Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.
Shelby County Schools elections (2014)
2016 →
|
 |
Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
Shelby County Schools Shelby County, Tennessee ballot measures Local ballot measures, Tennessee |
 |
Seven seats on the Shelby County Schools Board of Education were up for general election on August 7, 2014. Districts 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 were up for election. This election marked the district's shift from a seven-member board to a nine-member board. District 1 incumbent Chris Caldwell rematched and defeated Freda Garner Williams, who he also defeated in the 2012 election. District 6 incumbent Shante K. Avant defeated challenger Jimmy Warren to keep her seat.
The board welcomed new members to Districts 3 and 5, as the incumbents in those seats did not file for re-election. Stephanie Love won in District 3, while Scott McCormick won in the District 5 race. District 7 incumbent William E. Orgel filed for the new District 8 seat, and Miska Clay Bibbs was the only candidate to file for District 7. They were both unopposed and were automatically elected to those seats by default. District 9, also a new position, saw three challengers — Roshun Austin, Mike Kernell and Damon Curry Morris — facing off to win the seat. Former Democratic member of the Tennessee House of Representatives Mike Kernell won that race.
About the district
- See also: Shelby County Schools, Tennessee
Shelby County Schools is located in Shelby County, Tennessee. The county seat of Shelby County is Memphis. Shelby County was home to 927,644 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] Shelby County Schools was the largest school district in Tennessee, serving 157,375 students during the 2011-2012 school year.[2]
Demographics
Shelby County overperformed in comparison to the rest of Tennessee in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.7 percent of Shelby County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 23.5 percent for Tennessee as a whole. The median household income in Shelby County was $46,251 compared to $44,140 for the state of Tennessee. The poverty rate in Shelby County was 20.2 percent compared to 17.3 percent for the entire state.[1]
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Shelby County Board of Education consists of seven members elected to four-year terms by specific geographic district. However, as a result of a redistricting ruling in 2014, the board's composition changed to nine members. There
was
no primary election and the general election
was
held on August 7, 2014. Seven seats
were
up for election in 2014.[4][5]
The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was April 3, 2014, and the deadline to withdraw was April 10, 2014.[6]
Elections
2014
Candidates
District 1
- Chris Caldwell
- Incumbent
- Financial consultant and vice president, Raymond James
- Freda Garner Williams
- Graduate, LeMoyne-Owen College and the University of Memphis
- Faculty member, Walden University
- Former board member
District 3
- Teddy King
- Director of community engagement, Achievement School District
- Anthony Lockhart
- Human resources manager
- Stephanie Love
- Cosmetologist
District 5
- Scott McCormick
- Financial adviser, Duncan-Williams
- Former Memphis City Council member
- David Winston
District 6
- Shante K. Avant
- Incumbent
- Graduate, University of Tennessee
- Deputy director, Women’s Foundation for a Greater Memphis
- Jimmy Warren
District 7
- Miska Clay Bibbs
- Graduate, Hampton College
- Director of community engagement, Green Dot Public Schools
District 8
- William E. Orgel
- Incumbent
- Graduate, University of Texas at Austin
- Businessman
District 9
- Roshun Austin
- Graduate, Middlebury College and the University of Memphis
- President/CEO, The Works, Inc.
