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Jackie Doherty
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Jackie Doherty is a member of the Lowell Public Schools school board, At-large in Massachusetts. She assumed office in 2015.
Doherty ran for re-election to the Lowell Public Schools school board, At-large in Massachusetts. She won in the general election on November 7, 2017.
Elections
2017
- See also: Lowell Public Schools elections (2017)
Six seats on the Lowell Public Schools School Committee in Massachusetts were up for general election on November 7, 2017.[1] In their bids for re-election, incumbents Andre Descoteaux, Jackie Doherty, Robert J. Hoey Jr., and Connie A. Martin faced former candidates Dominik Hok Y Lay and Dennis R. Mercier and newcomers Timothy Blake, Noelle Creegan, Gerard Nutter, and Daniel J. Shanahan IV.[2] All four incumbents won re-election, and Hok Y Lay and Nutter won the other two seats on the ballot.[3]
All seven seats on the school committee were up for election. The seventh seat was held by the mayor of Lowell, but was not covered by Ballotpedia as the city fell outside of municipal elections coverage.[4][5]
Results
| Lowell Public Schools, At-large General Election, 2-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Jacqueline Doherty Incumbent |
12.19% | 6,385 |
| Robert J. Hoey Jr. Incumbent |
11.55% | 6,054 |
| Connie A. Martin Incumbent |
11.54% | 6,047 |
| Dominik Hok Y Lay |
10.61% | 5,558 |
| Andre Descoteaux Incumbent |
9.77% | 5,117 |
| Gerard Nutter |
9.19% | 4,817 |
| Dennis R. Mercier | 9.02% | 4,727 |
| Noelle Creegan | 8.94% | 4,684 |
| Timothy Blake | 8.63% | 4,520 |
| Daniel J. Shanahan IV | 8.39% | 4,396 |
| Write-in votes | 0.17% | 88 |
| Total Votes | 52,393 | |
| Source: City of Lowell, "Election Summary Report: Official Results," accessed November 28, 2017 | ||
Funding
The Lowell Election & Census Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
2015
- See also: Lowell Public Schools elections (2015)
Six of the seven seats on the Lowell School Committee were up for election on November 3, 2015. All six seats were at-large and voted on by eligible voters in Lowell. The seventh seat was held by the city's mayor, but was not covered by Ballotpedia.[4]
Incumbents Stephen J. Gendron and Connie A. Martin won re-election, while newcomers Jackie Doherty, Robert J. Hoey Jr., Robert James Gignac, and Andre Descoteaux joined the board. They defeated challengers Patrick William Farmer, Kamara Kay, Dominik Hok Y Lay, Dennis R. Mercier, Benjamin T. Opara, and Christopher N. Roux. Gendron and Martin were the only incumbents to file for re-election.[6]
Results
| Lowell School Committee, At-large, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Stephen J. Gendron Incumbent |
12.17% | 4,790 |
| Jacqueline Doherty |
10.67% | 4,200 |
| Connie A. Martin Incumbent |
10.51% | 4,137 |
| Robert J. Hoey Jr. |
9.88% | 3,889 |
| Robert James Gignac |
9.70% | 3,820 |
| Andre Descoteaux |
9.62% | 3,789 |
| Dennis R. Mercier | 9.25% | 3,640 |
| Benjamin T. Opara | 6.12% | 2,409 |
| Christopher N. Roux | 5.79% | 2,278 |
| Kamara Kay | 5.71% | 2,249 |
| Patrick William Farmer | 5.30% | 2,087 |
| Dominik Hok Y Lay | 5.02% | 1,978 |
| Write-in votes | 0.26% | 104 |
| Total Votes | 39,370 | |
| Source: Lowell Election Commission, "Municipal Election: Official Results," November 30, 2015 | ||
Funding
Doherty reported $3,865.00 in contributions and $2,782.94 in expenditures to the Lowell Election Commission, which left her campaign with $1,082.06 on hand as of October 28, 2015.[7]
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify any official endorsements for Doherty in the election.
