Paterson Public Schools elections (2016)

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2017 → ← 2015
Paterson Public Schools Elections
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
24,598 students

Four of the nine seats on the Paterson Public Schools Board of Education were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. Three of the seats came with three-year terms, and one seat came with a two-year term. Incumbents Christopher Irving and Flavio Rivera, along with Emanuel Capers, won election to the board by defeating incumbent Kenneth Simmons, Joseph Atallo, Corey Teague, and Stacey Coleman. A special election was held for a fourth seat with a two-year term after board member-elect Michael Henry was barred from serving on the school board due to the discovery of a past criminal background. Errol Kerr was appointed to fill Henry's position. He ran for re-election and lost to newcomer Manny Martinez.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

As of 2016, the Paterson Board of Education consisted of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. Elections were staggered with three seats up for election each year. The general election was held on November 8, 2016. There was no primary election.

Candidates for the school board had to be 18 years old and registered to vote. They had to have resided within the district for at least one year prior to their election or appointment. Candidates could not concurrently hold office as mayor or as a member of the governing body of a municipality within the district. Board members could not have been convicted of a felony. There were no term limits.

At-large (3-year term)

Results

Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Flavio Rivera Incumbent	19.11%	8,109
Christopher Irving Incumbent	17.69%	7,504
Emanuel Capers	15.29%	6,487
Corey Teague	13.89%	5,892
Kenneth Simmons Incumbent	13.68%	5,803
Stacey Coleman	11.37%	4,823
Joseph Atallo	8.82%	3,741
Write-in votes	0.15%	65
Total Votes		42,424
Source: Passaic County, "County Clerk-Election Results," accessed November 30, 2016

Candidates

Christopher Irving		Flavio Rivera		Kenneth Simmons
	Incumbent		Incumbent		Incumbent

Joseph Atallo		Emanuel Capers
Stacey Coleman		Corey Teague

At-large (2-year term)

Results

Paterson Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 2-year term, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Manny Martinez	74.05%	9,587
Errol Kerr Incumbent	25.81%	3,341
Write-in votes	0.15%	19
Total Votes		12,947
Source: Passaic County, "County Clerk-Election Results," accessed November 30, 2016

Candidates

Errol Kerr		Mohammad Ramadan		Manny Martinez
	Incumbent		Withdrawn

Additional elections

See also: New Jersey elections, 2016

The Paterson Board of Education election shared the ballot with federal elections for President of the United States and United States Representative. There were two statewide ballot measures on the ballot. There were also municipal elections for surrogate, sheriff, and freeholder in Passaic County.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for New Jersey school board elections in 2016:

Deadline	Event
July 25, 2016	Candidate filing deadline
September 9, 2016	Candidate withdrawal deadline
October 10, 2016	First pre-election campaign finance report due
October 18, 2016	Voter registration deadline
October 28, 2016	Second pre-election campaign finance report due
November 8, 2016	Election day
November 28, 2016	Post-election campaign finance report due
January 1 - January 7, 2017	New members sworn in

Endorsements

Irving, Rivera, and Teague received official endorsements from the Paterson Teachers Union.

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

Candidates received a total of $26,200.25 and spent a total of $20,014.49 in the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
3-year term
Joseph Atallo	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Emanuel Capers	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Stacey Coleman	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Christopher Irving	$22,020.66	$16,973.75	$5,046.88
Flavio Rivera	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Kenneth Simmons	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Corey Teague	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
2-year term
Errol Kerr	$4,179.59	$3,040.74	$1,133.85
Manny Martinez	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Mohammad Ramadan	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Past elections

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

2015 See also: Paterson Public Schools elections (2015) Paterson Board of Education, At-large, General Election, 2015 Candidate Vote % Votes Nakima Redmon 20.5% 2,927 Oshin Castillo 18.8% 2,695 Kevin Henry 18.7% 2,687 Errol Kerr Incumbent 15.5% 2,186 Corey Teague Incumbent 15.1% 2,157 Jesus Castro 11.3% 1,625 Write-in votes 0.2% 29 Total Votes 14,306 Source: Passaic County, "Statement of Vote," accessed November 12, 2015 2014 See also: Paterson Public Schools elections (2014) Three-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 Two-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 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

What was at stake?

Election trends

The 2016 school board election in Paterson Public Schools had an average of 2.5 candidates per seat running for the four seats up for election. All four incumbents ran for re-election to their seats.

The district's 2015 election saw three new members join the board when the two incumbents running for the three seats up for election were defeated. The race had an average of two candidates per seat. The district's 2014 election included three incumbents running for four seats. All of the incumbents won re-election, and one new member joined the board. That race averaged 2.25 candidates per seat.

