Rob Barron
Rob Barron was an at-large member of the Des Moines Public Schools school board in Iowa. He assumed office in 2013. He left office on November 16, 2021.
Barron ran in a special election to the Des Moines City Council to represent Ward I in Iowa. He lost in the special general election on November 7, 2023.
Biography
Barron attended Roosevelt High School, Central Academy, and Lincoln High School in the Des Moines Public Schools. He graduated from Grinnell College in 2002 with a B.S. in political science. Following his graduation, Barron served as a staff assistant, senior legislative correspondent, and legislative assistant for U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). In 2009, Barron was promoted to Harkin's state staff director. Barron later became a sergeant-at-arms for the League of United Latin American Citizens Council 307 and volunteered with the Everybody Wins reading program at the district's Monroe Elementary School. He also co-founded the Latino Political Network and became the special assistant for government and community relations to Grand View University President Kent Henning.[1][2][3]
Board membership
2015-2017
The Des Moines school board voted unanimously on 96.35 percent of its motions between the annual organization meeting on September 15, 2015, and the regular board meeting on July 11, 2017. The voting data indicated that Rob Barron, Connie Boesen, Cindy Elsbernd, Dionna Langford, and Teree Caldwell-Johnson were the governing majority on the board, and Natasha Newcomb was the sole member of a minority faction. Heather Anderson did not vote consistently enough with Newcomb or the majority to be considered part of either group.[4]
Elections
2023
See also: City elections in Des Moines, Iowa (2023)
General election
Special general election for Des Moines City Council Ward I
The following candidates ran in the special general election for Des Moines City Council Ward I on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Chris Coleman (Nonpartisan) | 42.3 | 3,539 | |
 | Rob Barron (Nonpartisan) | 32.8 | 2,743 | |
| Kathy Hellstern (Nonpartisan) | 7.1 | 598 | ||
 | RJ Miller (Nonpartisan) | 6.9 | 576 | |
| Kimberley Strope-Boggus (Nonpartisan) | 4.3 | 361 | ||
| Rose Marie Smith (Nonpartisan) | 4.2 | 353 | ||
| Dennis McCullough (Nonpartisan) | 2.0 | 169 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 31 | ||
| Total votes: 8,370 | |||
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2017
Four of the seven seats on the Des Moines Public Schools school board in Iowa were up for nonpartisan general election on September 12, 2017. The race for the two at-large seats on the board included incumbent Rob Barron and challengers Louisa Dykstra and Kyrstin Delagardelle Shelley. Barron won another term on the board, and Shelley won the other at-large seat, which was left open by incumbent Connie Boesen, who instead ran for the Des Moines City Council. In their bids for re-election to the District 2 and District 4 seats, incumbents Dionna Langford and Teree Caldwell-Johnson ran unopposed and won additional terms on the board.[5][6][7]
Results
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rob Barron Incumbent |
37.71% | 3,791 |
| Kyrstin Delagardelle Shelley |
31.30% | 3,147 |
| Louisa Dykstra | 29.94% | 3,010 |
| Write-in votes | 1.05% | 106 |
| Total Votes | 10,054 | |
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Election Tuesday, September 12, 2017: Official Results," accessed September 18, 2017 | ||
Funding
Barron reported $9,892.42 in contributions and $8,568.72 in expenditures to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, which left his campaign with $1,323.70 on hand in the election.[8]
Endorsements
Barron was endorsed by the following organizations and elected officials:[9]
- Des Moines Education Association
- AFSCME Council 61
- Plumbers Local 33
- South Central Iowa Federation of Labor
- Communication Workers of America Local 7102
- U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)
2013
Rob Barron and Connie Boesen defeated incumbent Joe Jongewaard and challengers Heather Ryan and Shane Schulte for two at-large seats in the general election on September 10, 2013.[10][11]
Results
| Des Moines Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Connie Boesen Incumbent |
24.4% | 2,838 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rob Barron |
23.2% | 2,699 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joe Jongewaard Incumbent | 22.9% | 2,671 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shane Schulte | 19.3% | 2,251 | |
| Nonpartisan | Heather Ryan | 9.2% | 1,076 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 1% | 120 | |
| Total Votes | 11,655 | |||
| Source: Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Board Election," accessed September 14, 2013 | ||||
Funding
Barron reported $8,570.27 in contributions and $5,445.72 in expenditures to the Iowa Secretary of State, which left him with $3,124.55 on hand in the election.[12]
Endorsements
Barron received endorsements from the following organizations and elected officials:[13]
- Margaret Borgen, former DMPS board member
- Graham Gillette, former DMPS board member
- Patty Link, former DMPS board member
- Marti Anderson, state representative
- Wayne Ford, former state representative and Urban Dreams founder
- Michael Kiernan, former city councilman
- Laborer's Local 353
- Laborer's Local 177
- Plumber's Local 33
- AFSCME Iowa Council 61
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rob Barron did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Ballotpedia candidate survey
Barron participated in a survey created by Ballotpedia in partnership with USATalk and the Interactivity Foundation. The survey was created after online discussions of Des Moines voters and residents were conducted to discuss their ideas for the school district. The survey questions appear bolded, and Barron's responses follow below.
