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Kathy Shannon
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Kathy Shannon is 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]
Shannon participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. To read her responses, check out her 2015 campaign themes.
Biography
Shannon has two children who attend school in the Champaign Community Unit School District 4.[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 | ||||
Endorsements
Shannon received endorsements from the Champaign Federation of Teachers and the Champaign County Business Empowered PAC.[3][4]
Campaign finance
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.[5]
Shannon reported no contributions or expenditures to the Illinois State Board of Elections in this election.[6]
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Shannon participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | My three top priorities are as follows:
• Restore public trust, transparency, and civil discourse; change the current leadership. |
” |
| —Kathy Shannon (2015)[8] | ||
Ranking the issues
Shannon was 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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Illinois. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
Shannon was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "Modifications are required before they are implemented." | |
| "No" | |
| "No" | |
| "No" | |
| "One of the good things about Unit 4 is that we have many programs in place for both. We have AVID to help students boost their goals and achievements. We have the Novak Academy for kids who are having a hard time with school and READY as an alternative to expulsion. We also have a great selection of honors and accelerated classes, as well as AP classes. What we need to keep working on is finding ways to find the right place for students. We need to identify students with problems earlier before their discipline problems become serious, and we need to seek out more students for advanced classes and add support to make sure they succeed." | |
| "Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy." | |
| "My first step would be to talk to the superintendent and the Unit 4 staff about the situation. I would rely on the staff, students, and parents at that school to get to the root of what the real problem is, and what solutions the school district can offer. I do not believe that closing schools is the right answer. " | |
| "No" | |
| "Put underperforming teachers on a probationary period while they seek to improve." | |
| "I have several potential ideas: Make board meetings easier to attend. Publish a more detailed agenda with all handouts and slideshows at least one day in advance. Front load items that may be more interesting or important to the broader community. Include time estimates, and start meetings on time. Make it clear that it’s okay for parents and community members to only attend part of a board meeting. Institute “office hours” so that people can talk to board members one-on-one outside of meetings. Have a blog where we write about what we are thinking and what resources we’re using to make our decisions." |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Kathy Shannon 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
- ↑ News-Gazette, "Candidate duo hopes you'll like both Kathys," January 8, 2015
- ↑ Champaign Federation of Teachers Facebook, "Timeline post from March 18, 2015," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ News-Gazette, "Business group backs Feinen," March 2, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "A Guide to Campaign Disclosure," accessed March 31, 2015
- ↑ Illinois State Board of Elections, "Candidate Disclosure Search," accessed March 31, 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, "Kathy Shannon responses," March 24, 2015
