Pat Heinrich
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Pat Heinrich is an at-large member of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education in North Carolina. The seat was up for general election on November 3, 2015.[1] Pat Heinrich won the general election on November 3, 2015.
Heinrich participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
Biography
Heinrich works as an IT consultant. He has lived and worked in different cities around the world. He serves as a GED tutor for adults. Heinrich obtained a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and biochemistry from North Carolina State University. He went on to earn a master's degree in management from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain.[2]
Elections
2015
Four of the seven seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education were up for election on November 3, 2015. The seats represent the district at-large.
Incumbent Annetta Streater won re-election to her seat. Rani Dasi, Margaret Samuels and Pat Heinrich were elected to the other three seats on the ballot. Incumbent David Saussy, Joal Hall Broun, Gregg Gerdau and Theresa Watson were defeated.[1][3]
Results
| Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, At-Large, 4-year Term, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rani Dasi |
19.6% | 7,009 |
| Margaret Samuels |
15.7% | 5,629 |
| Annetta Streater Incumbent |
15.0% | 5,379 |
| Pat Heinrich |
12.5% | 4,459 |
| Theresa Watson | 11.9% | 4,253 |
| Joal Hall Broun | 11.2% | 4,005 |
| David Saussy Incumbent | 9.3% | 3,321 |
| Gregg Gerdau | 4.4% | 1,590 |
| Write-in votes | 0.42% | 151 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 35,796 | |
| Source: North Carolina Secretary of State, "11/03/2015 Official Municipal Election Results," accessed November 10, 2015 | ||
Funding
Heinrich reported no contributions or expenditures to the North Carolina State Board of Elections iin the election.[4]
Endorsements
Heinrich received no official endorsements as of September 25, 2015.
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Pat Heinrich participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Developing a comprehensive plan to address the achievement gap given the resource constraints of our schools [5] | ” |
| —Pat Heinrich (2015)[6] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in North Carolina. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| They should be implemented. | |
| No | |
| No | |
| Standardized test scores are an incomplete measure of student acheivement. They can be combined with other measurements for a more complete picture of student achievement. | |
| The candidate did not answer this question. | |
| Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools. | |
| Determine the cause of the challenges with school leadership. Develop an improvement plan with clear actions and measurable goals. Hold the school accountable to actions and measure progress in regular intervals.
Provide clear communication and transparency to parents and the community by publicly recognizing the concern providing regular updates on progress. | |
| I support merit increases for teacher training, improvement and performance. I do not support linking merit pay to testing outcomes. | |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. | |
| Increase outreach to the community by meeting with community organization and groups.
Provide greater transparency into board discussions and decision making processes to parents and the community. |
Campaign website
Heinrich's campaign website listed the following campaign themes for 2015:
| “ | Promote the improvement of schools and facilities.
Some of our schools do not meet modern building codes and do not provide a safe environment by the standards of current building codes. Additionally some of our classrooms and facilities do not meet current standards for schools. Why address it now? Mechanical issues, water leakage and other maintenance issues may result in bigger issues (and more expensive repairs) if they are not addressed in a timely fashion. We are asking for a large sum, but if we don’t address these needs we may have to ask for more later as these problems get worse. Let's stop "kicking the can" further into the future and address these needs now.
We need even closer partnerships with our funding sources like the state legislature and county commissioners. Let's make sure they continue to view CHCCS as a leading public school system and that our school system and its mission remain top of mind. Let's consider the maintenance and upkeep costs of new investments and improvements. Making improvements to our schools changes the costs of maintaining our facilities. Let’s include that cost to maintain our facilities and resources when we make improvements to facilities, invest in technology, and change how our schools operate.
Let's respect the dignity of a variety of successful outcomes from a public education. Career counseling for students should better reflect the changing realities of the job and education market. The increasing cost of traditional four year institutions and the increasing demand in the workforce for technical and certification based education is continuing to provide new ways to achieve a challenging and productive career. Too often community colleges are perceived as secondary to traditional four year institutions. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't lose sight of the value of four year institutions, but we should more strongly promote other opportunities and avenues to a successful career. We should consider focusing more on critical thinking and problem solving and less on the individual experiences and memorization skills of students. Virtually every student can reason and think critically in the right context. Not every student has the same experiences. Focusing education on problem solving and reasoning rather than memorization helps level the playing field between students with different backgrounds while emphasizing some of the most important skills for lifelong learning. [5] |
” |
| —Pat Heinrich campaign website, (2015), [7] | ||
What was at stake?
2015
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Two incumbents, David Saussy and Annetta Streater, were running for re-election. With eight candidates running for the seats, over half of the board could have been replaced. This field of candidates was much larger than the field in 2013, when four candidates ran for three open seats. Two of the four were incumbents, and they both won re-election. In 2011, eight candidates ran for four open seats. Four candidates were incumbents, and they all won re-election.[8]
Issues in the district
Bond on ballot in 2016
In April 2015, the Orange County Commission approved a measure to include a school bond referendum on the general election ballot in 2016. This bond would give the schools $125 million to make facility upgrades to schools in the Orange County school district and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district. The bond would be spread out over 10 years and could possibly cause a 5-cent property tax increase if the county's sales tax doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for the bond.[9]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Pat Heinrich Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, North Carolina
- Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools 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
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Orange County, North Carolina, "2015 Candidate Filings for Chapel Hill/Carrboro School Board," accessed July 20, 2015
- ↑ Pat Heinrich for Chapel Hill-Carrborro City Board of Education, "Who is Pat Heinrich," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina Secretary of State, "11/03/2015 Unofficial Municipal Election Results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "NC Campaign Report Search by Entity," accessed February 2, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Pat Heinrich's responses," September 21, 2015
- ↑ Pat Heinrich for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, "My Position," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ Orange County, North Carolina, "Election Results," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Warner Cable News, Central North Carolina, "$125 Million Bond Referendum for Schools to Appear on 2016 Ballot," April 24, 2015
| 2015 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Elections | |
| Orange County, North Carolina | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, David Saussy • Incumbent, Annetta Streater • Joal Hall Broun • Rani Dasi • Gregg Gerdau • Pat Heinrich • Margaret Samuels • Theresa Watson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