- Chief operating officer, St. Andrew African Methodist Episcopal Church
- Mike Kernell
- Graduate, University of Memphis
- Retired legislator
- Former Democratic member, Tennessee House of Representatives
- Damon Curry Morris
- Graduate, LeMoyne-Owen College
- Customer service agent
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Chris Caldwell Incumbent |
59.2% | 5,755 | |
| Nonpartisan | Freda Garner Williams | 40.8% | 3,960 | |
| Total Votes | 9,715 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Stephanie Love |
38.7% | 3,040 | |
| Nonpartisan | Teddy King | 31.2% | 2,449 | |
| Nonpartisan | Anthony Lockhart | 30.1% | 2,363 | |
| Total Votes | 7,852 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Scott McCormick |
74.9% | 8,009 | |
| Nonpartisan | David Winston | 25.1% | 2,683 | |
| Total Votes | 10,692 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Shante K. Avant Incumbent |
75.9% | 9,174 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jimmy Warren | 24.1% | 2,917 | |
| Total Votes | 12,091 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Miska Clay Bibbs |
100% | 6,304 | |
| Total Votes | 6,304 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | William E. Orgel |
100% | 10,131 | |
| Total Votes | 10,131 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Mike Kernell |
48.3% | 4,637 | |
| Nonpartisan | Roshun Austin | 39.1% | 3,753 | |
| Nonpartisan | Damon Curry Morris | 12.6% | 1,209 | |
| Total Votes | 9,599 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Shelby County Administrator of Elections Richard Holden," March 5, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Stand for Children Tennessee, a local action group, endorsed the following candidates: Chris Caldwell in District 1, both Teddy King and Stephanie Love in District 3, Scott McCormick in District 5, Shante K. Avant in District 6, Miska Clay Bibbs in District 7 and Roshun Austin in District 9.[7] District 5 candidate David Winston received an endorsement from the Tennessee Equality Project.[8]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $40,210.11 and spent a total of $9,202.29, according to the Shelby County Election Commission. The candidates in Districts 5, 6 and 7 either did not file a finance report or didn't report any contributions or expenditures.[9]
In the District 1 race, candidates raised a total of $180.00 and spent a total of $180.00.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Caldwell | $180.00 | $180.00 | $52.47 |
| Freda Garner Williams | $0.00 | $0.00 | $237.73 |
In the District 3 race, candidates raised a total of $1,239.59 and spent a total of $746.83.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Teddy King | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Anthony Lockhart | $550.00 | $546.83 | $3.17 |
| Stephanie Love | $689.59 | $200.00 | $489.59 |
In the District 8 race, William E. Orgel raised a total of $13,015.52 and spent a total of $100.00.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| William E. Orgel | $13,015.52 | $100.00 | $12,915.52 |
In the District 9 race, candidates raised a total of $25,775.00 and spent a total of $8,175.46.
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Roshun Austin | $23,000.00 | $4,704.21 | $18,295.79 |
| Mike Kernell | $2,775.00 | $2,216.24 | $558.76 |
| Damon Curry Morris | $0.00 | $1,255.01 | -$1,255.01 |
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2012
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
What was at stake?
Issues in the election
Change to nine-member board
After the August 2014 election and beginning September 1, Shelby County Schools changed the size of its board from seven to nine members. The shift was one in a series of four changes over the previous three years. As a result of a September 2011 court case, a 23-member school board was established. It consisted of all nine members of the legacy Memphis City Schools board and the seven members of the legacy Shelby County Schools board, in addition to seven new school board members appointed by the Shelby County Commission. The appointments for the seven new positions were pending school board elections in 2012. However, according to a Memphis Daily News article about the shift, there was some confusion after that establishment was made. The following excerpt from that article explains the series of subsequent events:[10]
| “ |
In the same 2011 settlement, [U.S. District Judge Samuel “Hardy” Mays] approved a plan that gave the County Commission the ability to expand the merger school board to up to 13 members. The commission, through its attorneys, sought the power to do that to give the school board the same set of district lines as the commission, which through a ruling in an unrelated Shelby County Chancery Court lawsuit converts to 13 single-member districts with the 2014 elections. The 13-district school board plan approved by the commission didn’t correspond to the new County Commission district lines. There were some minor changes the commission approved for the school board in order to keep the seven school board incumbents in separate districts so that no two incumbents would have to run against each other. When the commission sought to appoint the six new school board members, the other parties in the sprawling federal lawsuit disagreed, with the dispute going to Mays to settle. Mays ruled that while he approved the part of the settlement that said the school board could be expanded to up to 13 members, he never said the commission could appoint the six new members to carry off the expansion. He ordered that the seats be filled with the winners of the August 2014 elections for those seats taking office on Sept. 1. The commission changed the 13-district plan to a nine-district plan with districts covering the city of Memphis and unincorporated Shelby County but not the six suburban cities and towns, which by then were on their way to forming separate school systems. Mays’ approval of that plan complicated the filing period for school board candidates that had been underway since January and had an April 3 filing deadline. Several candidates had pulled qualifying petitions based on the 13-district school board plan. With the April 3 filing deadline still in place, the August election ballot had seven school board races. The school board incumbents holding the District 2 and District 4 seats – Teresa Jones and board Chairman Kevin Woods – continued to serve the four-year terms they were elected to in 2012. The Districts 1, 6, 8 and 9 board members elected in August were elected to full four-year terms. The winners in Districts 3, 5 and 7 served one-time-only terms of two years in order to stagger the terms of office on the school board, which was required under state law. [11] |
” |
Issues in the district
Memphis and Shelby County merger
In August 2011, a federal judge ruled that all public schools in Memphis would be consolidated with those in the surrounding Shelby County area to form Shelby County Schools. Under Tennessee law, school districts are under county jurisdiction. However, in the 1800s, Memphis City School District had gotten special permission to become its own school district. In December 2010, the district gave up its charter, and thus prompted the merger of the two districts.
