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Richmond County School System elections (2016)

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Richmond County School System Elections
General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
31,997 students

Five of the 10 seats on the Richmond County Board of Education were up for general election on November 8, 2016. District 1 incumbent Marion Barnes defeated challenger Brian Green, while challenger Wayne Frazier defeated incumbent Barbara Pulliam in the District 4 race. District 10 incumbent Helen Minchew won her re-election bid against challenger Tony Whiteside. District 5 incumbent Patsy Scott and District 8 incumbent Jimmy Atkins won without opposition in 2016.[1]

In August 2016, Richmond County's school board joined other Georgia school districts in opposing a state constitutional amendment dealing with state oversight of failing schools. Learn more about the amendment and school board responses to the amendment here.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Richmond County Board of Education consists of ten members elected to four-year terms. Eight members are elected by by district, while two members are elected at large. Georgia school districts with nonpartisan boards tend to hold their elections during May primaries. Richmond County School System holds its nonpartisan elections during the November general election because the state election law does not mention the county by name when referencing election dates. This omission means that the state law does not match the district's charter, allowing the district to hold its elections during the general election.[2]

The candidate filing period for Georgia school board candidates lasted from March 7, 2016, to March 11, 2016. Prospective candidates for nonpartisan offices submitted declarations of candidacy with their county election offices. The voter registration deadline for the general election was October 11, 2016. The following dates were key deadlines for Richmond County's nonpartisan school board elections in 2016:[3]

Deadline Event
March 7, 2016 First day of candidate filing period
March 11, 2016 Candidate filing deadline
October 11, 2016 Voter registration deadline
November 8, 2016 General election

Candidates and results

District 1

Results

Richmond County School System,
District 1 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Marion Barnes Incumbent 69.63% 4,919
Brian Green 30.37% 2,145
Total Votes 7,064
Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016

Candidates

Marion Barnes Green check mark transparent.png Brian Green

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  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2000

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  • Veteran, U.S. Marine Corps

District 4

Results

Richmond County School System,
District 4 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Wayne Frazier 51.86% 4,024
Barbara Pulliam Incumbent 48.14% 3,736
Total Votes 7,760
Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016

Candidates

Barbara Pulliam Wayne Frazier Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent
  • B.A., Paine College
  • M.Ed., University of South Carolina
  • Ed.S., Lincoln Memorial University
  • Retired educator

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  • Retired principal

District 5

Results

Richmond County School System,
District 5 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Patsy Scott Incumbent (unopposed) 100.00% 7,435
Total Votes 7,435
Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016

Candidates

Patsy Scott Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent

Withdrawn candidates

Douglas Jackson

Placeholder image.png

District 8

Results

Richmond County School System,
District 8 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Jimmy Atkins Incumbent (unopposed) 100.00% 7,007
Total Votes 7,007
Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016

Candidates

Jimmy Atkins Green check mark transparent.png

Placeholder image.png

  • Incumbent

District 10

Results

Richmond County School System,
District 10 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Helen Minchew Incumbent 73.05% 24,005
Tony Whiteside 26.95% 8,854
Total Votes 32,859
Source: Georgia Secretary of State, "General Election November 8, 2016," accessed November 8, 2016

Candidates

Helen Minchew Green check mark transparent.png Tony Whiteside

Helen Minchew.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2000
  • B.A., Marshall University

Tony Whiteside.jpg

  • Veteran, U.S. Army

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Georgia elections, 2016

The November 8 school board election shared the ballot with Georgia's statewide general election. This election included races for Georgia State Senate, Georgia House of Representatives, and local court seats. Races for president, U.S. House, and U.S. Senate were on the ballot.

