Oklahoma City Public Schools elections (2016)
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Two of the eight seats on the Oklahoma City Public Schools school board were up for by-district general election on February 9, 2016. The District 3 seat appeared on the ballot while the District 4 race was canceled due to lack of opposition. District 3 incumbent Philip Horning did not file to seek re-election. Two candidates vied to replace him: Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs and Adam Zodrow. Coppernoll Jacobs defeated Zodrow to win the election. District 4 incumbent Laura Massenat filed the paperwork to seek re-election on December 7, 2015, but officially withdrew her candidacy on December 12, 2015. Due to the lack of opposition, challenger Paula Lewis was automatically elected.[1]
While the school board election was low-contest, the district faced a number of issues in 2016. These issues included multiple ongoing investigations by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights following accusations of district discrimination against minority and disabled students, state mandated budget cuts and the adoption of a new district-wide disciplinary policy.
- See also:What was at stake?
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Oklahoma City Public Schools school board consists of seven members elected by district to four-year terms. An eighth member is elected at large to chair the board. The District 3 and District 4 seats were scheduled for election in 2016. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on February 9, 2016. A runoff election could have been held on April 5, 2016, if no candidate won a majority of votes cast in the general election. As only two candidate filed for the single seat that appeared on the ballot, no runoff was possible.[2]
Candidates had to file affidavits of candidacy between December 7, 2015, and December 9, 2015. The voter registration deadline for the general election was January 16, 2016.
Candidates and results
District 3
Results
| Oklahoma City Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs |
53.90% | 283 |
| Adam Zodrow | 46.10% | 242 |
| Total Votes (100) | 525 | |
| Source: Oklahoma Election Board, "Election Summary by County," accessed February 9, 2016 | ||
Candidates
Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs 
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Adam Zodrow | ||
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District 4
Results
Due to lack of opposition, the District 4 seat did not appear on the ballot and Lewis was automatically elected.
| Paula Lewis
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Oklahoma elections, 2016
School board elections in Oklahoma were held on a special election date separate from other offices. In addition to board seats, district bond issues could have been held on the same date. The Oklahoma City Public Schools school board election was the only election on the ballot.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Oklahoma school board elections in 2016:
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 7-9, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| January 16, 2016 | Voter registration closes |
| February 1, 2016 | Candidate finance filing deadline |
| February 9, 2016 | General Election Day |
| April 5, 2016 | Runoff election day, if necessary |
District map
The map below displays the zones for the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education.
Endorsements
No official endorsements were made in this election.
Campaign Finance
Candidates received a total of $1,780.00 and spent a total of $542.26 in the election, according to the Oklahoma City Public Schools Department of Board Services.[3]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2015Incumbent Gloria Torres won the District 6 seat by default as she was the only candidate to file for election. 2014District 5Ruth Veales won the District 5 seat by default as she was the only candidate to file for election. District 7
2013Chair
District 1
District 2
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What was at stake?
2016
Election trends
Two of the eight Oklahoma City Public Schools school board seats were up for election in 2016. Only the District 3 seat was contested, as District 4 incumbent Laura Massenat withdrew from the race in December 2015. Due to this lack of opposition candidate, Paula Lewis did not appear on the ballot and she was automatically elected. Newcomer Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs defeated a second newcomer, Adam Zodrow, to win the District 3 seat. This election follows a pattern of low-contest races in Oklahoma City Public Schools. In 2014, the District 5 incumbent won without opposition, while the District 7 incumbent only faced a single challenger. The incumbent ultimately won. The race in 2015 was canceled due to lack of opposition.
