Paterson Public Schools elections (2014)

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2014 Paterson Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 4, 2014
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
New Jersey Paterson Public Schools Passaic County, New Jersey ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Four seats on the Paterson Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 4, 2014.

Incumbents Chrystal Cleaves and Jonathan Hodges ran against challengers Khader Abuassab, Koyes Ahmed, Emanuel Capers, Nelly Celi, Lilisa Mimms, and Taj Uddin for the three seats with full three-year terms. Incumbent Wendy Guzman did not file for re-election. Although Abuassab still appeared on the ballot, he was removed from consideration by the Passaic County superintendent of elections on October 22, 2014, because he used a non-residential address on his voter registration form. If he had won a seat, he would not have been allowed to join the board. Cleaves and Hodges won re-election. The third seat was won by Mimms.

Incumbent Flavio Rivera ran unopposed and won an unexpired two-year term. After Alex Mendez left the board to join the city council, Rivera was appointed to fill the position until the November 2014 election.

About the district

See also: Paterson Public Schools, New Jersey

Paterson Public Schools is located in Passaic County, New Jersey

Paterson Public Schools is located in Passaic County, New Jersey. The county seat of Passaic County is Paterson. Passaic County had a population of 502,885 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau in 2014. In the 2011-2012 school year, Paterson Public Schools was the third-largest school district in New Jersey and served 24,365 students.

Demographics

In 2012, Passaic County had a lower percentage of residents with a bachelor's degree compared to the state overall. The United States Census Bureau reported that 25.8 percent of residents aged 25 and older in the county had earned a bachelor's degree, compared with 35.4 percent for New Jersey. The median household income in Passaic County was $57,540, below the state median of $71,637. The poverty rate in the county was 15.8 percent, compared to 9.9 percent for New Jersey as a whole.

Racial Demographics, 2012
Race	Passaic County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	75.9	73.8
Black or African American	14.7	14.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.5	0.6
Asian	5.5	9.0
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Two or More Races	2.3	1.9
Hispanic or Latino	38.3	18.5

2013 Party Affiliation, Passaic County
Party	Registered Voters	% of Total
Democratic	97,693	33.08
Republican	52,360	17.73
Libertarian	75	0.03
Green	25	0.01
Other	38	0.01
Unaffiliated	145,114	49.14

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.

Voter and candidate information

As of the 2014 election, the Paterson Board of Education consisted of nine members elected at-large to three-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Four seats were up for election in 2014, three for full three-year terms and one for an unexpired two-year term.

School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period, which ended on July 28, 2014. The deadline to file objections to candidate petitions was on August 1, 2014, and the deadline to withdraw was on August 26, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 14, 2014.

At-large (3-year term)

• Chrystal Cleaves
  • Incumbent

• Jonathan Hodges
  • Incumbent

• Khader Abuassab
  • Activist, the Arab American Civic Association
  • Disqualified from the ballot on October 22, 2014

• Koyes Ahmed
  • Graduate, Ramapo College of New Jersey
  • Software system engineer, Leidos

• Emanuel Capers

• Nelly Celi
  • Graduate, William Paterson University

• Lilisa Mimms
  • Pastor, New Beginnings Christian Outreach Ministries

• Taj Uddin
  • Organizer secretary, the Jalalabad Association of America

At-large (2-year term)

• Flavio Rivera
  • Incumbent
  • Auditor, Passaic County government

Election results

3-year terms

Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Chrystal Cleaves Incumbent	21.2%	4,175
	Nonpartisan	Lilisa Mimms	16.5%	3,250
	Nonpartisan	Jonathan Hodges Incumbent	16.5%	3,249
	Nonpartisan	Nelly Celi	13%	2,562
	Nonpartisan	Emanuel Capers	10.6%	2,094
	Nonpartisan	Koyes Ahmed	9.6%	1,883
	Nonpartisan	Khader Abuassab	8.3%	1,629
	Nonpartisan	Taj Uddin	4%	789
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	34
Total Votes				19,665
Source: Passaic County Clerk, "Official Results - 2014 General Elections," accessed November 12, 2014