Endorsements

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

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

Candidates received a total of $28,421.90 and spent a total of $15,651.37 as of October 10, 2016, according to the Richmond County Board of Elections.[4]

Candidates were required to file campaign finance reports in March, June, September, October, and December during an election year. State law allows candidates to claim exemption from campaign finance reporting if they do not accept or spend more than $2,500 in an election year. A candidate who accepts up to $5,000 in contributions but does not spend more than $2,500 during an election cycle was only required to file reports on June 30, 2016, and October 25, 2016.[5]

General election

District 1

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Marion Barnes (incumbent) $8,015.00 $2,618.00 $5,397.00
Brian Green $0.00 $125.00 $175.00

District 4

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Barbara Pulliam (incumbent) $8,195.00 $4,951.72 $3,243.28
Wayne Frazier Exempt

District 5

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Patsy Scott (incumbent) $12,211.90 $7,956.65 $4,255.25

District 8

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Jimmy Atkins (incumbent) $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

District 10

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
Helen Minchew (incumbent) Exempt
Tony Whiteside $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Past elections

What was at stake?

Election trends

School Board Election Trends Banner.jpg

All five board incumbents with seats up for election in the Richmond County School System filed for re-election in 2016. Two incumbents were guaranteed re-election due to a lack of opposition, while three incumbents faced challengers.

The district's 2014 election saw one new member join the board after defeating another newcomer. Three incumbents won re-election without opposition, while one incumbent defeated her challenger with a 45.6 percent margin of victory.

School board election trends
Year Candidates per seat Unopposed seats Incumbent success rate Seats won by newcomers
Richmond County School System
2016 1.6 40.00% TBD TBD
2014 1.4 60.00% 100.00% 20.00%
Georgia
2014 1.85 46.56% 86.54% 31.3%
United States
2014 1.89 32.57% 81.31% 38.24%

School board opposition to Amendment 1

School boards throughout Georgia passed resolutions opposing a state constitutional amendment that would have changed how failing schools are governed in the state. Amendment 1, which was up for a yes/no vote on November 8, 2016, would have allowed the state to create an Opportunity School District (OSD) to govern schools given a rating of chronically failing. If approved, the OSD would have been run by a governor-appointed superintendent with the power to directly manage districts, share governance with school boards, or change schools into charter schools. Gov. Nathan Deal (R) and StudentsFirst Georgia supported the measure, while the Georgia Association of Educators and the Georgia Parent-Teacher Association opposed Amendment 1. The measure was defeated on November 8, 2016.

A "yes" vote supported authorizing the state to form an Opportunity School District that would govern certain elementary and secondary schools determined to be "chronically failing."[6]
A "no" vote opposed authorizing the state to form an Opportunity School District that would govern certain elementary and secondary schools determined to be "chronically failing," thereby continuing to have school boards/districts supervise respective schools.[6]

Board members expressed concerns about state intervention in school administration after approving resolutions of opposition. "All this does is take authority away from, not just local school systems, but from local taxpayers and parents," said Barrow County board member Lynn Stevens (R).[7] Cherokee County board chair Kyla Cromer (R) said, "The big part of this in my mind is that as a member of this school board our job is to protect the children of Cherokee County, and I see no benefit in this to them."[8] "Why doesn’t the state give local boards the finances to be able to do the things that they’re saying they can do?" said Newton County board member Almond Turner (D).[8] Richmond County board president Helen Minchew expressed concern about allowing the state to take control over local schools, saying "we have a way of communicating, we visit our schools, we stay in touch, and it's the essence of local control."[9]

The following table lists basic information on resolutions of opposition approved by school boards with November 2016 elections covered by Ballotpedia:

District Resolution date Vote
Barrow County September 13, 2016 7-1[10]
Cherokee County September 1, 2016 7-0[11]
Clayton County September 6, 2016 9-0[12]
Dougherty County September 28, 2016 7-0[13]
Fayette County August 19, 2016 5-0[14]
Newton County June 21, 2016 5-0[15]
Richmond County August 18, 2016 9-0[9]

Proponents of the amendment argued that new solutions were needed for the district's low-performing schools. According to Georgia Leads on Education, 127 Georgia schools were considered to be failing by the Governor's Office of Student Achievement in September 2016. Schools are marked as failing if they received a College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) score that was below 60 in 2013, 2014, and 2015. The state had 181 school districts with over 2,200 schools in the September 2016 report. Dougherty County School System (4) and Richmond County School System (19) were two districts with November 2016 elections that had schools on the list and opposed the amendment. Below is a table showing the official failing schools and their respective districts from September 2016:[16][17][18]

Candidate survey

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About the district

See also: Richmond County School System, Georgia
Richmond County School System is located in Richmond County, Georgia.

