Larry Morris
Larry Morris was a candidate for the Seat C seat on the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District school board in Alaska. Morris was defeated in the by-district general election on October 4, 2016.
Morris participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District school board were up for general election on October 4, 2016. Incumbent Tom Bartels defeated newcomer Ashley Strauch for Seat A. The seat was left vacant in June 2016, when Lisa Gentry resigned as a result of an out-of-state move. Bartels was selected to fill the seat until the October election. Bartels and Strauch competed for the seat for the remainder of Gentry's term, which ends in 2018.[1] Candidates Larry Morris, Jodi Rhoades, and Sharon McConnell competed for Seat C. McConnell won the seat. Seat D incumbent Allyson Lambert faced Blake Burley and won re-election to her seat.[2]
Results
| Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Seat C General Election, 3-year term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Sharon McConnell |
45.95% | 4,579 |
| Larry Morris | 27.13% | 2,704 |
| Jodi Rhoades | 25.50% | 2,541 |
| Write-in votes | 1.42% | 142 |
| Total Votes | 9,966 | |
| Source: Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, "Election Summary Report," accessed August 5, 2017 | ||
Funding
Morris reported no contributions or expenditures to the Alaska Public Office Commission in the election.[3]
Endorsements
Morris did not received any official endorsements for his campaign during the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Larry Morris participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 8, 2016:
| “ | Provide a good quality education utilizing resources in classrooms that will make tomorrows adults ready for the next phase of their lives[4][5] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Alaska. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | The ultimate goal is for every student to have a quality education and be prepared for life after the K12 part of their life.[5] | ” |
| —Larry Morris (September 8, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. If the schools program meets district objectives and can show it is needed. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. One test does not indicate growth or increased achievement. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Standards and curriculum should be determined by districts and should be challenging to stimulate learning |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. New teachers should have a mentorship program to help them get started. If there are problems after that, a plan needs to be developed to improve quality for a set amount of time with good support and feedback. If that does not work then the decision needs to be made that the person is not a qualified teacher. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. Managing a program like this would be un-wieldy and probably take resources from the classroom |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Suspensions and expulsions need to handled on a case by case basis. Maintaining good order and a good educational environment is the responsibility of the board. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Student-teacher ratio All of the above are very important and are very intertwined. Effective education needs to have all working together |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Larry Morris Fairbanks North Star Borough School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Fairbanks North Star Borough School District, Alaska
- Fairbanks North Star Borough School District elections (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ News Miner, "School board appoints new member to open seat," June 1, 2016
- ↑ Fairbanks North Star Borough, "Official Candidate List," accessed September 6, 2016
- ↑ Alaska Public Office Commission, "Campaign Disclosure:Forms," accessed September 29, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Larry Morris's responses," September 8, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Elections | |
| Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska | |
| Election date: | October 4, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Seat A: Incumbent, Tom Bartels • Ashley Strauch Seat C: Larry Morris • Jodi Rhoades • Sharon McConnell |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
