Robert Edwards
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Robert Edwards was a candidate for the Westerville City School Board. He lost election to the board on November 5, 2013 against six fellow challengers and one incumbent.
Biography
Edwards has his Associate of Applied Science degree from Clark State Community College and his Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Franklin University. He has been an Information Technology Professional for 35 years. Edwards is also married with two children.[1]
Elections
2013
- See also: Westerville City School District elections (2013)
Eight candidates declared their intentions to run for three at-large seats on the Westerville City School Board. Three of the candidates — Jim Burgess, Luke Davis and John Sodt — announced that they would run for the Westerville Board of Education as a unit, saying electing them as a team would prove effective for change in the district.[2]
Results
| Westerville City School District, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2013 |
| Party |
Candidate |
Vote % |
Votes |
| |
Nonpartisan |
 Nancy Nestor‐Baker |
17.8% |
5,086 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Tracy A. Davidson |
17.2% |
4,900 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Rick A. Vilardo |
15.1% |
4,316 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Jim Burgess |
13.4% |
3,819 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Luke Davis |
11.4% |
3,238 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
John Sodt |
11.2% |
3,192 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Kevin Hoffman Incumbent |
9.3% |
2,659 |
| |
Nonpartisan |
Robert Edwards |
4.5% |
1,296 |
| Total Votes |
28,506 |
| Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, "Election Summary Report for General Election in Franklin County, Ohio," accessed December 13, 2013 |
Endorsements
Edwards was not endorsed in this campaign.
Funding
Edwards reported no contributions or expenditures to the Ohio Secretary of State.[3]
Edwards stated the following on his website as his priorities for WCSD:[4]
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Technology
- Explore feasibility of an electronic tablet or laptop in the hands of every student
- Textbooks delivered electronically
- Increase online learning
- Long-distance learning capability between all schools
Extra Curricular
- Sports, band, arts would no longer be allowed “on the chopping block” (in lean times, consider higher fees and other options before the threat of cuts)
- Self-funded models explored for sports, band, arts, etc.
Transportation
- Busing services restored to 2010 levels (1 mile and over vs. state mandated 2 mile rule)
- Remove the 1 mile and high school service from chopping block threat when levies are proposed
- Allow all (9-12) high school students over 1 mile who need transportation to ride in recognition that we assign kids in one county to attend school in another, kids are breaking the law by driving numerous kids in vehicles, and we do not have adequate public transportation throughout the district area
Communication/Community Involvement
- Expansion of community engagement in board decision making
- Increase diversity of viewpoints to be heard on committees and work groups by inviting a better variety of participants (instead of too often the same ones who dominate the process and don’t allow for new voices to be heard)
- Request board agendas be distributed at least one week before board meeting to allow better board and public review
- Greater transparency
- Extensive online district phonebook/communications portal
Financial
- Strive to set a goal of no new levies until 2020 so that Westerville will not be the second highest in the area per 100k valuation (or worse, move to the highest position)
- Smaller, less frequent levies (with a target goal of no more frequent than every 5 years)
- Increases in spending lock-step with CPI
- Zero-based budgeting
- Limit debt in use of capital improvement funding
- Board member representation at all contract negotiations
- Stretch goal: save district $50 million minimum between 2014 and 2020
- Consolidation of administrative positions through attrition (review every one that comes open before automatically filling)
- Establish a position to seek grants, private/public partnership and other funding opportunities
- Review benefits and salary schedules and compare with private sector and other districts
- Study districts like Gahanna who maintain a A rating without passing levies so often Benefits brought in-line with private sector
- New hire practices based upon job requirements
- Tightening of spending policies in non-salary employee expenditures
- Sale of non-school use properties
- Review and reform procurement policies and procedures to ensure all expenses over a certain threshold are competitively bid out to ensure services/products are secured for the best price, similar to how local governments operate
- Explore additional revenue opportunities like advertising/sponsorships, fee-based after school study/latchkey programs for the middle school level, and form a committee to explore other ideas
Operations
- District administration running “leaner and cleaner”
- Greater accessibility to administration and public records
- Better defined organizational chart
- More defined job descriptions
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Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Robert + Edwards + Westerville + City + School + District + Ohio"
See also
External links
- ↑ Robert Edwards for Westerville City Board of Education, "About," accessed October 28, 2013
- ↑ Jennifer Nesbitt, This Week Community News, "Three announce joint run for Westerville school board," published August 8, 2013
- ↑ Ohio Secretary of State, "Elections & Voting: Campaign Finance," accessed December 23, 2013
- ↑ Robert Edwards for Westerville Board of Education, "My 20/20 Vision," accessed October 28, 2013
