Rick Donahoe
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Rick Donahoe was the Position 3 representative on the Richland Board of Directors. Appointed to a vacancy on the board in 2009, he won the remainder of the seat's unexpired term in 2011. Donahoe won another term in the general election on November 3, 2015.[1]
Donahoe previously served four years on a public utility district board of directors.[2]
Biography
Donahoe is the CEO of International Children’s Reading Foundation. He holds a B.S. in education and another chemical engineering. He also has a master's degree in management and a certificate in special education administration. He worked as a middle school language arts teacher in Virginia. He also has worked for 33 years engineering and project management, including projects with budgets in excess of $300 million. Donahoe is a founding member of the group Partners for Early Learning.[2][3]
Elections
2015
Three seats on the Richland School District school board were up for general election on November 3, 2015. Positions 3, 4, and 5 were on the ballot. Because more than two candidates filed for Positions 4 and 5, a primary election for those races was held on August 4, 2015, with the top two vote-recipients advancing to the general election.
A mandatory recount for Position 4 was necessary due to the narrow margin between the two candidates in the general election. Position 4 incumbent Mary Guay did not file to seek re-election. Her open seat drew the most candidate filings in the district's elections. Brett Amidan, a returning candidate from 2013, Emily Allen, and Jill Oldson appeared on the primary ballot for the seat. Amidan and Oldson triumphed over Allen in that race and competed in the general election. Certified results showed just two votes placed Oldson over Amidan, necessitating the recount for the race. After the recount, the candidates were declared tied. A coin toss was held to break the tie, and Amidan was declared the winner.[4]
Ronald Higgins, a 2012 candidate for Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction, initially filed to run for the Position 4 seat. He withdrew from that race on May 15, 2015, in order to run for the Position 3 seat, instead. He lost to Position 3 incumbent Rick Donahoe in that race.
Position 5 incumbent Phyllis Strickler saw the second highest candidate filings in her race and was ultimately unseated. Returning 2013 candidate Gordon Comfort and Donald Todd ran against her in the primary. Strickler and Comfort advanced to the general election, where Comfort defeated the sitting board member.
Results
| Richland School District Board of Directors, Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rick Donahoe Incumbent |
57.6% | 7,133 |
| Ronald Higgins | 42.4% | 5,259 |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 0 |
| Total Votes | 12,392 | |
| Source: Benton County, Washington, "November 3, 2015 General Election," November 24, 2015 | ||
Funding
Donahoe reported no contributions or expenditures to the Washington Public Disclosure Commission as of October 30, 2015.[5]
Endorsements
Donahoe was endorsed by the Tri-City Herald.[6]
Campaign themes
2015
Voters' pamphlet
Donahoe provided the following statement for the Benton County voter's pamphlet:
| “ | I am committed to the school district's mission to prepare students to be critical thinkers, passionate learners, contributing members of society and successful in the global community.
I have volunteered in the Richland elementary, middle and high schools with tutoring, science fair judging, and working back stage at high school drama performances. I actively solicit input from parents, teachers, citizens and students. Our students deserve the very best from each of us. I make decisions based on What is best for all students and all programs. The District should provide a safe learning environment. Our students should learn academic skills while being involved in athletics, service groups, clubs and the arts. I look forward to continuing to earn your trust as we work together.[7] |
” |
| —Rick Donahoe (2015)[3] | ||
Campaign website
Donahoe provided the following statements on his campaign website:
| “ | “All Students - All Programs” What does that mean?