Issues in the election
School discipline
A new code of conduct was implemented district-wide in late 2015. After an investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights began, the district undertook its own audit, resulting in the discipline policy changes. These actions were triggered by complaints regarding the treatment of black and Hispanic students. In particular, the district was accused of discipline-related retaliation—such as multiple long-term suspensions—against these groups.[4]
District 3 candidate Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs stood behind the district's decision to implement this new disciplinary code, which included an Alternative to Suspension Program and a partnering with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma. “You can’t just say they are not worth educating,” Jacobs said. “At times, I feel like that’s what we are telling kids with their suspension. ‘Go home and be by yourself for two weeks, six weeks or nine weeks.’ Nine weeks is a quarter of the (school) year. Academically, it is unattainable to come back from. Academically, you are giving kids a life sentence to not be successful.”[4]
Adam Zodrow, the second District 3 candidate, also expressed support for this new policy. “I love the idea behind a shared expectation for discipline: This is how we deal with discipline and how we deal with issues in the classroom,” Zodrow said. “At the same time, to believe that code of conduct can be implemented universally into every classroom with every student is unrealistic. I am not opposed to the code of conduct. I think it is necessary. I am hopeful that the code of conduct serves as guidelines and not gospel.”[4]
Budget cuts
Budget cuts are expected mid-year in Oklahoma City Public Schools. An estimated $1.568 million, or 0.5 percent of the district's operating budget of $280,283,571, left the district, which also faced an increase in emergency-certified teachers. A second round of budget cuts are expected to hit the district over the summer. Both District 3 candidates expressed concern over this loss of funding and the potential effect on teachers. Adam Zodrow said he believed that these cuts would demoralize teachers and that the school board needed to find ways to advocate for, and support, these integral district employees. Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs was quoted saying, "The budget cuts are going to be crippling. The community has to fill in those gaps or it will be a lost generation. This is the time. I think the city’s ready because there is so much civic pride. The district needs to go out and ask for it.”[4]
Both candidates also told the Oklahoma Gazette that they were concerned with the district's increasing class sizes and teacher shortages.[4]
District 3 incumbent withdraws candidacy
After filing for candidacy in the spring 2016 school board race, District 4 incumbent Laura Massenat withdrew her bid a mere four days later. She cited a desire to "focus on other endeavors" and a concern that she may not serve the entire three-year term if re-elected. While she did not provide any further insight into her decision to withdraw from the race, she did publicly endorse her would-be challenger, Paula Lewis, for the seat. "She will carry on the work of the wellness committee, on which I still hope to serve, and she will be a big support to the discipline reform being carried on in the district," said Massenat in reference to her priorities during her school board tenure. Massenat further stated that she was "confident that Lewis would step up to the challenge." [5]
Issues in the district
District still under investigation for civil rights infractions
A new investigation was opened in December 2015 by officials from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. This marked the office's fourth open investigation in the district and examined complaints that students with disabilities were given different treatment and were excluded or denied benefits. Officials in the school district refused to comment.[6]
The district was already under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights for the alleged discrimination against black and Hispanic students. Superintendent Rob Neu agreed that there was a problem with the overuse of suspensions but questioned the report's ranking of the district. However, Neu stated that the discipline policies needed to be revised and that suspensions should only be used for the most serious offenses. He also said he believed that too many minor infractions, such as truancy, led to suspension.[7][8]
In 2015, UCLA's Center for Civil Rights Remedies conducted a nationwide study of suspension rates. This study compared districts to one another and found that Oklahoma City Public Schools had some of the highest suspension rates in the nation. During the 2011-2012 school year, almost 50 percent of the students from fifth to 12th grade had been suspended, compared to the national suspension rate of 10 percent.[7]
According to Dan Losen, the director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, "These rates are just extraordinarily high." When broken down by race, the suspension rates were even higher for black students, with 75 percent of black males suspended and 54 percent of black females suspended during the 2011-2012 school year. This is the highest suspension rate of black students in the nation, according to UCLA's report. Data from the U.S. Department of Education showed that these suspensions started in elementary school, with at least 40 percent of black students suspended during the 2011-2012 school year across 12 of the district's primary schools.[7][8]
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About the district
- See also: Oklahoma City Public Schools, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City Public Schools is located in central Oklahoma in the county which shares its name. Oklahoma City is both the county seat and state capital. The county was home to an estimated 766,215 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 40,913 students.[10]
Demographics
Oklahoma County outperformed Oklahoma as a whole in terms of higher education achievement and median household income in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.6 percent of its residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 23.5 percent for Oklahoma as a whole. The median household income in the county was $45,215, compared to $45,339 for all of Oklahoma. The poverty rate in Oklahoma County was 18.5 percent, compared to 16.9 percent for the entire state.[9]
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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 'Oklahoma City Public Schools' 'Oklahoma'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Oklahoma City Public Schools | Oklahoma | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NewsOK, "Oklahoma news briefs for Dec. 12," December 12, 2015
- ↑ Oklahoma City Public Schools, "SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER TERM OF OFFICE," accessed July 15, 2016
- ↑ Mandy Gillip, "Email communication with Craig Cates, Oklahoma City Public Schools school board clerk," January 20, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Oklahoma Gazette, "OKCPS school board candidates address discipline, budget cuts," January 29, 2016
- ↑ NewsOK, "Oklahoma City School Board member changes mind, won't seek re-election," December 10, 2015
- ↑ KGOU, "Federal Government Opens New Civil Rights Probe Into Oklahoma City Public Schools," February 1, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 KOSU, "High Suspension Rates at Oklahoma City Public Schools Trigger Systemic Changes," March 25, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 KGOU, "High Suspension Rates Of Black Oklahoma City Students Starts In Elementary School," April 22, 2015
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 United States Census Bureau, "Oklahoma County, Oklahoma," accessed January 5, 2016
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Voter Registration Reports," accessed January 5, 2016
| 2016 Oklahoma City Public Schools Elections | |
| Oklahoma County, Oklahoma | |
| Election date: | February 9, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 3: Carrie Coppernoll Jacobs • Adam Zodrow District 4: Paula Lewis |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