What type of skills should students be learning for success in the 21st century?
| “ | My full-time job is at Grand View University and we consider this question regularly so that we are preparing our students to succeed in the post-college job market. I’ve had many conversations with employers to learn about what skills and qualities they value in job applicants and in candidates for promotion. One model we have used to frame our discussions at Grand View is the “T-Shaped Professional” which separates skills for innovation from skills for collaboration. Skills for innovation are mastery of content, a specialized skill, or content knowledge. Skills for innovation are what is often measured by standardized testing. They are essential to future success and half of what DMPS must be successful with all of our children, but many skills for innovation are learned after someone finishes their formal education. We have all had job experiences where we have had to learn new skills to become better at our job or transition into a new job.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[15] | ||
What is the primary job of a school board member in your view?
| “ | I describe our job as translating public values into school policy. Board members are publicly elected, but don’t necessarily have expertise in education. So we are responsible for translating the will of the community into districtwide policy that the education professionals with DMPS are responsible for implementing.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[15] | ||
As a publicly elected leader, who would you emulate? Who do you look up to? Why? What characteristics/values are most important for a school board member?
| “ | My political heroes are Robert Kennedy and Tom Harkin. My parents named me for Robert Kennedy which gave me a head start on reading and understanding the politics of the 1960’s. I admire Senator Kennedy’s campaign for the Presidency in 1968 and his commitment to use his power and notoriety to benefit others, namely poor and starving children and families in Mississippi, Native Americans, and farm workers in California. In each case had clear empathy for those living in terrible situations and worked to make their lives better.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[15] | ||
What is your 20-year vision for the Des Moines public schools? How might we distinguish our school district in education over the next 20 years?
| “ | The Board and the District have adopted the same vision for DMPS: To be the model for urban education. Des Moines is different in many ways from every other school district in the State of Iowa. We are twice as large as the second largest district. Though we educate 6% of all Iowa students in DMPS, we educate 16% of all Latino students and 21% of all African-American students and 75% of DMPS students qualify for free and reduced price lunch because of their parents' incomes. Demographically we are more alike large, urban school districts in other states.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[15] | ||
The Des Moines Register questionnaire
Barron participated in the following questionnaire conducted by The Des Moines Register. The questions provided by the newspaper appear bolded, and Barron's responses follow below.
What is the biggest challenge facing Des Moines Schools?
| “ | Our top challenge is providing exceptional education in an era of declining public support. We have minimized the effect of abysmal state aid, but every cut we make affects students. Public education is the key to community vitality and if we don’t make it a budget priority, Des Moines suffers.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[16] | ||
What are your top three priorities if elected?
| “ |
|
” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[16] | ||
What is your view on the proposal to change school start times in Des Moines?
| “ | I support the proposal because I believe it will benefit students. I advocated for the district to wait one more year before bringing it back to the board so that work could be done with parents at Smouse and Ruby Van Meter to preserve continuity with therapies delivered outside school.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[16] | ||
What is your view on the proposal to change school start times for Smouse and Van Meter schools?
| “ | I believe the district brought a good proposal to the board in the spring, but I was worried that they did not have enough time to implement it, especially in light of the concerns raised by the Smouse/Ruby community.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[16] | ||
Why are you running for Des Moines School Board?
