Lowell Public Schools elections (2013)

2015 →
2013 Lowell Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 5, 2013
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Massachusetts Lowell Public Schools Middlesex County, Massachusetts ballot measures Local ballot measures, Massachusetts

Six seats on the School Committee for Lowell Public Schools were up for general election on November 5, 2013. Incumbents David J. Conway, James D. Leary, Connie A. Martin, Kristin Ross-Sitcawich, Kimberly Scott and newcomer Steven Gendron defeated incumbent Robert J. Gignac to win the six at-large seats.

About the district

See also: Lowell Public Schools, Massachusetts

Lowell Public Schools is located in Middlesex County, Mass.

Lowell Public Schools is located in northeast Massachusetts in Middlesex County. The county seats of Middlesex County are Lowell and Cambridge. As of the 2010 Census, the county was home to 1,552,802 residents. In the 2011-2012 school year, Lowell Public Schools was the sixth-largest school district in Massachusetts and served 13,548 students.

Demographics

Middlesex County outperformed the rest of Massachusetts in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 50.7 percent of Middlesex County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 39.4 percent for Massachusetts as a whole. The median household income in Middlesex County was $82,090 compared to $66,866 for the state of Massachusetts. The poverty rate in Middlesex County was 8.1 percent compared to 11.4 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Middlesex County (%)	Massachusetts (%)
White	81.7	83.2
Black or African American	5.4	8.1
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.3	0.5
Asian	10.5	6.0
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	2.1	2.1
Hispanic or Latino	7.3	10.5

Middlesex County Party Affiliation, 2012
Party	Registered Voters	% of Total
Democratic	342,112	36.90
Republican	96,970	10.46
Green-Rainbow	1,134	0.12
Other	3,854	0.42
Unaffiliated	483,119	52.11

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.

Method of board member selection

The Lowell School Committee consists of seven members, six of whom are elected to two-year terms. The seventh member and Chair of the board is Lowell's mayor. The other six members of the board are elected at large by the district as a whole. There was no primary election for the school board election and the general election was held on November 5, 2013. All six at-large seats were on the ballot in 2013.

Individuals interested in running for the board began circulating nominating petitions on June 3, 2013. The filing deadline for the 2013 general election was August 6 and candidates had until August 22 to officially withdraw from the ballot. Each candidate had to file a notarized candidate affidavit and nomination petitions with at least 50 valid signatures to the board secretary.

Elections

2013

Candidates

• David J. Conway
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Salem State College
  • Retired, educator

• Robert J. Gignac
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, University of Massachusetts at Lowell
  • Accountant, Career Center of Lowell

• James D. Leary
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Westfield State University
  • Small business owner, JDL Insurance Consultants

• Connie A. Martin
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
  • Public servant, Energy and Community Teamwork, Inc.

• Kristin Ross-Sitcawich
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, University of Massachusetts at Lowell
  • Public servant, Energy and Community Teamwork, Inc.

• Kimberly Scott
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Franklin Pierce University
  • Sales representative, Eagle Leasing

• Steven Gendron
  • Graduate, University of Massachusetts at Lowell
  • Sales executive, Cadence Design Systems Inc.

Election results

Lowell Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	James D. Leary Incumbent	15.9%	6,418
	Nonpartisan	David J. Conway Incumbent	15.8%	6,366
	Nonpartisan	Steven Gendron	15.8%	6,365
	Nonpartisan	Connie A. Martin Incumbent	13.7%	5,518
	Nonpartisan	Kimberly Scott Incumbent	13.4%	5,385
	Nonpartisan	Kristin Ross-Sitcawich Incumbent	13.1%	5,262
	Nonpartisan	Robert J. Gignac Incumbent	12.1%	4,881
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	64
Total Votes				40,259
Source: The City of Lowell, "2013 Municipal Election Results (*Official*)," accessed December 18, 2013

Endorsements

The Lowell Sun endorsed incumbents David J. Conway, Robert J. Gignac, James D. Leary, Kimberly Scott and challenger Steven Gendron.

