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Fort Bend Independent School District elections (2015)
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Two seats on the Fort Bend Independent School District Board of Trustees were up for general election on May 9, 2015.
In the Position 2 race, incumbent Grayle James defeated challenger Kathy Li. Position 6 incumbent Jenny Bailey faced three challengers, JJ Clemence, Addie Heyliger and Stuart Jackson, with Heyliger coming out on top.[1][2]
Clemence participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see her answers.
About the district
Fort Bend Independent School District is located in Fort Bend County, Texas. The county seat of Fort Bend County is Richmond. Fort Bend County was home to an estimated 652,365 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] Fort Bend Independent School District was the seventh-largest school district in Texas, serving 69,449 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[4]
Demographics
Fort Bend County outperformed the rest of Texas in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 41.4 percent of Fort Bend County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.7 percent for the state as a whole. The median household income in Fort Bend County was $85,297 , compared to $51,900 statewide. The poverty rate in Fort Bend County was 8.4 percent, compared to 17.6 percent for the entire state.[3]
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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 Fort Bend Board of Trustees consists of seven members elected to three-year terms. The board includes three residents of the city's east side, three residents of the city's west side and one resident from any location in the district. Each member represents the entire district. There was no primary election, and a general election took place on May 9, 2015. Two seats were on the ballot in May 2015.[2]
School board candidates submitted paperwork with the school district secretary by February 27, 2015. Each candidate must be at least 18 years old, a registered voter and a resident of the district for at least six months. Members filed two campaign finance reports with the district clerk prior to the election unless they did not receive or spend $500 during the campaign.[6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
Position 2
Grayle James 
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Kathy Li | ||
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Position 6
| Jenny Bailey | JJ Clemence | ||
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| Addie Heyliger
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Stuart Jackson | ||
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Election results
Position 2
| Fort Bend Independent School District, Position 2 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Grayle James Incumbent |
54.3% | 3,937 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathy Li | 45.7% | 3,316 | |
| Total Votes | 7,253 | |||
| Source: Fort Bend County, Texas, "Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015 | ||||
Position 6
| Fort Bend Independent School District, Position 6 General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Addie Heyliger |
33.3% | 2,477 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jenny Bailey Incumbent | 29.1% | 2,168 | |
| Nonpartisan | Stuart Jackson | 24.4% | 1,817 | |
| Nonpartisan | JJ Clemence | 13.2% | 984 | |
| Total Votes | 7,446 | |||
| Source: Fort Bend County, Texas, "Official Results," accessed June 1, 2015 | ||||
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $70,246.96 and spent a total of $33,121.37 as of April 9, 2015, according to the Texas Ethics Commission.[7]
| Candidate | Receipts | Disbursements | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Position 2 | |||
| Grayle James | $11,455.00 | $6,816.76 | $4,638.24 |
| Kathy Li | $17,024.96 | $5,751.70 | $11,273.26 |
| Position 6 | |||
| Jenny Bailey | $7,019.00 | $6,430.89 | $588.11 |
| JJ Clemence | $14,639.00 | $8,479.60 | $6,159.40 |
| Addie Heyliger | $11,410.00 | $2,253.42 | $9,041.17 |
| Stuart Jackson | $8,699.00 | $3,389.00 | $5,310.00 |
Texas school board candidates and officeholders must file semiannual reports, which were due on January 15, 2015, and July 15, 2015. In addition, candidates in contested elections were required to file 30-day and 8-day pre-election reports, unless the candidate chose modified reporting.[6]
Candidates in contested elections who did not intend to exceed $500 in contributions or expenditures, excepting filing fees, were eligible for modified reporting. If they exceeded the threshold before the 30th day prior to the election, candidates were required to submit the 30- and 8-day reports. If they exceeded the threshold after the 30th day prior to the election, they were required to file a report within 48 hours of exceeding the threshold and participate in regular reporting for the rest of the election cycle.[8]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Discrimination allegations, Houston Chronicle report
After a 2012 civil rights investigation was launched in Fort Bend ISD, officials said the district was taking steps to prevent discriminatory disciplinary practices. As of January 2015, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which operates within the U.S. Department of Education, said the investigation was ongoing in Fort Bend ISD. Records show that the investigation was initially called to determine if Fort Bend ISD "discriminates against African-American students by disciplining them more frequently and more harshly than other similarly situated students."[9]
The Houston Chronicle initiated its own examination of the district's discrimination allegations in 2015. Upon reviewing district data and hundreds of documents obtained through a public records request, the findings did indicate the presence of discriminatory practices. In the 2013-2014 school year, black students made up roughly 29 percent of the student population. In the same year, black students accounted for about 60 percent of in-school suspensions and alternative school placements, while white students made up for fewer than 10 percent of disciplinary actions. At that time, the student population in Fort Bend was comprised of 19 percent white students, 26 percent Hispanic students, and 22 percent Asian students. Clarence Holliday, president of the Missouri City branch of the NAACP, said "the community has had issues with the Fort Bend school system for many, many years." According to Superintendent Charles Dupre, who took office in 2013 after the investigation had begun, "we are going to be proactive and study our own data and we're going to do a corrective action plan for our own district." Superintendent Dupre also noted that cultural differences are a significant factor, such as communication styles and expectations for teacher-student relationships, and it is important for the district to be mindful of those differences.[9]
