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Shannon Kimball
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Shannon Kimball is an at-large representative on the Lawrence Public Schools Board of Education in Kansas. She was first elected to the board in April 2011. Kimball won re-election in the general election on April 7, 2015.
Kimball expressed strong criticisms of Senate Bill 171, which sought to move school board elections to a fall election cycle, and testified before a Senate committee hearing on the bill. In her testimony, she stated, "this bill will do substantial harm to school district operations while actually decreasing voter engagement in and understanding of the issues that are vital to successful public schools."[1]
Biography
Kimball grew up in western Kansas. She earned a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish from Kansas University and a J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. She was formerly employed as an education specialist in the Georgia Department of Education. Kimball is married and has two children who attend district schools.[2]
Elections
2015
Five seats were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Because more than three candidates filed for one position, a primary election was held on March 3, 2015.
Incumbents Bob Byers, Rick Ingram, Shannon Kimball, and Randy Masten were up for regular election. Masten was the only incumbent not to file to run for re-election. Byers, Ingram, and Kimball faced challengers Lindsey Frye, Ronald Gordon-Ross, Jessica Beeson, and Jill Fincher for the four-year terms up for election.[3] Ingram, Kimball, Beeson, and Fincher won the regular election.
An additional seat appeared on the ballot due to a vacancy on the board that was filled by appointment in 2014. Adina Morse resigned from the board in August to serve as the executive director of the Lawrence Schools Foundation. Marcel Harmon was appointed on September 8, 2014, to fill that vacancy.[4]
Because the seat would not have been up for regular election in 2015, the election for this seat was for the two years left on its unexpired term. Harmon ran to remain in the seat against challengers Mary Loveland, Kelly Spurgeon, and Norine Spears. Because more than three candidates filed for the race, a primary election was held. Harmon and Loveland advanced to the general election, where Harmon won his first full-term in the seat.[3]
Results
| Lawrence Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Shannon Kimball Incumbent |
18.9% | 5,418 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jessica Beeson |
17.6% | 5,050 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jill Fincher |
17.3% | 4,951 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rick Ingram Incumbent |
16.6% | 4,758 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bob Byers Incumbent | 14% | 4,015 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lindsey Frye | 9.3% | 2,669 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ronald Gordon-Ross | 6.3% | 1,819 | |
| Total Votes | 28,680 | |||
| Source: Douglas County, "Online Election Results (official)," accessed April 16, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Kimball reported no contributions or expenditures to the Douglas County Clerk in this election. Her 2011 campaign ended with $215.19 in debt.[5]
Endorsements
Kimball did not receive any official endorsements in this election.
2011
| Lawrence Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2011 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Rick Ingram |
14.9% | 3,688 | |
| Nonpartisan | Shannon Kimball |
14.4% | 3,548 | |
| Nonpartisan | Randy Masten |
14.3% | 3,537 | |
| Nonpartisan | Keith Diaz Moore |
14.2% | 3,496 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marlene Merrill Incumbent | 12.7% | 3,126 | |
| Nonpartisan | Ola Faucher | 8.8% | 2,178 | |
| Nonpartisan | Bill Roth | 6.2% | 1,532 | |
| Nonpartisan | James W. Clark | 6% | 1,476 | |
| Nonpartisan | Diane Lindeman | 4.8% | 1,176 | |
| Nonpartisan | Tyler Palmer | 3.1% | 769 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 154 | |
| Total Votes | 24,680 | |||
| Source: Douglas County Elections, "2011 General Election Results," April 11, 2011 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
Kimball provided the following statements on her campaign website:
| “ | Priorities
I believe wholeheartedly in the fundamental importance of public education. During this time of shrinking state support for our schools, it is more important than ever, and more challenging than ever, for our School Board to make student learning and achievement our first priority. As your board member, I have and will continue to constantly strive to:
Bond Construction Our bond projects are in full swing! I have been engaged in the facilities improvement process from the very beginning of the planning for our $92.5 million bond issue, first as a member of the Elementary School Facility Vision Task Force, then as a newly-elected school board member serving on the pre-bond planning committee. I continued that work throughout the bond campaign, and currently have a very active role in implementation of the bond as a member of the district's Facilities Planning and Progress committee. I will continue to focus on that work, and believe that preparing for the future of our district through smart facilities planning is vital. If re-elected, I will continue working to focus our district's short-, mid-, and long-range planning around facilities so that we are prepared for new growth as well as addressing continuing facilities needs (e.g., a long-range plan for improvements at the Lawrence High campus, planning for growth at the elementary and middle school levels). One aspect of the bond that I am very excited about is construction of our new College and Career Center. At our February 9, 2015 board meeting, I was pleased to vote in favor of plans that allow completion of all 30,000 square feet at the Center. The expanded career opportunities that this facility will bring to our high school students are outstanding and, in conjunction with our partnership with the Peaslee Center and others in the community, will provide more and better opportunities than ever for our students to graduate prepared for college, the work force, and life. Teaching and Learning I have strongly supported the expansion of our blended learning classrooms across the district. As a board member, it has been gratifying to see the excitement in our teachers who are now leading blended learning classrooms, to hear the success stories they have shared about their students, and to read the data that shows an increase in student engagement and achievement in these classrooms. I will continue to support our steady expansion of blended learning--through this initiative we are gaining ground in provided excellence in instruction for all our students.[6] |
” |
| —Shannon Kimball's campaign website (2015)[7] | ||
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Shannon + Kimball + Lawrence + Public + Schools"
See also
- Lawrence Public Schools, Kansas
- Lawrence Public Schools, Kansas elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedtestimony - ↑ Lawrence Public Schools, "Mrs. Shannon Kimball," accessed February 10, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Douglas County Clerk, "Unofficial City/School Candidate Filings To Date," January 27, 2015
- ↑ Lawrence Journal World, "Marcel Harmon appointed to Lawrence school board," September 8, 2014
- ↑ Douglas County Clerk, "Candidate Reports," accessed May 28, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Re-elect Shannon Kimball for School Board, "News & Issues," accessed March 31, 2015
| 2015 Lawrence Public Schools Elections | |
| Douglas County, Kansas | |
| Election date: | Primary: March 3, 2015
General: April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large, 4-year terms (Four seats): • Incumbent, Bob Byers • Incumbent, Rick Ingram • Incumbent, Shannon Kimball • Lindsey Frye • Ronald Gordon-Ross • Jessica Beeson • Jill Fincher
At-large, 2-year term (One seat): • Incumbent, Marcel Harmon • Mary Loveland • Kelly Spurgeon • Norine Spears |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
