Kathleen Shields
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Kathleen Shields is the Ward 7 representative on the Newton Public Schools school board in Massachusetts. Shields won a first term in the by-district general election on November 7, 2017.
Elections
2017
- See also: Newton Public Schools elections (2017)
Eight seats on the Newton Public Schools School Committee were up for general election on November 7, 2017. All nine seats on the board were up for election. The ninth seat on the board was held by the mayor of Newton, but was not covered by Ballotpedia as the city fell outside of municipal elections coverage.[1][2]
In the race for the open Ward 1 seat, Bridget Ray-Canada defeated Kathleen Marchi. In Ward 2, incumbent Margaret Albright won re-election, defeating former candidate Cyrus Vaghar, whom she had previously defeated in 2015. Anping Shen won the race for the open Ward 3 seat, defeating Eileen Sandberg. Incumbents Diana Fisher Gomberg, Steven Siegel, and Ruth Goldman ran unopposed for the Ward 4, 5, and 6 seats, respectively, and newcomer Kathleen Shields ran unopposed for the open Ward 7 seat. The race for the open Ward 8 seat was won by Matthew Miller. He defeated Gail Spector in the general election.[3][4]
Results
| Newton Public Schools, Ward 7 General Election, 2-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kathleen Shields (unopposed) |
99.48% | 9,380 |
| Write-in votes | 0.52% | 49 |
| Total Votes | 9,429 | |
| Source: City of Newton, "11/07/17 Local Election Official Results," accessed December 8, 2017 | ||
Funding
Shields reported $1,420.00 in contributions and $931.21 in expenditures to the Newton Elections Office, which left her campaign with $488.79 on hand in the election.[5]
Campaign themes
2017
Shields highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | Educational Excellence for All
Our schools serve a diverse population, with students from a range of socio-economic backgrounds and who speak a number of different languages in their homes. All of our students should be equipped with the academic tools they need to excel and given the emotional supports they need to thrive as they grow. Our schools should:
Strong Fiscal Management and Long Term Planning Our schools’ budget is tight, and will likely be tight for the next couple of years. Diligent and inquisitive oversight is necessary so that we can keep focused on the expenditures that serve the district’s priorities. Though trade-offs will be required, it is important to balance our existing structure with new programs that have the potential to improve the school experience for many of our district's students -- including a later high school start time and full-day kindergarten. While the Angier, Zervas and Cabot elementary building projects have provided much-needed facilities and capacity improvements, our work in this area is not done. We need to focus on the next round of renovation and construction projects. Community Involvement and Communication Many of us chose to live in Newton because of its strong schools. Whether your children are still in the schools, or have already graduated, there is an immense pool of talented community members who care about our schools. Improving communications about the lives of our schools will have several beneficial impacts:
|
” |
| —Kathleen Shields (2017)[7] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kathleen Shields Newton Public Schools school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ City of Newton, "2017 Municipal Election Calendar," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ Newton Public Schools, "About School Committee," accessed July 24, 2017
- ↑ City of Newton, "Elections: Local Election - November 7, 2017," accessed July 26, 2017
- ↑ City of Newton, "Unofficial Results November 7, 2017," accessed November 7, 2017
- ↑ Newton Elections Office, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed January 23, 2018
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kathy Shields for School Committee, "Priorities," accessed November 1, 2017
| Newton Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Middlesex County, Massachusetts | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Ward 1: • Kathleen Marchi • Bridget Ray-Canada Ward 2: • Incumbent, Margaret Albright • Cyrus Karl Ward 3: • Eileen Sandberg • Anping Shen Ward 4: • Incumbent, Diana Fisher Gomberg Ward 5: • Incumbent, Steven Siegel Ward 6: • Incumbent, Ruth Goldman Ward 7: • Kathleen Shields Ward 8: • Matthew Miller • Gail Spector |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