Since the launch of the OCR's investigation, the district had seen some positive results. In the summer of 2013, the district formed a student affairs department to serve as a hub for the district's disciplinary complaints, while also allowing the district to keep an eye on and pay attention to individual cases. From the fall of 2013 to 2014, several campuses in the district saw a decrease in the number of disciplinary actions against black students. The district has drafted a corrective action plan, which has yet to be reviewed by the OCR.[9]
According to the Chronicle report, a "district's discipline practices can be deemed discriminatory, and thus in violation of federal law, if its policies are either explicitly race-based or if they are neutral but found to have a disparate impact."[9]
2014 bond
In the election on November 4, 2014, Fort Bend ISD voters approved a bond package worth $484 million. The bond was approved with roughly 73.6 percent of the vote, according to unofficial totals. Superintendent Charles Dupre wrote a message to the district after the election, thanking voters for their trust and support in the bond proposal. “As this work begins, I am aware that the FBISD community will hold us accountable for delivering on our commitments. We will not disappoint you,” said Dupre. Board President Grayle James called the bond's passing, "[an affirmation] of our teamwork as a district and a community." Notable projects in the bond proposal included four new elementary schools and funding to improve career and technical education. A full list of expenditures can be seen below:[10]
| Fort Bend ISD 2014 Bond[10] | |
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| Project | Expense ($ in millions) |
| New construction and classroom additions | $365.4 |
| Technology infrastructure | $39.4 |
| Land purchases and other needs | $36.4 |
| Safety and security improvements | $26.9 |
| New school buses, bus cameras and global positioning systems | $15.9 |
Unsuccessful iAchieve program
In early 2012, Fort Bend ISD launched iAchieve, one of the state's first major forays into the widespread use of iPads as student learning tools. Millions of dollars was invested into new equipment, revised lesson plans and 100 simulated experiments, with the intended rollout expected to take around 18 months. Soon after its implementation, though, the program suffered disastrous results, with district officials canceling the program in October 2012. Major issues included spotty wireless coverage, interactive tools never getting built and new lessons failing to meet district standards.
Outrage over the failed program took center stage in the 2012 Fort Bend ISD election, with two new members getting elected to the board. One of those members, Jenny Bailey, said the district rushed the program without the right infrastructure in place. "Everyone knows you can’t really measure anything in a month. I felt like it was being pushed out for some odd reason." With the 2013 release of the program's audit, Bailey's suspicions were confirmed. The district cited rushing ahead without the right infrastructure and without the right people as major pitfalls. The company the district hired had experience and was well-known in the district, but not for developing iPad learning platforms. The iAchieve program has served as a tool for helping other districts in the state with successful technology rollouts. The full audit of the iAchieve program can be seen here.[11]
Ballotpedia survey responses
JJ Clemence participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priority would be if elected, Clemence stated:
| “ | Student achievement.[12] | ” |
| —JJ Clemence (2015)[13] | ||
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:
| Issue importance ranking | |
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| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Fort Bend Independent School District election in 2015:[6][14]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 29, 2014 | Deadline to post notice of candidate filing deadline |
| January 28, 2015 | First day to file for place on general election ballot |
| February 27, 2015 | Last day to file for place on general election ballot |
| March 4, 2015 | Last day to withdraw from ballot |
| March 10, 2015 | First day to apply for ballot by mail |
| April 9, 2015 | Last day for voter registration with county clerk |
| Campaign finance report due | |
| April 27, 2015 | First day of early voting |
| April 30, 2015 | Last day to apply for ballot by mail |
| May 1, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| May 5, 2015 | Last day of early voting |
| May 9, 2015 | Election Day |
| May 20, 2015 | Final day for canvassing of votes |
| July 15, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Texas elections, 2015
The election on May 9, 2015, shared the ballot with other municipal elections in Fort Bend County.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Fort + Bend + Independent + School + District + Texas"
See also
| Fort Bend Independent School District | Texas | School Boards |
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External links
- Fort Bend Independent School District
- Fort Bend County Clerk
- Fort Bend County, Texas
- Texas Secretary of State
Footnotes
- ↑ Fort Bend County, Texas, "Unofficial Results," accessed May 9, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Fort Bend Independent School District, "Board Elections," accessed March 11, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Fort Bend County, Texas," accessed February 11, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed May 5, 2014
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Fort Bend County," accessed February 2, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Texas Ethics Commission, "2015 Filing Schedule for Elections Held on Uniform Election Dates," accessed January 21, 2015
- ↑ Fort Bend Independent School District, "Board Elections," accessed April 28, 2015
- ↑ Texas Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Guide for Candidates and Officeholders Who File with Local Filing Authorities," September 1, 2013
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Houston Chronicle, "Disciplining of black students at issue in Fort Bend ISD," January 17, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Fort Bend Independent School District, "November 4, 2014 Bond," accessed April 28, 2015
- ↑ Texas Observer, "The High Cost of iPad-mania in Public Schools," November 5, 2013
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015
- ↑ Texas Secretary of State, "Important 2015 Election Dates," accessed January 20, 2015
| 2015 Fort Bend Independent School District Elections | |
| Fort Bend County, Texas | |
| Election date: | May 9, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Position 2: Incumbent, Grayle James • Kathy Li Position 6: Incumbent, Jenny Bailey • JJ Clemence • Addie Heyliger • Stuart Jackson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