The ruling came after the county had filed a lawsuit, Board of Education of Shelby County v. Memphis City Board of Education, stating that they were opposed to the merger because 87 percent of the city students were considered "low-income." By contrast, Shelby County was made up of mostly white, middle-class students. As a result, the county had concerns about the added responsibility of funding the city schools in an oppressed economy. The merger was completed at the start of the 2013-2014 school year, with Shelby County becoming responsible for funding both school systems. At the time, officials considered the merger one of the largest school consolidations in recent history.[12][13][14]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Shelby County Schools election in 2014:[6][15]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2014 | First day to pick up nominating petitions |
| April 3, 2014 | Last day to file nominating petitions |
| April 10, 2014 | Last day to withdraw and last day to file first campaign finance report |
| May 5, 2014 | Last day to file statement of interests with the Tennessee Ethics Commission |
| June 18, 2014 | Last day to file as a write-in candidate |
| July 8, 2014 | Voter registration deadline |
| July 10, 2014 | Last day to file second campaign finance report |
| July 18, 2014 | Early voting begins |
| July 31, 2014 | Last day to file third campaign finance report |
| August 2, 2014 | Early voting ends and last day to withdraw as a write-in candidate |
| August 7, 2014 | Election day |
Additional elections on the ballot
The August 7 ballot will also feature races for Shelby County mayor, sheriff and district attorney general as well as Juvenile Court judge and the Democratic Congressional primary between incumbent U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and challenger Ricky Wilkins.[16]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Shelby + County + Schools + Tennessee"
See also
- Tennessee
- Shelby County Schools, Tennessee
- Tennessee school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Shelby County, Tennessee ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Tennessee
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "Shelby County, Tennessee," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed July 8, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Shelby County Schools, "Board of Education," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ Memphis Daily News, "Ruling Sets School Board Membership at Nine," accessed July 14, 2014
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Tennessee Department of State-Election Information, "Election Calendar," accessed June 26, 2014
- ↑ Stand for Children Tennessee, "Shelby County School Board," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Tennessee Equality Project, "TEP PAC Endorsements for Shelby County Government on August 7," June 20, 2014
- ↑ Shelby County Election Commission, "Candidate Filings and Petitions Search," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Memphis Daily News, "Ruling Sets School Board Membership at Nine," March 13, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ CNN, "Judge rules Memphis city schools to merge with county," August 8, 2011
- ↑ Yahoo News, "New merged school district on horizon in Memphis," July 14, 2013
- ↑ Huffington Post, "Memphis And Shelby County Schools Merger Prompts Battle Over Politics, Race And Money," May 25, 2011
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Candidate Dates," accessed June 27, 2014
- ↑ Memphis Daily News, "‘Big Ballot’ Moves to Early Voting Friday," July 18, 2014
| 2014 Shelby County Schools Elections | |
| Shelby County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 7, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Incumbent, Chris Caldwell • Freda Garner Williams District 3: • Teddy King • Anthony Lockhart • Stephanie Love |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