Serving on the school board means looking at the big picture. There should not be any personal agendas. Public schools are required to serve all students. Some students come to us with special learning needs and limited abilities. These students sometimes require special care, special facilities, special attention. Other students may be learning English for the first time. Other students may be excelling in learning and want Advanced Placement classes. We must serve each and every student and meet them at their current learning level. We have programs for special need students, English language learners, AP classes, career and technical education classes, alternative schools including Home Schooling, and pre-K classes. We also offer after school programs for sports, music, arts, drama and clubs. What do you mean “All Programs”? Our schools do a lot more than just teaching in the classrooms. Board Members must have a broad perspective of the finances and operations of the district. There is no place for personal agendas. Non-teaching programs include Nutritional Services, Transportation Services, facilities maintenance, grounds keeping, janitorial, security, financial accounting and reporting, curriculum development, etc. Board members must ensure that all programs, including instructional programs, are in place, meeting requirements and being managed in a financially sound manner. What is the role of a School Board? The purpose of the school board is to govern. This means that the board establishes policies, approves budgets, sets goals and monitors performance. The board does NOT implement. Implementation belongs to the superintendent and his/her staff. The board must work closely with the superintendent to keep up to speed with issues and overall performance. Individual board members have no authority by themselves. By law it is the board, not individual members, who makes decisions and provides direction. Individual members are responsible to show up to meetings and be prepared. Board members must keep a broad perspective on issues. They represent the public but are also advocates for students. Board members must be committed to all students and effective teaching and learning. Why do you want to continue to serve on the board? Parents take their most precious gift, their children, and send them to school for 6 to 7 hours a day, for 180 days a year. The parents expect their kids to be in a safe environment, be treated with respect and to learn. This is a huge responsibility for the school district. The Richland School District has done an excellent job performing this job. We can do better. I want to be part of this successful team and help lead it. We need to continually find ways to improve student learning. Since moving here in 1994, we have had 3 of our kids graduate from Hanford High school, my wife has been a teacher in three of the Richland schools and I have volunteered every year in the schools. I am committed to Richland schools. What is more important than educating and preparing our youth for the future? Having served on the school board since October 2009, I have observed first hand the challenges and rewards that our educators deal with on a daily basis. What special strengths do you believe you would bring to the school board? I was a middle school language arts teacher in Virginia. I know what its like to stand up in front of 130 students every day. Since then I have gone on to become an engineer and project manager. I have over 30 years of experience managing large budgets. I have supervised large organizations. But perhaps my major strength is listening. I want to hear what your concerns are and find ways to collaborate on answers. Most issues can be best solved using a team approach. Do you have children in Richland schools? I do not have any children in the Richland schools now. Three of our kids did graduate from Hanford High School. The demands made on school board members involve spending at least 10-20 hours per week, year round, on school board work. Now that my kids are grown and out the house I have that time available to serve on the board. I would not have been able to do an adequate job on the board when my kids were still at home. What is Richland School Board doing to save money? 1) In 2010 we refinanced existing construction bonds. The interest rates we were paying went from 5% to 2.4%. This results in a cost savings to the taxpayers of $10M 2) When we set our levy rates for the current 2-year time period, we evaluated many options and agreed on a rate lower than the Kennewick and Pasco rates. 3) We have recently hired an energy audit firm to assess our energy usage. There are several operational tasks we are doing now to cut costs. If we need to perform capital improvements, we have contractual requirements in place that will guarantee savings to the district and taxpayers. Where can I find information about the school district budget? On the district website www.rsd.edu, click on “Departments” and then scroll down to “Financial Services." What specific things would you do as a school board member to help with the current budget problems? Clearly our state officials have not meet their constitutional requirements to fund basic education. They have pushed the burden down to the local school boards. Fortunately the Richland School District has managed its finances well. Some specific items we have done recently on the board to save money include refinancing long terms bonds. We were able to refinance our bonds and obtain lower interest rates last year which will save the taxpayers $2.3 M over the next 10 years. We have also just hired an engineering firm to come into the schools to do energy audits. We are finding ways to simply fix some heating and lighting issues that will result in immediate cost savings. What is the Richland School District doing to improve student learning?' Last year the district hired a professional learning organization called the BERC