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Matthew Oates
Matthew Oates was a member of the Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education, representing Sub-district 2. Oates assumed office in 2015. Oates left office in 2019.
Oates ran for re-election to the Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education to represent Sub-district 1. Oates lost in the general election on April 2, 2019.
Biography
Oates earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia. When he served on the school board, he was an electrical engineer with an engineering firm in Kansas City. Oates joined the Hale Cook Elementary School Board of Directors in 2013.[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Kansas City Public Schools, Missouri, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education Sub-district 1
Rita Cortes defeated incumbent Matthew Oates in the general election for Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education Sub-district 1 on April 2, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Rita Cortes (Nonpartisan) | 65.8 | 5,135 |
 | Matthew Oates (Nonpartisan) | 33.5 | 2,615 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.7 | 57 | ||
| Total votes: 7,807 | |||
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2015
Opposition
The Kansas City Public Schools Board of Directors is a nine-member board elected to staggered four-year terms. Six seats are elected by district and three seats are elected at large. There was a special election for the Sub-District Two seat on November 3, 2015. The special election became necessary when Sub-District Two incumbent Gunnar Hand resigned in April 2015.[2] Matthew Oates won the election without active opposition after Lindsay Mathews withdrew from the election on October 4, 2015. Mathews' name appeared on the ballot as her withdrawal came after the creation of the ballot order.[3] Oates won the remainder of Hand's term that expired in 2019.[4]
Results
| Kansas City Public Schools Board of Education, Sub-district 2, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Matthew Oates |
81.50% | 943 |
| Lindsay Mathews | 14.95% | 173 |
| Write-in votes | 3.54% | 41 |
| Total Votes | 1,157 | |
| Source: Kansas City Board of Elections, "Election Summary Report," November 3, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us. |
||
Funding
The Kansas City Board of Elections does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Oates received the endorsement of The Kansas City Star.[5]
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matthew Oates did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
2015
Candidate website
Oates' campaign website listed the following themes for the 2015 election:
| “ |
Why are you running? The school district is in a good place given its recent years of progression toward accreditation. I want to see this effort through to full accreditation and help improve the quality of education for Kansas City students. Why should I support Matt Oates for School Board? I am an advocate for public school education and huge advocate of children. I want to do what’s best for them and what’s best for our city. With full accreditation looming, the school district is on the cusp of something major. But it’s also in a sensitive, vulnerable position. I want to do what’s best to protect education going forward for Kansas City students. What is your stance on Academie-Lafayette? Academie-Lafayette is an excellent school and an intriguing potential partner for the district, one which the district should investigate and consider. We need to be certain our students’ welfare is of the utmost importance, though. We need to be sure that we’re not partnering with Academie-Lafayette at the expense of our own students. What are your thoughts on the superintendent search? My ideal superintendent candidate would be someone with local ties and experience in Kansas City and Jefferson City, someone who understands the political and educational landscape that they must traverse. There was great value in having Dr. Green as superintendent because he was a Kansas City-area resident and had worked in local education at the Kauffman Foundation before becoming superintendent. Bringing an outsider up to speed would be a tall task, especially considering that we need to be fully accredited by Fall 2016. We don’t need disruptions or fancy pilot programs. Our fundamentals must be strong, and a local candidate who understands the current climate would be best. If it turns out that the best candidate does not have a connection to Kansas City, they need to be intentional about creating opportunities to engage the community starting on the first day. How do you feel about Border Star Montessori School? I am for renovation or a new building. Either would benefit students greatly. [6] |
” |
| —Matthew Oates, (2015), [7] | ||
See also
2019 Elections
- Kansas City Public Schools, Missouri
- Kansas City Public Schools, Missouri elections (2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Kansas City Public Schools
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook page
- Matthew Oates on Twitter
- Hale Cook Elementary profile
Footnotes
- ↑ Oates for Kansas City Public Schools, "Meet Matthew Oates," accessed September 23, 2015
- ↑ The Kansas City Star, "Gunnar Hand to leave KC school board," April 17, 2015
- ↑ Nick Katers, "Email correspondence with Lindsay Mathews," October 9, 2015
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfiling - ↑ The Kansas City Star, "The Star’s recommendations: Rory Rowland and Daron McGee for open Missouri House seats," October 27, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Oates for Kansas City Public Schools, "Platform & FAQs," accessed September 23, 2015
