Hamilton Township School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Hamilton Township School District Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1] Incumbent Richard Kanka won re-election, while challengers Susan Ferrara and Michelle Episcopo joined the board. Kanka, Ferrara and Episcopo defeated five candidates including incumbents Albert Gayzik and Jen Barnock Riddell.[2]
The seats of incumbents Gayzik, Kanka and Riddell were on the ballot.[3] All three incumbents filed to run for re-election. They faced five challengers: Episcopo, Ferrara, George Fisher, John Kroschwitz II and Gregory Mahon.[4] Gayzik and Kroschwitz ran together as a slate.[5] Garret Hengeli originally filed to run in this election, but he withdrew from the race.
See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section. Incumbent Albert Gayzik participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. To read his responses, check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section.
About the district
Hamilton Township School District is located in Mercer County in central New Jersey. The county seat is Trenton. In 2014, Mercer County was home to approximately 371,537 residents according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[6] In 2012-2013 school year, Hamilton Township School District was the 10th-largest school district by enrollment in New Jersey and served 12,241 students.[7]
Demographics
Mercer County outperformed the rest of New Jersey in terms of education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 38.8 percent of Mercer County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 35.8 percent for New Jersey as a whole. The median household income for Mercer County was $73,480, compared to the state average of $71,629. The poverty rate in Mercer County was 11.2 percent, compared to 10.4 percent statewide.[6]
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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 Hamilton Township Board of Education consists of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. Members are elected on a staggered basis, with three members up for election every year in November. Voters can vote for all three seats on one ballot. The three candidates who receive the most votes are considered elected to the board. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015.[1][9]
School board candidates had to be U.S. citizens and residents of the school district for one year prior to the election. They had to be able to read and write and could not simultaneously hold another elected office. To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their nominating petitions with the Mercer County Clerk's Office by July 27, 2015. The petitions had to include 10 signatures of qualified voters residing in the district, one of which could be the candidate's own.[10]
In order to vote in this election, residents of the school district had to be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. They also had to have lived in the district for at least 30 days prior to the election. They had to file their Voter Registration Application and Party Affiliation Form with the Mercer County Clerk's Office by October 13, 2015. Photo identification was not required to vote in New Jersey.[11]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
| Albert Gayzik | Richard Kanka 
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Jen Barnock Riddell | Michelle Episcopo
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| Susan Ferrara
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George Fisher | John Kroschwitz II | Gregory Mahon | ||||
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Election results
| Hamilton Township Board of Education, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Richard Kanka Incumbent |
18.1% | 6,379 |
| Susan Ferrara |
15.9% | 5,618 |
| Michelle Episcopo |
13.1% | 4,642 |
| Gregory Mahon | 11.6% | 4,110 |
| George Fisher | 11.6% | 4,107 |
| John Kroschwitz II | 11.3% | 3,987 |
| Albert Gayzik Incumbent | 9.5% | 3,356 |
| Jen Barnock Riddell Incumbent | 8.5% | 3,015 |
| Write-in votes | 0.29% | 101 |
| Total Votes | 35,315 | |
| Source: Mercer County, "Official Results," accessed November 20, 2015 | ||
Endorsements
No candidate received an official endorsement for this election.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $4,560.00 and spent a total of $2,184.68 in the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.[12]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albert Gayzik and John Kroschwitz II (slate) | $4,560.00 | $2,184.68 | $2,375.32 |
| Richard Kanka | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jen Barnock Riddell | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Michelle Episcopo | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Susan Ferrara | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| George Fisher | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Gregory Mahon | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
School board candidates were required to file a Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form if they received a contribution of any amount, including their own funds. They filed this form with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).[10] Three reports were required from candidates who received contributions: the 29-day pre-election report, the 11-day pre-election report and the 20-day post-election report. Contributions received between October 21, 2015, and November 3, 2015, required 48-hour notice reports.[13]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2015
Election trends
- See also: 2013 school board elections and 2014 school board elections
With three seats up for election in November 2015, one-third of the Hamilton Township Board of Education had the potential to change hands. All three incumbents filed to run for re-election, and they faced five challengers. This election had the highest number of candidates per seat compared to recent years. Incumbent Richard Kanka, a member since 2009, was elected to another term, and newcomers Michelle Episcopo and Susan Ferrara joined the board.
Two new members were also elected to the board in both 2013 and 2014. In 2013, a total of three seats were up for election, and two incumbents ran to retain their seats. Dina Thornton won another term, but Jeff Hewitson received the least amount of votes in that race and lost his seat. In 2014, three seats were again up for election, but only one incumbent ran. Susan Lombardo won re-election to her seat.
