School District of La Crosse elections (2016)
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Three of the nine seats on the School District of La Crosse Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 5, 2016. Incumbents Ken French, Mary Larson, and Tom Thompson faced challenger Dawn Comeau in their bids for re-election.[1] Larson and Thompson were re-elected to the board, but Comeau defeated French to win a seat.[2]
French, Larson, Thompson, and Comeau faced each other in a previous school board election. In 2013, the three incumbents won re-election, and Comeau came in fourth place.[3]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The La Crosse Board of Education consists of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. Three members are up for election each year in April.[4] If more than six candidates—double the number of seats on the ballot—had filed to run in this election, a primary election would have been held on February 16, 2016. Because only four candidates filed for the three seats, they all ran in the general election on April 5, 2016.[1][5]
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. Furthermore, at the time of taking office, each candidate must be a resident of the apportioned area he or she is elected to represent.[6] Candidates must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[7]
Candidates had until January 5, 2016, to collect between 20 and 100 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the district where the candidate sought election, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years of age or older.[8]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| La Crosse School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mary Larson Incumbent |
27.90% | 11,685 |
| Tom Thompson Incumbent |
27.15% | 11,370 |
| Dawn Comeau |
22.32% | 9,348 |
| Ken French Incumbent | 21.73% | 9,100 |
| Write-in votes | 0.9% | 375 |
| Total Votes | 41,878 | |
| Source: La Crosse School District, "Board of Education: School Board Election," accessed April 22, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Ken French | Mary Larson 
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| Tom Thompson
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Dawn Comeau
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Additional elections
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2016
The School District of La Crosse election shared the ballot with the state's presidential preference vote as well as elections for the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the La Crosse County Supervisory Board.[9][10]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2016:[11]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 5, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 26, 2016 | Referendum submission deadline |
| March 28, 2016 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline |
| April 5, 2016 | Election Day |
| April 25, 2016 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2016 | Post-election campaign finance deadline |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
None of the four candidates in this race reported campaign contributions or expenditures with the School District of La Crosse in the election.[12] Any candidate spending or receiving more than $2,000 was required to file a campaign finance report with the School District of La Crosse.[13]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2016
Issues in the district
"Grow Our Own Teacher Diversity" program
The School District of La Crosse, in partnership with the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, launched an initiative to increase the diversity of its staff starting in the 2016-2017 school year. The initative, called the "Grow Our Own Teacher Diversity" program, gave scholarships to minority community members between the ages of 22 and 50 to go back to school and complete an education degree. Once they graduate, those members will then be hired by the district as teachers.[14]
In the 2015-2016 school year, 24 out of 588 teachers in the district were members of minorities, which constituted 4.44 percent of the district's teaching staff. In contrast, 25.8 percent of district students were members of minorities. "There is a degree of disporportionality that's occurring all throughout the state of Wisconsin, and quite frankly throughout the nation and we need to be even more responsive," said Steve Salerno, the district's associate superintendent of human resources.[14]
The School District of La Crosse's students of color were 1.5 times more likely to receive in-school suspensions than their white counterparts, according to Bethany Brent, senior multicultural education advisor at the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse. "This racial disparity is alarming because it puts students of color at a greater risk of academic failure, of not completing high school and it seamlessly shuffles them through a juvenile justice system which has become known as the school to prison pipeline," said Brent.[14]
Brent said having more teachers of color in a school district has a positive affect on students of color, including better test scores and higher rates of students going to college. "We want them to finish school, we want them to graduate, we want them to go to college and so we are using every resource possible to make that happen," said Brent.[14]
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: School District of La Crosse, Wisconsin
The La Crosse school district is located in La Crosse County in western Wisconsin. The county seat is La Crosse. An estimated 118,011 residents lived in the county in 2014, according to United States Census Bureau.[15] The district was the 21st-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 6,829 students.[16]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
La Crosse County outperformed Wisconsin as a whole and the national average in terms of higher education achievement from 2009 to 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.8 percent for Wisconsin as a whole.[15] The national average was 28.8 percent.[17]
Median household income
From 2009 through 2013, the median household income of $51,339 in La Crosse County was below the state and national averages. During that same period, the median household income for Wisconsin was $52,413.[15] For the United States, it was $53,046.[17]
Poverty rate
The poverty rate in the county was 14.0 percent from 2009 through 2013, falling between the state and national averages. During that same period, the poverty rate was 13.0 percent for the state and 15.4 percent for the entire country.[15][17]
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'School District of La Crosse' 'Wisconsin'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| School District of La Crosse | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 School District of La Crosse, "Board of Education: School Board Election," accessed January 12, 2016
- ↑ La Crosse County Clerk, "Unofficial Summary: 2016 Pres Pref & Spring April 5, 2016," accessed April 6, 2016
- ↑ La Crosse County Clerk, "2013 Spring Election," accessed July 29, 2015
- ↑ School District of La Crosse, "Board of Education Members," accessed January 12, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: Chapter 120 School District Government," accessed January 11, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: CHAPTER 8," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "2016 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote," accessed January 12, 2016
- ↑ La Crosse County Clerk, "Sample Ballots," accessed February 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Campaign Finance Report Dates 2016, 2017 and 2018," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Judy Stangl, School District of La Crosse Executive Assistant and Board Secretary," March 29, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Campaign Financing," accessed January 25, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 WXOW, "New initiative works to increase teacher diversity in La Crosse," March 24, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 United States Census Bureau, "La Crosse County, Wisconsin," accessed January 12, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 United States Census Bureau, "State & County QuickFacts: USA," accessed July 6, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Election Results," accessed July 28, 2015
| 2016 School District of La Crosse Elections | |
| La Crosse County | |
| Election date: | April 5, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Ken French • Incumbent, Mary Larson • Incumbent, Tom Thompson • Dawn Comeau |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