Richmond County School System is located in Richmond County, Georgia. The county seat of Richmond County is Augusta. Richmond County was home to 201,793 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[19] The district was the 12th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 31,997 students.[20]

Demographics

Richmond County underperformed in comparison to the state of Georgia in terms of higher education achievement and median household income from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 20.4 percent of Richmond County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 28.3 percent for Georgia as a whole. The median household income in Richmond County was $37,704, compared to $49,342 for the state of Georgia. The poverty rate in Richmond County was 26.0 percent, compared to 17.0 percent for the entire state.[19]

Racial Demographics, 2015[19]
Race Richmond County (%) Georgia (%)
White 39.2 61.6
Black or African American 55.6 31.7
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.4 0.5
Asian 1.8 4.0
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.3 0.1
Two or More Races 2.7 2.0
Hispanic or Latino 4.8 9.4

Presidential Voting Pattern[21]
Year Democratic Vote (%) Republican Vote (%) Other Vote (%)
2012 66.5 32.7 0.7
2008 65.6 33.8 0.6
2004 56.7 42.9 0.4
2000 54.7 44.4 0.9

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 'Richmond County School System' 'Georgia'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Richmond County School System elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Richmond County School System Georgia School Boards
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Seal of Georgia.png
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Qualifying Candidate Information," accessed April 18, 2016
  2. ↑ Nick Katers, "Email exchange with Lynn Bailey," May 15, 2014
  3. ↑ Augusta, Georgia, "2016 Election Information," accessed May 4, 2016
  4. ↑ Easy Campaign Finance Portal, "Richmond," accessed October 10, 2016
  5. ↑ Justia, "2010 Georgia Code: Title 21-Elections," accessed October 10, 2016
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Open States, "Senate Resolution 287," accessed April 11, 2016
  7. ↑ Barrow Journal, "BOE joins OSD opposition," September 14, 2016
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Columbia County News-Times, "School boards speak out against OSD amendment," September 18, 2016
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 WorldNow, "Richmond County School Board members call for defeat of "Opportunity School District" bill," August 23, 2016
  10. ↑ Barrow County School System, "Called Board Meeting 9/13/2016 - 6:00 PM," September 13, 2016
  11. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Cherokee County Board moves to oppose Deal’s Opportunity Schools," September 26, 2016
  12. ↑ Clayton County Public Schools, "Board Meeting-Tuesday, September 6, 2016," September 6, 2016
  13. ↑ NBC 12, "Dougherty Co. School Board openly opposes OSD," September 28, 2016
  14. ↑ Griffin Journal, "Fayette County opposes schools amendment," August 19, 2016
  15. ↑ Newton County Schools, "Newton Board of Education Adopts Resolution Opposing Governor’s Opportunity School District," June 23, 2016
  16. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named List
  17. ↑ Georgia Department of Education, "Schools and Districts," accessed September 29, 2016
  18. ↑ Georgia Department of Education, "College and Career Ready Performance Index," accessed September 29, 2016
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 United States Census Bureau, "Richmond County, Georgia," accessed October 10, 2016
  20. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
  21. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Current and Past Election Results," accessed July 1, 2014
2016 Richmond County School System Elections
Richmond County, Georgia
Election date:November 8, 2016
Candidates:District 1: Incumbent, Marion Barnes • Brian Green

District 4: Incumbent, Barbara Pulliam • Wayne Frazier
District 5: Incumbent, Patsy Scott
District 8: Incumbent, Jimmy Atkins

District 10: Incumbent, Helen Minchew • Tony Whiteside
Important information:What was at stake?
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