Maury County Schools elections (2016)
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Five of the 11 seats on the Maury County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on August 4, 2016.[1] Bettye Kinser ran unopposed and won the District 2 seat that was left open when incumbent Jim Morrison did not file to run for re-election. Incumbents James Pennings and Howard Beaver also ran unopposed and won re-election to the District 4 and 8 seats, respectively. The District 6 race featured incumbent Jerry Lassiter and challengers Nathan Adkison and John Almon. Adkison defeated Lassiter to win the seat. Donna Morency and Lea Thomason ran against each other to fill the District 10 seat, which was left open by incumbent Wayne Lindsey. Morency was elected to the seat.[2][3][4]
Fewer new members were elected to the board in this race compared to the district's 2014 election. To see how this race compared to past elections in both the district and the state, check out the "Election trends" section below.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Maury County Board of Education consists of 11 members elected by district to four-year terms. Elections are held on a staggered basis every August of even-numbered years. The District 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 seats were up for election on August 7, 2014, and the District 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 seats were up for general election on August 4, 2016. There was no primary election.[3][5]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file their qualifying documents by April 7, 2016. The deadline to withdraw from the election was April 14, 2016.[1]
To vote in this election, residents of the district had to register by July 5, 2016.[1] Photo identification was required to vote in this election.[6]
Candidates and results
District 2
Results
| Maury County Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Bettye Kinser (unopposed) |
100.00% | 619 |
| Total Votes | 619 | |
| Source: Maury County Election Commission, "Official Results: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Bettye Kinser 
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District 4
Results
| Maury County Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| James Pennings Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 501 |
| Total Votes | 501 | |
| Source: Maury County Election Commission, "Official Results: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| James Pennings
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District 6
Results
| Maury County Schools, District 6 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Nathan Adkison |
60.33% | 403 |
| Jerry Lassiter Incumbent | 33.38% | 223 |
| John Almon | 6.29% | 42 |
| Total Votes | 668 | |
| Source: Maury County Election Commission, "Official Results: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Jerry Lassiter | Nathan Adkison
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John Almon | |||
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District 8
Results
| Maury County Schools, District 8 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Howard Beaver Incumbent (unopposed) |
100.00% | 588 |
| Total Votes | 588 | |
| Source: Maury County Election Commission, "Official Results: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Howard Beaver
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District 10
Results
| Maury County Schools, District 10 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Donna Morency |
55.98% | 295 |
| Lea Thomason | 44.02% | 232 |
| Total Votes | 527 | |
| Source: Maury County Election Commission, "Official Results: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Candidates
| Donna Morency
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Lea Thomason | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Tennessee elections, 2016
The Maury County Schools election shared the ballot with general elections for the Part I and Part II seats on the 22nd Circuit Court, the District 5 seat on the Maury County Commission, the Maury County Assessor of Property, and the Maury County Superintendent of Roads.[2]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Tennessee school board elections in 2016:[1]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| April 7, 2016 | Candidate filing deadline |
| April 11, 2016 | 1st quarter campaign finance report due |
| April 14, 2016 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| July 5, 2016 | Voter registration deadline |
| July 11, 2016 | 2nd quarter campaign finance report due |
| July 15, 2016 - July 30, 2016 | Early voting period |
| July 28, 2016 | Pre-election campaign finance report due |
| August 4, 2016 | Election day |
| October 11, 2016 | 3rd quarter campaign finance report due |
| January 25, 2017 | 4th quarter campaign finance report due |
Endorsements
No candidates received official endorsements in the election.
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
No contributions or expenditures were reported in the election, according to the Maury County Election Commission.[7]
The pre-general campaign financial disclosure report for this election was due July 28, 2016. Candidates were also required to file quarterly reports for the 2016 election year. Those reports were due on April 11, 2016; July 11, 2016; October 11, 2016; and January 25, 2017.[1]
Past elections
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What was at stake?
2016
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2014
With two incumbents running unopposed in the Maury County Board of Education election in 2016, a maximum of three new members were able to join the board. Newcomers took all three seats available to them. Two were guaranteed to join the board since there were two open seats on the ballot, but the third newcomer defeated an incumbent to win. Even with three newcomers winning seats, fewer new members were elected to the board in 2016 than in the district's 2014 race. That year, newcomers won five out of the six seats on the ballot (83.33 percent). Three of those seats were left open, but two challengers defeated incumbents to join the board. Overall in 2014, newcomers won 45.98 percent of school board seats up for election in Tennessee's largest school districts.
Two incumbents were guaranteed to win re-election in the Maury County Board of Education election in 2016 as they ran unopposed. With the third incumbent defeated by a challenger, their success rate was 66.67 percent. In the district's 2014 election, three incumbents ran to retain their seats, and one won re-election, which gave them a success rate of 33.33 percent. Statewide in 2014, 75.41 percent of incumbents won their bids for re-election.
