Your feedback ensures we stay focused on the facts that matter to you most—take our survey.
Robert Applegate
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Robert Applegate ran for election to the Jeffco Board of Education to represent District 3 in Colorado. Applegate lost in the general election on November 5, 2019.
Applegate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Robert "Rob" Applegate was born in Highland Park, Illinois.He received his undergraduate degree from Colorado School of Mines in 2003 and his graduate degree from Colorado School of Mines in 2007. Applegate's professional career includes working as a biotech entrepreneur and researcher and as a market analyst. He has been associated with Think 360 Arts, Colorado Military Academy, Denver Museum of Nature and Science Development Committee Steering Committee, Colorado Commission on Higher Education Advisory Board, Golden Schools Foundation, Watch DOGS Coordinator, Welchester PTA, Colorado Business Committee for the Arts Leadership Arts, Plains Conservation Center, and Colorado School of Mines Alumni Association.[1]
Elections
2019
See also: Jeffco Public Schools, Colorado, elections (2019)
General election
General election for Jeffco Board of Education District 3
Stephanie Schooley defeated Robert Applegate in the general election for Jeffco Board of Education District 3 on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Stephanie Schooley (Nonpartisan)  | 53.4 | 88,048 |
 | Robert Applegate (Nonpartisan) | 46.6 | 76,736 | |
| Total votes: 164,784 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Robert Applegate completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Applegate's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
Rob Applegate has been invested in Jeffco schools for many years and will continue to be, with two kids in the district, one at Norma Anderson Preschool and the other in middle school. He is passionate about education and holds a PhD in Applied Physics from the Colorado School of Mines. Rob was raised by a single mom who worked two jobs to ensure he had a better life. She often left before Rob got up in the morning and came home after he was asleep. She taught him that a public education would be the key to his success and Rob says she was right. Rob didn't know if he was college bound and he knows that is not every students path forward. Because Rob's public education laid the path for his success Rob is passionate about ensuring every Jeffco student has the same opportunities. Rob serves on nonprofit boards throughout the community that promote science and the arts, including Think 360 Arts for Education, the Colorado Military Academy and the Denver Museum of Nature and Science Development Steering Committee. He has also served on the board of the Golden Schools Foundation, the Colorado Commission on Higher Education Advisory Board. Rob also served as the Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads Of Great Students) coordinator at Welchester Elementary. Rob believes we need independent voices on our school board. Candidates that tie themselves to special interests may not always be working in the best interest of our kids. Our kids are the most important asset of our community and deserve to have a school board who's members are looking out for them first.
- I will actively seek input from all parts of the community, students, educators, staff, and the 70% of Jeffco householes without students in the district.
- With a background in science and a passion for arts, I will research and analyze issues before making decisions to come to the best possible outcome.
- I've got kids in Jeffco schools, family members who work for Jeffco schools and the adminsitration. I truly care and want what's best for everyone in the Jeffco School community.
A - Academic Excellence and Accountability. The world is very different on the day a Jeffco student graduates from high school, than when that student began school. Students must be prepared for an ever changing world and have the tools for a world far different than even today. Academic excellence means not only working toward high academic achievement but also toward high growth. The best practices by high growth teachers and schools should be utilized throughout the district. A student should end the school year better than when they started it, while always striving to instill as much understanding and problem solving as possible. B - Balanced Perspectives. A balanced board is one that is not beholden to one specific 'side', but rather works to include all stakeholders. A balanced board comes from a diverse and inclusive board. Diversity in not only personal traits but diversity in perspectives and a willingness to listen and respect other points of view and striving for the common good of all stakeholders in the Jeffco community. C - Children and Community Centered. The students within Jefferson County are the outcome of all of our efforts. They should always be the focus in striving for the best educational experience possible. The community as a whole benefits from well-educated students, and ultimately is the one footing the bill. The district and the board need to more deeply engage the community for feedback. That means engaging all stakeholders
My mom. She is the strongest person I know.
Listening and respecting other opinions.
I have a background in science and research, as well as a passion for the arts so I will bring a balanced approach to the office that relies on evidence based approaches to issues.
I think reaching out to the entire Jeffco community, and good stewardship of both finances and our children's education.
I hope that when I leave office, all 'sides' of the issues are working together for the best interest of the students. I also hope that the district has concrete policies that are making the educational experience within the district better.
I remember when my little brother was born, and being at the hospital.
I started working at McDonald's when I was 14 and worked there all through high school.
Probably a superhero of some sort. Maybe Wolverine.
Shiny, from Moana
I grew up in a house where my mom was a frequent victim of domestic abuse and violence at the hands of my biological father. She divorced him and worked two jobs to feed my brother and me. This is why my mom is the strongest person I know. Other struggles have occurred when my brother was hit by a car while attending college. He was 19 and I was 21. They never found the person who killed him. My youngest son past away last December from complications from pneumonia. He was 12 months old. I have dealt with struggles in my life and they have made me who I am, but they have also helped to grow my compassion for people; all people, whether they agree with my on an issue or not.
The primary job of any board is to hire and fire the executive director and help guide the executive director along the mission of the organization. This is the same for a school board. They are tasked with helping to guide the superintendent along the mission of the district.
My constituents would be all citizens in Jefferson County; students, educators, staff, and the 70% of Jeffco households with no kids in the school system, currently.
I would do the research and see what works best for each of those groups. What works best for educating and supporting students, whether they are going to college, or entering the workforce. Faculty and staff need to be and feel supported by the district in all the policies. The faculty and staff should not only support the direction of the district, they need to be part of it and have real input into that direction. The community outside of the schools needs to understand what is working and how the district policies are working to improve the educational system. The community needs to understand the value they are getting for their tax money.
I will actively seek out those community members, and their input. I will go the faculty meetings and talk to them and ask what is working and what needs work. I will go to student government meetings and seek their input. I will actively meet with community organizations so show the great work happening at our schools.
I would work to actively reach out to the parents that don't make it to board meetings, or can't join the PTA because of their work commitments.
It is very important to increase DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusivity). As the board president for Think 360 Arts, this is something we have prioritized, had training on, and even started a committee specifically to address. My experience prioritizing and increasing DEI is something I will bring to the Jeffco School Board.
Factions, being on one 'side,' and partisan bickering is something that gets in the way of quality education in Jefferson County. To address this, I will actively seek out opinions and input from both sides of issues and work to find what truly works best.
There are many things that comprise good teaching;' from high growth, to supporting peers and students, to genuinely caring for students. To measure growth, metrics are in place to gauge how much students have learned over the course of a single school year. Finding the highest impact teachers and applying their techniques across the district would be a priority for the school board, if I am elected. I would support advanced teaching approaches by seeing what is working best and helping to support those teachers and having them help their peers across the district.
I think the district should explore virtual classrooms for things like foreign language where one school might be able to offer a class in Mandarin but other schools might not. A student could take mandarin from another school in the district and receive credit at his/her own school.
Evidence and research drive my policies for safety in schools. What works best based on the data should be what the district is always striving for. Safety also needs to have the least impact on student's education. If students are scared in their schools, they can't learn.
Judi's House is an organization in Denver that works with kids and families who have lost loved ones. This nonprofit organization uses a research based approach to grief counseling and is already working with some Jeffco Schools. The district could and should team up with more nonprofit organizations like this that work in our community to help provide research based mental health support for students, faculty, and staff.
Technology will continue to permeate every part of society, and the district needs to prepare students for that. With information both true and false at our fingertips, students must know even more than previous generations, how to distinguish truth from falsehoods. Teaching our students what is a 'good' source of information is key.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on October 14, 2019