The competition was similar in all three election years, with all races seeing contested elections. An average of two candidates per seat ran in 2013, and an average of 2.33 candidates per seat ran in 2014. The election in 2014 had the potential to see a much higher number of candidates per seat, but five candidates, including one incumbent, withdrew before the race. The average number of candidates per seat that year was still higher than the 2014 state average of two candidates running per seat in New Jersey's largest school districts.
Issues in the district
Playgrounds closed over safety concerns
The Hamilton Township School District shut down the playgrounds at 15 of its 17 elementary schools in September 2015 after "hazardous conditions" were discovered by an inspector. The conditions included lack of safety surfaces, lack of wheelchair access and dangerous wear and tear, such as cracked slides, protruding bolts, rust, stressed panels and worn parts.[14]
The district initially closed all 17 elementary school playgrounds after the first inspection report came in, but the playgrounds at University Heights and Wilson elementary schools had been installed only a year previously and were deemed safe. The other 15 remained closed until final reports deemed them safe or repairs could be made.[15] “No one wants to put a child on a playground that has equipment that could cause serious harm to a child,” said Interim Superintendent Thomas Ficarra.[16]
The mayor of Hamilton Township offered to help the district get the playgrounds up to safety codes. The township was in charge of maintaining school playgrounds until 2012, when the school district's insurance provider insisted the equipment be approved by a manufacturer, distributor or approved contractor, according to NJ.com. At that time, the district and the city agreed that the district would take over the responsibility of maintaining them.[15]
Prior to the 2015-2016 school year, Ficarra had repairs made to the playgrounds, but the reports revealed that those repairs had not been enough. At a playground safety presentation on September 28, 2015, Ficarra admitted the district had not been monitoring the playgrounds as it should have. He said that going forward the district “will have someone inspecting these playgrounds on a daily basis.” Ficarra asked the board to approve the withdrawal of $250,000 from the district's maintenance reserve fund in order to pay for the needed updates and repairs.[16]
Ballotpedia survey responses
One of the nine candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from incumbent Albert Gayzik.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Gayzik stated:
| “ | Continue to work on curriculum and K-3 program[17] | ” |
| —Albert Gayzik (2015)[18] | ||
Ranking the issues
Gayzik was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with one being the most important and seven being the least important. This table displays his rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Issue | Gayzik's ranking |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
Gayzik was asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to his responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Hamilton Township School District election in 2015:[1][13]
| Deadline | Event |
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| July 27, 2015 | Candidate filing deadline |
| July 31, 2015 | Objection to petitions filing deadline |
| September 4, 2015 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| October 5, 2015 | 29-day pre-election campaign finance report due |
| October 13, 2015 | Voter registration deadline |
| October 23, 2015 | 11-day pre-election campaign finance report due |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
| November 23, 2015 | 20-day post-election campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New Jersey elections, 2015
The Hamilton Township Board of Education election shared the ballot with three New Jersey General Assembly seats, the Mercer County offices for executive and clerk and three seats on the county Board of Chosen Freeholders. Hamilton Township also held elections for mayor and two council members.[19]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Hamilton Township School District' New Jersey. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Hamilton Township School District | New Jersey | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 New Jersey Department of State, "2015 General Election Timeline," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ Mercer County, "Unofficial Results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ Hamilton Township School District, "Board of Education Members," accessed January 29, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "School board candidates file petitions for November election," July 29, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "GAYZIK & KROSCWITZ FOR SCHOOL BOARD," accessed October 6, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census Bureau, "Mercer County, New Jersey," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "NJ Election Information and Results Archive," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ Hamilton Township School District, "District Policy: 0141- Board Member Number and Term," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mercer County Clerk's Office, "School board candidate information," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Department of State, "Register to Vote," accessed July 22, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "View a Candidate or Election Related Committee Report," accessed November 23, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "2015 Reporting Dates," accessed July 21, 2015
- ↑ NJ.com, "N.J. district shuts down playgrounds over safety issues," September 8, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 NJ.com, "Hamilton mayor extends help to district for closed playgrounds," September 9, 2015
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Trentonian, "Hamilton schools chief admits unsafe playgrounds were not properly monitored," September 29, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Albert Gayzik responses," September 27, 2015
- ↑ Mercer County Clerk's Office, "Election Officials 2015," accessed July 21, 2015
| 2015 Hamilton Township School District Elections | |
| Mercer County, New Jersey | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Albert Gayzik • Incumbent, Richard Kanka • Incumbent, Jen Barnock Riddell • Michelle Episcopo • Susan Ferrara • George Fisher • John Kroschwitz II • Gregory Mahon |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
