Patricia B. Pierce

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Patricia B. Pierce

Prior offices

Buffalo Board of Education At-large

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Education

Bachelor's

Alfred State College

Other

Bryant and Stratton Business Institute

Personal

Profession

Criminal investigator

Patricia B. Pierce is a former at-large member of the Buffalo school board in New York. She served on the school board from 2014 to 2019.

She won the general election on May 6, 2014 alongside incumbent Barbara Seals Nevergold and newcomer Larry Quinn against 10 other challengers. She applied to fill a vacancy on the school board in 2011, but the board did not choose her for the position.

Biography

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Patricia B. Pierce is a resident of Buffalo, New York. Pierce earned a bachelor's degree in court stenography from Alfred State College and began her career with the Buffalo Police Department as a report technician. She was promoted to the position of police detective before leaving to join the Erie County Sheriff’s Office in 1998. Pierce became the chief of patrol and investigative services before she retired in 2005. She left retirement and is employed as a criminal investigator specializing in domestic violence cases with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office.

Elections

2014

See also: Buffalo Public Schools elections (2014)

Patricia B. Pierce, Larry Quinn and incumbent Barbara Seals Nevergold won the three at-large seats against incumbent John Licata and nine other candidates in the general election on May 6, 2014. Candidates Bryon J. McIntyre and Daniel Rockwitz Reynolds were removed from the ballot after they did not meet the petition signature requirements.

Results

Buffalo Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 5-year term, 2014

Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Larry Quinn	16.1%	8,806
	Nonpartisan	Patricia B. Pierce	14.7%	8,061
	Nonpartisan	Barbara Seals Nevergold Incumbent	13.6%	7,449
	Nonpartisan	Bernie Tolbert	11.5%	6,298
	Nonpartisan	John Licata Incumbent	9%	4,930
	Nonpartisan	Samuel P. Davis	7.9%	4,334
	Nonpartisan	Sergio Rodriguez	6.3%	3,447
	Nonpartisan	Gizelle Stokes	5.6%	3,059
	Nonpartisan	Ralph R. Hernandez	5%	2,733
	Nonpartisan	Wendy Mistretta	4.4%	2,414
	Nonpartisan	Stephon Wright	2.3%	1,242
	Nonpartisan	Adrian Harris	1.9%	1,066
	Nonpartisan	Stephen Buccilli	1.7%	936
Total Votes				54,775
Source: Erie County, NY - Board of Elections, "Election Results Archive," accessed June 11, 2014

Funding

Pierce reported $600.00 in contributions and no expenditures to the Erie County Board of Elections, which left her campaign with $600.00 on-hand. Pierce contributed a total of $500.00 to her own campaign in the form of a loan.

Endorsements

Pierce received endorsements from the Buffalo Niagara Partnership and The Buffalo News. She also received endorsements from New York State Assemblyman Michael Kearns and board members James Sampson and Carl P. Paladino.

Campaign themes

2014

In response to a survey published by The Buffalo News, Pierce answered several questions outlining her campaign themes, preferred education reforms and priorities.

“	Cite an example of a school program (here or elsewhere) that you think should be replicated in Buffalo: The School of Hospitality at Emerson Commons should be replicated in other Career Technology Education (CTE). Building programs that students want to do and allowing school leaders the ability to manage their building is vital for a successful school. Look for ways to accommodate more students to offer them a variety of different paths so when they leave school they can go right into jobs. Describe two or three specific actions the district should take to help close the projected $50 million deficit for 2014-15: Reduce administrative positions. Close unoccupied schools. Possibly consolidate services with other school districts. List the three most important things you want to accomplish if you are elected: Develop a multi- disciplinary team of professionals working within the school district to address the needs of students in crisis beginning with attendance. Truancy not only is a school problem but a community problem as well. Hold parents responsible for sending their kids to school. Intervene as soon as possible to insure education is the pathway to success and avoid incarceration. Combine the efforts of law enforcement, probation, child protection, social services, mental health, and a dedicated courtroom focusing on parental and student problems starting in the home. Evaluate Pamela Brown's performance as superintendent: Bringing people in from the outside has not proven to benefit the students or the district. The hiring of her Administrators has been a failure. Only 12 of Buffalo's 57 public schools are considered to be in "good standing." It is the board's responsibility to work to impose the highest degree of accountability for the Superintendent and staff to make sure all schools have strong academic programs to meet the needs of children enrolled in the district. Her communication and transparency with board members has been poor. Her lack of leadership and ideas for turning around failing schools are weak.	”
—The Buffalo News survey (2014)

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Patricia + Pierce + Buffalo + Public + Schools"

Patricia B. Pierce News Feed

See also

• Buffalo Public Schools, New York
• Buffalo Public Schools elections (2014)

External links

Suggest a link

• Buffalo Public Schools

Additional reading

• The Buffalo News, "With law enforcement background, Pierce takes aim at truancy on agenda to help at-risk students," April 29, 2014