Group to come into our classrooms and assess our teaching methods. BERC looks at 4 primary areas- Skills, Thinking, Application and Relationship (STAR). They observed classrooms in our high schools, middle schools and elementary schools. The BERC Group focuses on teachers and students behaviors in 19 different areas. There was a wide variety of scores, but one thing stood out clearly. Teachers need and want more training. Last year a few teachers and administrators were trained to observe classes. This year the training is being expanded at the school level. Teachers who were once hesitant about being observed are now seeing the benefit of being assessed by others and observing other teachers. They are excited about finding ways to clearly demonstrate skills to students and have the students fully engaged in their learning. What responsibility does the district have to the special student? The school district is legally required to give a free education to all students regardless of their needs. But beyond the legal requirements, I believe we have a moral responsibility to serve these special needs students and prepare them for the future. These students often need extra care and attention. Our educators in the Special Programs department are committed to these kids. We owe these kids our very best. Additionally we have special high achieving students. We offer QUEST programs starting in 3rd grade for students who qualify. We also offer Advanced Placement (AP) classes in our high schools. Student who perform well on the national AP exams can earn college credit. Again, the focus of public education is for ALL students, regardless of their special needs or abilities. We are fortunate in Richland to offer outstanding programs for all of these students. What responsibility does the district have to the minority student? We are required to provide free education to all students. Minority students may come to us not speaking English as their native language. We offer students classes to assist them in learning English. Minority students who speak English are inclusively welcomed also. Often these students have different cultural backgrounds. Our teachers often ask these students to share their cultures with the other classroom students. These minority students are a true asset to our schools as we teach all of our students to become successful in the global community. What do you think about STEM education? I am very pleased with our STEM school - Delta High School. Richland, Pasco and Kennewick students attend. I have been in the Delta classrooms to observe and volunteer. The students are learning how to work in teams, solve problems and make advanced presentations. This is an excellent example of a new and different option for students that our school districts offer. I am a big promoter of Delta High School. How does the district communicate with students, parents and the public? Open and transparent communication with all of our “customers” in vital for successful learning. Many studies have shown that students perform better when their parents are involved in the schools. To assist the parents the district has several ways to communicate. Schools have Open Houses at the beginning of the year. Schools also have their own websites that parents can access. Teachers send home a syllabus at the beginning of the semester or at the start of the year. Parents are also encouraged to contact teachers by e-mail, telephone or in face-to-face meetings. Report cards are also sent home. There is also an on-line system called Powerschool where parents can track their children’s progress. Some teachers also post homework assignments on Facebook. The district also had a website at www.rsd.edu that had links to schools, contact information and upcoming meetings and events. School board meetings and agendas are also posted. There is also a district Facebook page where parents can ask questions and get quick answers. The district also mails out annual pamphlets to all residents to ensure full and open communication. These are just some of the ways we communicate with students, parents and the community. Do you have time to serve on the school board? Although I work full time for the International Children's Reading Foundation, I am very fortunate to have a flexible schedule. This gives me time to go visit all of the Richland schools and volunteer in the classrooms. Additionally since all of our kids are grown up and out of the house, I have time at night to spend the 10-20 hours per week preparing for and attending school board meetings as well as other functions.[7] |
” |
| —Rick Donahoe's campaign website (2015)[8] | ||
See also
- Richland School District, Washington
- Richland School District 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
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidates - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Rick Donahoe-RSD School Board Position 3, "About," accessed October 16, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Benton County Auditor's Office, "Voter's Pamphlet: Rick Donahoe," accessed October 16, 2015
- ↑ Tri-City Herald, "Amidan wins coin toss for Richland School Board seat," December 8, 2015
- ↑ Washington Public Disclosure Commission, "Search the Database: Local Candidates," accessed October 30, 2015
- ↑ Tri-City Herald, "Our Voice: Comfort, Donahoe and Amidan for Richland schools," October 8, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Rick Donahoe-RSD School Board Position 3, "Q&A," accessed October 16, 2015
| 2015 Richland School District Elections | |
| Benton County, Washington | |
| Election date: | Primary - August 4, 2015
General - November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Position 3 : Incumbent, Rick Donahoe • Ronald Higgins
Position 4 : Brett Amidan • Emily Allen • Jill Oldson Position 5 : Incumbent, Phyllis Strickler • Gordon Comfort • Donald Todd |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
