Fauquier County Public Schools elections (2015)
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Fauquier County Public Schools Fauquier County, Virginia ballot measures Local ballot measures, Virginia |
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All five seats on the Fauquier County Public Schools School Board were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1]
Cedar Run District board member Donna Grove defeated challenger Shannon Lee Smith-Wood to retain her seat. Newcomers Suzanne Sloane, Heidi Van Voorhis and Linda Williams ran for the Scott District seat held by Maureen Riordan, who did not file for re-election. Sloane won the open seat. Incumbents Brian Gorg, Sheryl Wolfe and Raymond Bland ran unopposed and won re-election to the Center District, Lee District and Marshall District seats, respectively.
Two of the eight candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "What was at stake?" section to see survey answers.
About the district
- See also: Fauquier County Public Schools, Virginia
Fauquier County Public Schools is located in northeast Virginia in Fauquier County. The county seat of Fauquier County is Warrenton. This county was home to 68,248 residents in 2014, according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2011-2012 school year, Fauquier County Public Schools was the 25th-largest school district in Virginia and served 11,244 students.[3]
Demographics
Fauquier County underperformed compared to the rest of Virginia in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 33.2 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 35.2 percent for Virginia as a whole. The median household income in Fauquier County was $88,409, compared to $63,907 for the state of Virginia. The poverty rate was 5.6 percent, compared to 11.3 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 Fauquier County School Board is a five-member board elected by district to four-year terms. All five seats were on the ballot in 2015. The general election was held on November 3, 2015. The next scheduled election for all five seats was 2019. The filing deadline for candidates interested in running for the board was June 9, 2015.[5][6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
Cedar Run District
Donna Grove 
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Shannon Lee Smith-Wood | ||
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Center District
| Brian Gorg
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Lee District
| Sheryl Wolfe
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Marshall District
| Raymond Bland
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Scott District
| Suzanne Sloane
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Heidi Van Voorhis | Linda Williams | |||
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Election results
| Fauquier County School Board, Cedar Run District, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Donna Grove Incumbent |
68.4% | 1,961 |
| Shannon Lee Smith-Wood | 31.1% | 890 |
| Write-in votes | 0.49% | 14 |
| Total Votes | 2,865 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
| Fauquier County School Board, Center District, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Brian Gorg Incumbent |
97.8% | 1,775 |
| Write-in votes | 2.2% | 40 |
| Total Votes | 1,815 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
| Fauquier County School Board, Lee District, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Sheryl Wolfe Incumbent |
98.0% | 1,935 |
| Write-in votes | 1.98% | 39 |
| Total Votes | 1,974 | |
| Source: Fauquier County, VA, "Fauquier County 2015 election results," accessed November 3, 2015 | ||
| Fauquier County School Board, Marshall District, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Raymond Bland Incumbent |
98.8% | 2,502 |
| Write-in votes | 1.22% | 31 |
| Total Votes | 2,533 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
| Fauquier County School Board, Scott District, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Suzanne Sloane |
42.7% | 1,594 |
| Linda Williams | 31.1% | 1,159 |
| Heidi Van Voorhis | 25.9% | 965 |
| Write-in votes | 0.29% | 11 |
| Total Votes | 3,729 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November General", accessed November 4, 2015 | ||
Endorsements
No official endorsements were made in this election.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $13,511.02 and spent a total of $10,746.61 as of October 26, 2015, according to the Virginia State Board of Elections.[7]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cedar Run District | |||
| Donna Grove (incumbent) | $865.60 | $654.80 | $210.80 |
| Shannon Lee Smith-Wood | $1,587.76 | $1,290.15 | $297.61 |
| Center District | |||
| Brian Gorg (incumbent) | $450.00 | $340.00 | $110.00 |
| Lee District | |||
| Sheryl Wolfe (incumbent) | $523.74 | $476.18 | $47.56 |
| Marshall District | |||
| Raymond Bland (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Scott District | |||
| Suzanne Sloane | $3,608.92 | $3,444.80 | $164.12 |
| Heidi Van Voorhis | $4,525.00 | $2,923.87 | $1,601.13 |
| Linda Williams | $1,950.00 | $1,616.81 | $333.19 |
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two candidates out of eight total candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following section displays the responses to the survey questions from Scott District candidate Suzanne Sloane and Lee District incumbent Sheryl Wolfe.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Sloane stated:
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Immediately upon winning the seat on the board following the election, the first priority would be working with the other school board members to carry out the strategic plans for the district and working within the already approved budget for 2015-2016 school year. [8] |
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| —Suzanne Sloane, (2015), [9] | ||
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Wolfe stated:
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Making sure EVERY SINGLE CHILD, no matter what their background or economic situation, has the same opportunity for success. And ensuring that our staff believes in our students and has high expectations for all! [8] |
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| —Sheryl Wolfe, (2015), [10] | ||
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 the candidates' rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
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Click here to learn more about education policy in Virginia. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | ||
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| Issue | Sloane | Wolfe |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||
| Improving college readiness | ||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||
| Expanding school choice options | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to the candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Fauquier County Public Schools election in 2015:[6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 9, 2015 | Last day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| October 13, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in the general election |
| October 27, 2015 | Last day to apply for an absentee ballot by mail |
| October 31, 2015 | Last day to apply for an absentee ballot in person |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Virginia elections, 2015
This election shared the ballot with races for clerk of court, county revenue commissioner, commonwealth's attorney, county board of supervisors, county sheriff, county treasurer and soil and water conservation district.[11]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Fauquier County Public Schools Virginia. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Fauquier County Public Schools | Virginia | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Fauquier County Public Schools, "School Board," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Fauquier County, Virginia," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Election Results," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ Fauquier County Public Schools, "Composition of the Fauquier County School Board," November 14, 2011
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Virginia Department of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 27, 2015
- ↑ Virginia State Board of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed October 27, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Suzanne Sloane's responses," September 28, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Sheryl Wolfe's responses," September 26, 2015
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "List of Candidates," September 9, 2015