School board election trends
Year	Candidates per seat	Unopposed seats	Incumbent success rate	Seats won by newcomers
Paterson Public Schools
2016	2.5	0.00%	50.00%	50.00%
2015	2.0	0.00%	0.00%	100.00%
2014	2.25	25.00%	100.00%	25.00%
New Jersey
2015	1.96	17.24%	70.73%	50.00%
2014	2.0	15.52%	79.07%	41.38%
United States
2015	1.72	32.57%	81.31%	38.24%
2014	1.89	35.97%	82.66%	40.77%

Issues in the district

Candidate forum

A candidate forum, sponsored by the advocacy group Paterson Education Fund, was held on September 26, 2016. Seven of the nine candidates were present. Joseph Atallo and Flavio Rivera did not attend the forum. The candidates were asked a series of questions from the moderator and the audience members. The three main topics of the night a new superintendent, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) exam as a graduation requirement, and school funding.

New superintendent
As of 2016, the district was under the control of the state who appointed Donnie Evans as district superintendent. The district anticipated regaining full local control in the few years following the 2016 election. The moderator of the forum asked the candidates their thoughts on the most important qualities of a new superintendent.

Kenneth Simmons wanted someone who would be willing to fight for more funding, calling state-appointed superintendent Donnie Evans a "peacemaker." Simmons said the new superintendent would need to be a "change maker." Errol Kerr felt that Evans had done a "good job" but was concerned about lingering academic problems. Kerr said he wanted to see a superintendent that "was not aligned with political establishment in the city."

Corey Teague reiterated Simmons desire for someone that would not be afraid to go to the state with the district's needs, "We have to have someone who would be willing to walk away if necessary if the state is unwilling to do what’s needed to be done. We don’t want someone who will remain there collecting a paycheck knowing our children are being disenfranchised."

Christopher Irving felt it was important for a new superintendent to be civic minded and aware of the diversity of the community. Emanuel Capers felt similarly. He thought a new superintendent should be a resident of the city, while Stacey Coleman wanted a new superintendent to be a teacher.

Manny Martinez mentioned "innovative" as an important quality for a new superintendent.

PARCC exam
In August 2016, the New Jersey Board of Education voted to require students to pass parts of the PARCC exam in order to graduate high school. Under the new plan passed by the state board, the new requirement would begin in 2021. Candidates shared their thoughts on the new requirement.

Most candidates did not feel the district's students were prepared for the test. Coleman said, "To have that mandatory they won’t do well.” Irving mentioned the need for a district-wide plan to prepare for the coming graduation requirement.

Capers was concerned about the necessary technology skills to take the exam, "Our kids don’t have the resources to pass this test." Simmons also mentioned technology and urged the district to equip with the technology they are lacking. Teague also agreed that the district lacks the technology to equip the students for success on the exam. He said the exam was essentially a way for the state to gather data.

Funding
All of the candidates agreed on the need for more funding in the district. Capers went as far to say that the district is "totally, criminally underfunded." Several candidates mentioned the mismanagement of funds. Coleman said, "We can see a lot of the money is not being spent in the classroom." Martinez expressed a similar sentiment, "We’re not spending those dollars in the right places."

Irving mentioned the state's role in funding and hoped that a new governor would change the amount of funding the school receives. He urged the audience members to bring their funding concerns to the candidates running for governor in 2017.

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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 in northern New Jersey. The county seat is Paterson. Passaic County was home to 510,916 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the fourth-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 24,598 students.

Demographics

Passaic County underperformed compared to New Jersey as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 26.2 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 36.4 percent of all state residents. The median household income in Passaic County was $59,513, compared to $72,062 for the entire state. The poverty rate in the county was 18.2 percent, compared to 10.8 percent statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2015
Race	Passaic County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	74.9	72.6
Black or African American	15.0	14.8
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.5	0.6
Asian	5.8	9.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Two or More Races	2.6	2.1
Hispanic or Latino	40.2	19.7

Presidential Voting Pattern, Passaic County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	115,926	64,523
2008	113,257	72,552
2004	94,962	75,200
2000	90,324	61,043

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 'Paterson Public Schools' 'New Jersey'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Paterson Public Schools elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Paterson Public Schools	New Jersey	School Boards
Paterson Public Schools elections (2015) Paterson Public Schools elections (2014) List of school districts in New Jersey	New Jersey school board elections, 2016 Public education in New Jersey Local ballot measures, New Jersey	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2016 School board election data analysis, 2015

External links

• Paterson Public Schools
• Passaic County Clerk