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Robert Petrusha
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Robert Petrusha is a member of the Waterford School District Board of Education, At-large in Michigan. He assumed office in 1998. His current term ends in 2028.
This office is outside of Ballotpedia's coverage scope and does not receive scheduled updates. Our scope includes all elected federal and state officeholders as well as comprehensive coverage of the 100 largest cities in America by population.
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the Waterford School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Robert Petrusha, Bob Piggott, and Robert Seeterlin filed for re-election. They faced challengers Mary Barghahn, Paul Greenawalt, Jon Knapp, and Eric Lindemier. Petrusha, Barghahn, and Piggott won in the general election.[1]
Results
| Waterford School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Robert Petrusha Incumbent |
19.50% | 12,298 |
| Mary Barghahn |
17.23% | 10,867 |
| Bob Piggott Incumbent |
15.83% | 9,988 |
| Robert Seeterlin Incumbent | 14.48% | 9,132 |
| Jon Knapp | 13.71% | 8,650 |
| Eric Lindemier | 11.67% | 7,362 |
| Paul Greenawalt | 7.08% | 4,465 |
| Write-in votes | 0.5% | 318 |
| Total Votes | 63,080 | |
| Source: Oakland County Elections Division, "November 8, 2016 General Election," November 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[2]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[3]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $7,117.95 and spent a total of $5,067.09 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.[4]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Petrusha (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Bob Piggott (incumbent) | $797.95 | $782.09 | $15.86 |
| Robert Seeterlin (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mary Barghahn | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Paul Greenawalt | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jon Knapp | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Eric Lindemier | $6,320.00 | $4,285.00 | $2,035.00 |
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Rob Petrusha participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 9, 2016:
| “ | For a safe and caring environment for all students and staff to learn and grow in. A destination for young family's, a school district that the Waterford community can be proud of.[5][6] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | It is very hard to rank or prioritize what is or isn't important but with out proper and consistent funding it is near impossible.[6] | ” |
| —Rob Petrusha (September 9, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. I do not support charter schools because they don't have to adhere to the same rules and regulations that a public schools do. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. It is one measure but there is so much more |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| It is what the state standardized testing is based on so we teach to that |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. I believe in helping people if they need help |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| No. I don't know of a fair way to reward educators who change students lives daily. What would that test look like what are the expectations? If you are looking for merit pay become a salesperson. I think my teachers deserve a pay increase but we do not have the money |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| We have rules in place and the results if they aren't followed |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. I know that it is my job as a parent to teach my kids about virtue in every aspect of life. If my children do not respect our flag, our freedom and the rights of free people, I have failed as a parent. That said, I think we should be very careful as parents not to cede to schools what should be taught in the home. I cannot overstate the importance of teaching children the soft skills they need to be successful in school, long before they first enter the classroom. This includes arming them with the knowledge of where their rights as free people come from and what it means to be a good citizen. The role of public schools, simply put, is to ensure that all young people have access to a proper education, and the hard skills they will need to succeed in the world of work. That, by itself, is a big task. |
Additional themes
Petrusha provided the following responses to the League of Women Voters Oakland Area regarding his top priorities for the district:
| “ |
My top three priorities are raising our test scores, changing our perception that our schools are not as good as neighboring districts, student retention and state funding. As to our state funding, I do not have any control over how much money we receive, only on how we allocate those funds. I will continue to work with our administration, staff and parents to accomplish these goals. Our district is very competitive with other surrounding districts. We recently passed a hundred million dollar bond issue, without raising our millage rate, which allowed us to update our infrastructure, add new technology, repair and update our buildings.[7][6] |
” |
| —Robert Petrusha (2016) | ||
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Oakland County Elections Division, "Unofficial Candidate List," August 19, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, "Campaign Finance Reporting System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Rob Petrusha's responses," September 9, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ League of Women Voters Oakland Area, "Voter Guide - November General Election," accessed October 24, 2016
| 2016 Waterford School District Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Robert Petrusha • Incumbent, Bob Piggott • Incumbent, Robert Seeterlin • Mary Barghahn • Paul Greenawalt • Jon Knapp • Eric Lindemier |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
