Marshfield School District elections (2017)
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Two seats on the Marshfield School District Board of Education were up for general election on April 4, 2017. In their bids for re-election, incumbents Dorothy Chaney and Mark Konrardy defeated challengers Ruwan Dissanayake and Keith Pugh.[1][2]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Marshfield Board of Education consists of seven members elected to three-year terms. All members are elected at large. Elections are held every year. Two seats were up for election in 2016, and two seats were up for election in 2017. The general election was held on April 4, 2017.[3][4]
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.[4]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.[4]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Marshfield School District, General Election, 3-year terms, 2017 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mark Konrardy Incumbent |
29.77% | 1,839 |
| Dorothy Chaney Incumbent |
29.28% | 1,809 |
| Ruwan Dissanayake | 27.65% | 1,708 |
| Keith Pugh | 13.31% | 822 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 6,178 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jennifer Heeg, Marshfield School District," May 2, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Dorothy Chaney 
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Mark Konrardy
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| Ruwan Dissanayake | Keith Pugh | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017
The Marshfield Board of Education election shared the ballot with elections for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction and one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.[5]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:[6][7]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 16, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1 |
| February 13, 2017 | Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| February 21, 2017 | Primary election day |
| March 27, 2017 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
| April 24, 2017 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2017 | 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
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[8]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[9]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[10]
Reports
Candidates received a total of $2,556.10 and spent a total of $2,513.24 as of March 28, 2017, according to the Marshfield School District.[11]
Incumbent Mark Konrardy and challenger Keith Pugh filed exemption statements detailing they would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward their campaigns. Because of this, they did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.[11]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dorothy Chaney | $56.10 | $56.10 | $0.00 |
| Ruwan Dissanayake | $2,500.00 | $2,457.14 | $42.86 |
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2017
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2017
The 2017 school board election for the Marshfield School District followed a district trend by attracting a higher average number of candidates per seat than the state and national averages from 2015. An average of two candidates ran per seat on the ballot in the district in 2017. In 2015, the state and national candidate-per-seat averages were 1.38 and 1.72, respectively. The district also beat the 2015 state and national averages in 2015 and 2016.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Marshfield School District | |||||
| 2017 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2016 | 2.50 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| 2015 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 66.67% | |
| Wisconsin | |||||
| 2015 | 1.38 | 32.00% | 84.00% | 35.29% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the district
Committee votes to keep book in curriculum
A Marshfield School District committee made up of staff, parents, and other community members unanimously voted on February 28, 2017, to keep The Glass Castle in the high school's sophomore English curriculum. The committee ruled on the book after board of education member Mary Carney filed a complaint and asked the district to stop using it as part of the curriculum. In her complaint, Carney said the book had “vile language and disturbing material.” She also said she was offended by the book's portrayal of Catholicism.[12]
Kathleen Mahoney, an English teacher at the high school, said the book allowed students to analyze a nonfiction work and to discuss the book's themes of poverty and forgiveness. Jason Wilhelm, the principal of the high school, said The Glass Castle could also prompt students to seek help if they experienced similar problems to those described in the book.[12]
Some parents in the committee admitted they did not like the language used in the book, but they voted to keep it in the curriculum. Carney said she was disappointed by the recommendation to keep using the book, but she also said she was not surprised.[12]
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Marshfield School District, Wisconsin
The Marshfield School District lies in two counties in central Wisconsin: Marathon and Wood. Their respective seats of government are Wausau and Wisconsin Rapids. In 2015, Marathon County was home to 135,868 residents and Wood County was home to 73,435 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[13][14] The district was the 44th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 4,051 students.[15]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Both counties underperformed compared to Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2011 to 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 23.7 percent of Marathon County residents and 19.6 percent of Wood County residents aged 25 years or older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.8 percent of state residents.[13][14]
Median household income
From 2011 to 2015, the median household incomes in Marathon County and Wood County were $54,083 and was $48,961 respectively, compared to $53,357 for Wisconsin. During that same time period, the median household income for the United States was $53,889.[13][14]
Poverty rate
The poverty rates in Marathon County and Wood County were 9.5 percent and 11.3 percent from 2011 to 2015. During that same time period, the poverty rate was 12.1 percent for the state as a whole, and it was 13.5 percent for the country as a whole.[13][14]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[13][14] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Race | Marathon County (%) | Wood County (%) | Wisconsin (%) |
| White | 91.3 | 95.1 | 87.6 |
| Black or African American | 0.8 | 0.8 | 6.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Asian | 5.8 | 2.0 | 2.8 |
| Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Two or more races | 1.4 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 2.7 | 2.9 | 6.6 |
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 Marshfield School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Marshfield School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Marshfield News-Herald, "Candidates vie in Marshfield school, city races," January 4, 2017
- ↑ WSAW, "Election Results," accessed April 19, 2017
- ↑ Marshfield School District, "Board of Education," accessed December 28, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates: 2017 Spring Election Edition," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking by Office: 2017 Spring Election - 4/4/2017," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Guided for Candidates," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Jennifer Heeg, Marshfield School District," March 29, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Marshfield News-Herald, "'Vile' and 'disturbing?' Book OK'd for high school," March 1, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Marathon County, Wisconsin," accessed December 28, 2016
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Wood County, Wisconsin," December 28, 2016
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Marshfield School District elections in 2017 | |
| Marathon County, Wisconsin and Wood County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Dorothy Chaney • Incumbent, Mark Konrardy • Ruwan Dissanayake • Keith Pugh |
| Important information: | What's at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