2-year term

Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year unexpired term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Flavio Rivera Incumbent	98.7%	3,130
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	1.3%	41
Total Votes				3,171
Source: Passaic County Clerk, "Official Results - 2014 General Elections," accessed November 12, 2014

Campaign finance

Candidates reported $1,655.00 in contributions and $16.00 in expenditures during the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Chrystal Cleaves	$1,655.00	$16.00	$1,639.00
Jonathan Hodges	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Khader Abuassab	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Koyes Ahmed	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Emanuel Capers	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Nelly Celi	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Lilisa Mimms	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Taj Uddin	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

In the at-large race for an unexpired two-year term, Flavio Rivera reported no contributions or expenditures during the election.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Flavio Rivera	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2013 Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Alex Mendez Incumbent 22.8% 2,293      Nonpartisan Kenneth L. Simmons Incumbent 16.7% 1,681      Nonpartisan Christopher C. Irving Incumbent 16.1% 1,626      Nonpartisan Alveria Spencer 14.9% 1,502      Nonpartisan Nelly Celi 11.9% 1,195      Nonpartisan Juan K. Sosa 10.6% 1,066      Nonpartisan William A. Connolly 7% 706      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 7 Total Votes 10,076 Source: Passaic County Board of Elections, "Summary Report," May 21, 2013 2012 Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Manuel Martinez, Jr. 22% 1,757      Nonpartisan Corey L. Teague 17.4% 1,388      Nonpartisan Errol S. Kerr Incumbent 17.2% 1,376      Nonpartisan Arleen Barcenas 17% 1,355      Nonpartisan Joel D. Ramirez 16.5% 1,322      Nonpartisan Daniel D. Vergara 10% 796 Total Votes 7,994 Source: Passaic County Board of Elections, "Passaic County School Board Election 2012," April 17, 2012 2011 Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Chrystal Cleaves 22.7% 1,995      Nonpartisan Jonathan Hodges Incumbent 21.5% 1,889      Nonpartisan Wendy Guzman Incumbent 20.3% 1,781      Nonpartisan Arleen Barcenas 19.1% 1,674      Nonpartisan Ramon Pagan 16.4% 1,443 Total Votes 8,782 Source: The Alternative Press, "Cleaves, Hodges and Guzman Win Election," April 30, 2011

Issues in the election

College readiness drops

In 2014, only 19 of the 594 high school students in Paterson Public Schools were considered college-ready based on SAT scores. This represented just 3.2 percent of the student body, a decline from 4.3 percent in 2013. The district's cumulative mean SAT score was 1,120, and the statewide average was 1,526. To be deemed college-ready, a student had to score at least 1,550 on the exam. Board member Corey Teague, who was not up for re-election in 2014, criticized the administration following the release of the test scores. He claimed that the administration was misleading parents about improved student academic performance and stated, "That’s a sign that they’re hiding something."

Fellow board member Jonathan Hodges, who ran for re-election in 2014, called the low figure a problem and added that, "I don’t think we’ve done the work we need to get to the bottom of the problem." Terry Corallo, a spokesperson for the district, insisted that, "there are many factors that play a part in college readiness" and that the district had "invested heavily in building capacity of our staff, including school leaders, and now our guidance department is being restructured with a focus on preparing students for college and career – starting in elementary grades."

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Paterson Public Schools election in 2014:

Deadline	Event
July 28, 2014	Last day for candidates to file nomination petitions
August 1, 2014	Last day to file objections to candidate nomination petitions
August 26, 2014	Last day for candidates to withdraw
October 6, 2014	29-day pre-election campaign finance report due
October 14, 2014	Last day to register to vote in the general election
October 24, 2014	11-day pre-election campaign finance report due
November 4, 2014	General election day
November 24, 2014	20-day post-election campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

This election shared the ballot with general elections for a U.S. House seat, a U.S. Senate seat, and other municipal offices.

See also

• New Jersey
• Paterson Public Schools, New Jersey
• New Jersey school board elections, 2014
• List of school board elections in 2014
• School board elections, 2014
• Passaic County, New Jersey ballot measures
• Local ballot measures, New Jersey

External links

Suggest a link

• Paterson Public Schools
• Paterson, New Jersey
• Passaic County Board of Elections