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $36,295.80 and spent a total of $22,642.31 during the election, according to the Lowell Election and Census Office.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
David J. Conway	$9,481.00	$7,329.76	$3,843.70
Robert J. Gignac	$5,305.80	$3,145.70	$2,262.07
James D. Leary	$4,083.00	$4,325.00	-$3,186.00
Connie A. Martin	$3,600.00	$0.00	$4,334.21
Kristin Ross-Sitcawich	$4,236.00	$3,940.23	$858.45
Kimberly Scott	$880.00	$1,252.06	-$1,232.31
Steven Gendron	$8,710.00	$2,649.56	$3,060.44

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2011 Lowell Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Kimberly Scott 15% 5,104      Nonpartisan Kristin Ross-Sitcawich 14.4% 4,904      Nonpartisan David J. Conway Incumbent 14.1% 4,808      Nonpartisan James D. Leary Incumbent 13.4% 4,543      Nonpartisan Robert J. Gignac 11.7% 3,970      Nonpartisan Connie A. Martin Incumbent 10.7% 3,635      Nonpartisan Jaqueline Doherty Incumbent 10.5% 3,556      Nonpartisan Alison Laraba Incumbent 10.1% 3,419      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 49 Total Votes 33,988 Source: The City of Lowell, "2011 Municipal Election Results," accessed September 16, 2013 2009 Lowell Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2009 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan David J. Conway Incumbent 15.9% 7,355      Nonpartisan John J. Leahy Incumbent 15.7% 7,275      Nonpartisan Jaqueline Doherty Incumbent 15.5% 7,179      Nonpartisan James D. Leary Incumbent 15.3% 7,095      Nonpartisan Alison Laraba 15% 6,942      Nonpartisan Connie A. Martin Incumbent 14.7% 6,825      Nonpartisan Regina M. Faticanti Incumbent 7.7% 3,585      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.2% 88 Total Votes 46,344 Source: The City of Lowell, "2009 Municipal Election Results," accessed September 16, 2013

What was at stake?

There were six seats on the school board up for election on November 5, 2013. Incumbents David J. Conway, Robert J. Gignac, James D. Leary, Connie A. Martin, Kristin Ross-Sitcawich and Kimberly Scott sought re-election to the board. They faced a single challenger, Steven Gendron. Gendron ended up coming in second place, with Gignac losing his spot on the board.

Issues

In 2012, former Massachusetts Commissioner of Education Mitchell D. Chester recommended that the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education approve a new charter school in Lowell, which the board proceeded to do with a 6-3 vote. The approval of the Lowell Collegiate Charter School brought criticism from Paul Georges, President of the United Teachers of Lowell, who labeled the decision, "unfortunate." Following the decision, the Massachusetts chapter of the American Federation of Teachers published an article claiming that the charter school "threatens progress" in Lowell. A representative of SABIS Educational Systems, Inc., which will operate the charter school, defended the new school, stating, "We realized the district wasn’t offering the quality programs that parents want, as evident by testing data. We thought we could make a difference in the community by keeping families from moving, be a part of the solution to stabilize the community, and give it the competitive edge that it needs."

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Lowell Public Schools election in 2013:

Deadline	Event
June 3, 2013	First day for filing nominating petitions
August 6, 2013	Last day to file nominating petitions
August 22, 2013	Last day to withdraw from ballot
October 16, 2013	Last day to register to vote in the city general election
October 28, 2013	Last day for candidates and PACs to file campaign finance reports
November 5, 2013	Election day

Additional elections on the ballot

This election only shared the ballot with other municipal and school board elections. Lowell's Mayor and School Committee Chair, Patrick O. Murphy, was not up for election in 2013. No additional measures appeared on the ballot.

See also

• School board elections review: Voters opt for experience over new blood in nation's largest school districts
• School board election wrap-up: Incumbents re-elected overwhelmingly in November 5 elections
• Massachusetts
• Lowell Public Schools, Massachusetts
• List of school board elections in 2013
• Middlesex County, Massachusetts ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, Massachusetts

External links

Suggest a link

• District page
• Lowell Election and Census Office