An average of 1.6 candidates ran per seat on the Maury County ballot in 2016. This was a higher average than the district's 2012 race, but lower than the district's 2014 race. An average of 2.33 candidates ran per seat in 2014, and an average of 1.2 candidates ran per seat in 2012. The 2016 election fell into the same pattern in regards to unopposed seats. A total of 60 percent of the seats on the ballot in 2016 were unopposed. In 2014, 33.33 percent of seats were unopposed, and in 2012, 80 percent of the seats saw no opposition. Overall in 2014, an average of 1.94 candidates ran per seat on the ballot statewide, and 36.78 percent of seats were unopposed.
Issues in the state
Transgender bathroom bill withdrawn
State Rep. Susan Lynn (R-57) proposed legislation in January 2016 that would require public school students in kindergarten through college to use the bathroom and locker room that corresponded with the sex listed on their birth certificates. Four months later, she withdrew the bill. "I am still absolutely 100 percent in support of maintaining the privacy of all students. But I'm going to roll the bill over until next year so we can work on those issues," Lynn said.[8][9]
House Bill 2414 drew criticism from local media and some companies threatened to withhold business from the state if the bill were passed. Lynn said that was not why she withdrew the bill; instead, she put it on hold in order to further study the issue. She said school districts in Tennessee were "largely following what the bill says."[8][10]
While HB 2414 was still in committee, Gov. Bill Haslam (R) expressed concern about the bill. “I’m hearing that our school boards have figured out how to adjust to each situation that arises, and to date, I’m not hearing parents say we have [a] problem in our schools today,” said Haslam.[11]
State Reps. Mike Stewart (D-52) and Harry Brooks (R-19) asked for an opinion on the issue from Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery (R). Slatery responded by warning that the state could lose federal Title IX funding if the bill were passed.[12]
| “ | As things currently stand, we must, as a practical matter, assume that H.B. 2414 would violate Title IX, because the enforcer of Title IX has clearly interpreted — and enforced — Title IX to prohibit as 'discriminatory on the basis of sex' what H.B. 2414 is designed to accomplish.[13] | ” |
| —Attorney General Herbert Slatery (April 2016)[12] | ||
Stewart said Slatery's opinion was the "final nail in the coffin" for the bill. He and State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-55) said the bill could also hinder the state's goal of creating a business-friendly climate.[12] Executives of dozens of companies had signed a letter to state lawmakers asking them to reject the bill on the grounds that it was discriminatory.[14]
David Fowler, former state senator and president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, objected to Slatery's opinion. He said the attorney general had used settlement agreements rather than court decisions to warn the state legislature away from passing the bill. "Settlement agreements have no persuasive value as a matter of law, unlike the court decisions that have actually ruled in favor of sex-designated bathrooms," Fowler said.[12]
After the bill was withdrawn, Fowler issued a statement:
| “ | But we join the thousands of parents across the state who are profoundly disappointed that at this point in the process Rep. Lynn has decided not to proceed with a bill that would have simply protected the privacy of the children they have entrusted to our public schools.[13] | ” |
| —David Fowler (April 2016)[8] | ||
In addition to receiving support from the Family Action Council of Tennessee, the bill was backed by approximately 30 pastors from the Tennessee Pastors Network. At least 67,000 state citizens opposed the bill, as two transgender high school students turned in that many signatures to the governor's office. They were joined by the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, the Tennessee Equality Project, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, and the Human Rights Campaign.[8]
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Maury County Schools, Tennessee
The Maury County school district is located in Maury County in central Tennessee. The county seat is Columbia. Maury County was home to 87,757 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[15] The district was the 12th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 12,014 students.[16]
Demographics
Maury County underperformed compared to Tennessee as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 18.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 24.4 percent of state residents. The median household income in Maury County was $46,565, compared to $44,621 for the entire state. The poverty rate was 15.5 percent, compared to 18.3 percent statewide.[15]
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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 'Maury County Schools' 'Tennessee'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Maury County Schools | Tennessee | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Calendar 2016," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Maury County Election Commission, "August General/Primary Election: August 4, 2016," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Maury County Public Schools, "School Board," accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Maury County Election Commission, "Summary Report: Primary and General Election August 4, 2016," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ Maury County, Tennessee, "August 2014 Official Results," accessed June 9, 2015
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "What ID is required when voting?" accessed March 30, 2016
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Todd Baxter, Maury County Election Commission," July 29, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The Tennesseean, "Transgender bathroom bill dead for year," April 18, 2016
- ↑ Open States, "HB 2414," accessed April 19, 2016
- ↑ Knoxville News Sentinel, "Tennessee lawmakers should stay out of students’ restrooms," April 3, 2016
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Tennessee Governor Skeptical Of Anti-Transgender Bathroom Bill," April 13, 2016
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 The Tennesseean, "Attorney general: Tennessee bathroom bill threatens Title IX funds," April 11, 2016
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CBS News, "Tennessee lawmakers under fire over transgender bathroom bill," April 13, 2016
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 United States Census Bureau, "Maury County, Tennessee," accessed April 7, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed June 26, 2014
| 2016 Maury County Schools Elections | |
| Maury County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 4, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 2: • Bettye Kinser District 4: • Incumbent, James Pennings District 6: • Incumbent, Jerry Lassiter • Nathan Adkison • John Almon District 8: • Incumbent, Howard Beaver District 10: • Donna Morency • Lea Thomason |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
