Kathy Richards
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Kathy Richards was a member of the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 Board of Education in Illinois. She was first elected to the board in the general election on April 7, 2015.[1] She left the board in 2019.
Biography
At the time of her position on the school board, Richards had lived in Champaign for 13 years. She had experience teaching and working for a nonprofit. She had taught undergraduate courses in music and writing at Carleton College in Minnesota, Cornell University, and Harvard University. At Harvard, she also mentored first-time teaching assistants. In the nonprofit sector, she worked as a communications and finance manager. Richards earned her master's degree in music history from Cornell University. She had two children who attended school in the district.[2]
Elections
2015
Five of the seven at-large seats on the Champaign Community Unit School District 4 Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Four of the seats were four-year terms, and one seat was up for election to fill an unexpired two-year term.
Only two incumbents, Kerris Lee and Jamar Brown, ran for re-election. They faced six challengers, Amy Armstrong, Azark David Cobbs, Christopher James Kloeppel, Kathy Richards, Kathy Shannon and Alissia Young. Four newcomers, Armstrong, Kloeppel, Richards and Shannon, won the seats. Candidate Jonathan Westfield ran unopposed and won the unexpired two-year term.
The board of education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms on a staggered basis every odd-numbered year. In 2013, three full, four-year term seats and two two-year term seats were up for election.
Results
| Champaign Community Unit School District 4, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Amy Armstrong |
19.3% | 8,315 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathy Richards |
16.9% | 7,259 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kathy Shannon |
16.4% | 7,083 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christopher James Kloeppel |
13% | 5,579 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jamar Brown Incumbent | 12.1% | 5,214 | |
| Nonpartisan | Alissia Young | 9.6% | 4,145 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kerris Lee Incumbent | 9% | 3,855 | |
| Nonpartisan | Azark David Cobbs | 3.8% | 1,621 | |
| Total Votes | 43,071 | |||
| Source: Champaign County Clerk, "Consolidated General April 7, 2015: Official Results," accessed April 22, 2015 | ||||
Funding
School board candidates in Illinois are only required to file campaign finance reports if they accept contributions or make expenditures in excess of $5,000 in a 12-month period.[3]
Richards reported no contributions or expenditures to the Illinois State Board of Elections in this election.[4]
Endorsements
Richards received endorsements from the Champaign Federation of Teachers and Champaign County Board Member Sam Shore.[5][6]
Campaign themes
2015
Richards highlighted the following issues on her campaign website:
| “ | I share 3 main goals for the Unit 4 School Board with my friend and fellow board candidate Kathy Shannon:
As a member of the board, I will work to promote a culture of openness and accountability by making more information accessible to those who wish to understand the context for the board's decisions. I plan not only to reach out to members of the general public but also to make sure that they know how to reach me. Active engagement means not just providing information, but also encouraging, soliciting, and facilitating input.[7] |
” |
| —Kathy Richards' campaign website (2015)[8] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kathy Richards Champaign Community Unit School District 4. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Champaign Community Unit School District 4, Illinois
- Champaign Community Unit School District 4 elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ News-Gazette, "LIVE: Election Day April 7, 2015," April 7, 2015
- ↑ Kathy Richard for Unit 4 School Board, "About me," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "A Guide to Campaign Disclosure," accessed March 31, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Disclosure Search," accessed April 3, 2015
- ↑ Champaign Federation of Teachers Facebook, "Timeline post from March 18, 2015," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ Kathy Richards for Unit 4 School Board, "Home," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Kathy Richards for Unit 4 School Board Facebook, "About," accessed March 20, 2015
