorium funding, district transparency," March 22, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Oak Creek Now, "Oak Creek-Franklin School Board hopefuls state their views," February 3, 2016
| 2016 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Elections | |
| Milwaukee County | |
| Election date: | April 5, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Frank Carini • Incumbent, Jonathan Jossart • Rosemarie Annonson • Veronica Baricevic • Joshua Borzick • Jeffrey Gassenhuber • Darin Grabowski • Sean Kingston • Thomas Kroon • Gregory Loreck • Amy Mlot • Elizabeth Sparks • Beth Waschow |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