| “ | I believe in public service and have enjoyed my board service thus far. I think my history as a DMPS student and parent, along with my experience working in education policy for Senator Harkin, have prepared me for the job. And I have more work left to do.[14] | ” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[16] | ||
Candidate website
Barron highlighted the following issues on his campaign website:
| “ | Turning down the volume
I believe that the job description of a school board member is to translate community values into district priorities. I felt my first responsibility as a board member was to turn down the volume and foster a more cooperative environment on the board than what I has seen in the years surrounding the end of Dr. Sebring's tenure as Superintendent. I believe our board has turned the page and is clearly focused on achieving the best results for our students. Academic excellence In the past four years:
DMPS graduates are leaving high school more prepared for college and career than ever before! Breaking barriers In 2015, my board colleagues elected me chair, making me the first Latino chair of the Des Moines School Board. One of the reasons I ran for school board in 2013 was to represent the Latino community. My advocacy and defense of the Latinos is something that benefits all Des Moines residents. Our community is becoming more and more diverse, and the Latino community is pacing our school district's growth. We all want our neighbors to be valuable contributors, but in order to do that we have to provide education to all with as few barriers as possible. I see no difference in the hopes and potential from one child to another, whether they are gifted, undocumented, special needs, or all of the above. My job as a board member is to create hope and safety for all of our children. Protecting our most vulnerable I ran in 2013 because I knew the Latino community in Polk County needed a win. But I didn't foresee what was coming for our undocumented students and their families, many of whom are Latino. Much of my board term overlapped the era of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) which has allowed thousands of Iowans to pursue work and college safely. But that safety has been fractured in the last several months by increasing government raids that have expanded the target beyond criminals to parents and young people with no criminal history. To answer the fear in our community, the Des Moines School Board voted unanimously to pass two resolutions that protect students, staff, and families and affirm our support for DREAMers. This work is personal to me because I share a cultural heritage with so many undocumented Iowans. But I believe it is also essential for a board in a city as diverse as Des Moines to lead on issues like this. Because one of our bedrock repsonsibilities is to protect our most vulnerable. And who is more vulnerable than a 6 year-old undocumented kid in one of our first grade classrooms? The boring stuff The hard part for a new board member is processing the myriad votes to take, decisions to make, and data points to absorb. 99% of our work is not going to show up in the Des Moines Register. There are procedural motions, monitoring reports, financial reports, public hearings, and on and on and on. But that boring stuff is all very important to maintaining a well-run district. I'm proud of my work on the big and tough issues we have been confronted with. But I'm also proud of my willingness to engage and put in the work on the less flashy stuff. I aspire to run an inspirational campaign. I plan to continue being a diligent board member.[14] |
” |
| —Rob Barron (2017)[17] | ||
2013
In a news release declaring his candidacy, Barron stated that he hoped "to be a dedicated advocate for what I believe makes for strong schools: richer, more diverse education opportunities; safe and welcoming classrooms; superb teachers who are valued by their district; and a challenging, relevant, and student-centered curriculum. I am running for school board not with just an eye towards the next four years, but with my sights set on the next 20 years."[10] Barron's campaign website also listed the following campaign themes for 2013:
| “ | My top priority will be rebuilding the relationship between the board and the community. In addition to the time spent in meetings as a board member, I will set a goal for myself to visit each building in the district in my first term and to work a day with staff in a variety of positions in my first year on the board.
For a district this large, our four-year graduation rate is respectable and I am glad it is on the rise. We should look at the overall rate as a platform to keep raising the rates and work towards zeroing out the disparities in graduation rate and academic achievement between different groups of students. It is a long-range goal not likely to be met in a single term, but it is an aspirational goal we should all embrace. I have spoken throughout the campaign about finding ways to continue to offer more diverse educational opportunities across this school district. If elected, I will engage the community and DMPS staff and leaders to determine the best, most innovative ways to grow our district. We should all be proud of a district that boasts International Baccalaureate programming, a publicly-funded Montessori school, and Central Academy among others, but that is just the beginning. In the coming years, we cannot stop with the existing offerings, we must look to bring successful programs to more neighborhood schools as well as bringing in new, innovative and cost-effective programs.[14] |
” |
| —Rob Barron (2013)[18] | ||
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Rob X. Barron - Des Moines School Board, "About Rob," accessed July 31, 2013
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Rob Barron," July 31, 2013
- ↑ Rob X. Barron - Des Moines School Board, "About Rob," accessed August 8, 2017
- ↑ Des Moines Public Schools, "Meetings," accessed August 8, 2017
- ↑ Des Moines Public Schools, "2017 School Board Candidates," accessed August 4, 2017
- ↑ The Des Moines Register, "Longtime Des Moines school board member Connie Boesen to challenge Skip Moore for at-large City Council seat," May 31, 2017
- ↑ Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, "School Election Tuesday, September 12, 2017: Unofficial Results," accessed September 12, 2017
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "IECDB State/Local Campaign Disclosure Reports," accessed January 22, 2018
- ↑ Rob X. Barron for Des Moines School Board, "Endorsements," accessed September 1, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "Harkin aide joins Des Moines school board race," July 22, 2013
- ↑ Mary Stegmeir, Des Moines Register, "Mix of incumbents, challengers to join Des Moines school board," September 10, 2013
- ↑ IECDB Web Reporting System, "DR-2 Disclosure Summary Page," accessed September 9, 2013
- ↑ Rob X. Barron - Des Moines School Board, "Endorsements," accessed September 9, 2013
- ↑ 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 Ballotpedia's 2017 Des Moines School Board Candidate Survey, "Rob Barron's responses," August 21, 2017]
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 The Des Moines Register, "Robert Barron: Des Moines School Board candidate," August 31, 2017
- ↑ Rob X. Barron Des Moines School Board, "Accomplishments," accessed August 17, 2017
- ↑ Rob X. Barron - Des Moines School Board, "Issues," accessed September 9, 2013
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