Campaign themes
2017
Doherty answered the following five questions from the Lowell Sun as part of a series for the newspaper. The questions provided by the newspaper appear bolded, and Doherty's answers follow below.
Should the Lowell Public School district return to neighborhood schools or retain its two-zone, citywide schools model?[8]
| “ | The district should be rezoned to improve efficiencies and save on transportation costs, but it must be done in a way that maintains diversity and balance at each school, and offers all neighborhoods equal access and choices.[9] | ” |
| —Jacqueline Doherty (2017)[8] | ||
What solutions would you propose to ensure the district can reliably provide adequate services to students within its budget?[10]
| “ | My approach has always been to spend wisely and advocate for the resources. In this case specifically, the city had reduced its contribution to the 2017/18 school budget by a million dollars -- making the subsequent state reduction even more difficult to manage.[9] | ” |
| —Jacqueline Doherty (2017)[10] | ||
Would you have voted to give Superintendent of Schools Salah Khelfaoui a new four-year contract?[11]
| “ | I support many of the superintendent's initiatives, but I did not vote for the contract due to its duration through 2020, annual salary increases not tied to performance, and language that did not adequately protect the district's interests.[9] | ” |
| —Jacqueline Doherty (2017)[11] | ||
What is the most pressing capital improvement project facing the School Department, besides the high school, and how do you propose to pay for it?[12]
| “ | In addition to ongoing space issues with our growing student population, the most pressing project is a facility for the district to expand its targeted special education program.
With the city's support, an investment in this space will pay for itself by resulting in major savings in out-of-district costs as well as improving the educational experience of those students. In addition, it could generate revenue as other districts may choose to send their students to Lowell for these special programs.[9] |
” |
| —Jacqueline Doherty (2017)[12] | ||
What is your opinion on standardized testing? Do public schools do too much, too little, or just enough?[13]
| “ | Standardized testing is one way to measure student achievement, and although it plays a role, it works best when it also includes student progress and other measures of accountability. I support standards that define what proficiency looks like, but one test at one moment in time does not tell the whole story. As districts develop other ways to assess educational quality, such as student portfolios and school-climate surveys, the standardized test should continue to be one of several factors used to measure the educational quality of our schools.[9] | ” |
| —Jacqueline Doherty (2017)[13] | ||
See also
- Lowell Public Schools, Massachusetts
- Lowell Public Schools elections (2017)
- Lowell Public Schools elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Eda Jane Matchak, City of Lowell," January 31, 2017
- ↑ Lowell Sun, "City Council field set for preliminary," August 10, 2017
- ↑ City of Lowell Election & Census, "Election Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lowell Public Schools, "2016-2017 School Committee," accessed August 9, 2017 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "board" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ Lowell Sun, "Preliminary city election set as 23 candidates qualify for council race," August 9, 2017
- ↑ Lowell Election and Census Office, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ Lowell Election Commission, "Campaign Finance Reports-2015," accessed October 28, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lowell Sun, "Lowell School Committee candidates answer questions on the issues," October 11, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lowell Sun, "Lowell candidates offer solutions on school budget issues," October 12, 2017
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lowell Sun, "Lowell school candidates split on superintendent's contract," October 13, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lowell Sun, "Building maintenance, special ed cited as top Lowell school needs," October 14, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lowell Sun, "Lowell school candidates weigh in on standardized tests," October 15, 2017
| 2015 Lowell Public Schools Elections | |
| Middlesex County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | Primary election: September 22, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Stephen J. Gendron • Incumbent, Connie A. Martin • Andre Descoteaux • Jackie Doherty • Patrick William Farmer • Robert James Gignac • Robert J. Hoey Jr. • Kamara Kay • Dominik Hok Y Lay • Dennis R. Mercier • Benjamin T. Opara • Christopher N. Roux |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
