Shenendehowa Central School District elections (2015)
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Two seats on the Shenendehowa Central School District Board of Education were up for general election on May 19, 2015. The election shared the ballot with the school district's annual budget vote, which was passed by voters.[1][2]
The seats held by incumbents Janet Grey and Robert Pressly were on the ballot.[3] Grey did not file for re-election, leaving Pressly to run against three challengers, Samuel H. Hazleton V, Christina Rajotte and Kerensa Rybak.[4] Pressly was elected to another term on the board, and Rajotte won the open seat.[5]
Prior to the election, Shenendehowa education officials sent a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) detailing their concerns with state education policies. One concern included the emphasis on standardized testing. In April 2015, 18 percent of the district's students opted out of Common Core-aligned state assessments.
- See also: Issues in the district
About the district
Shenendehowa Central School District is located in Saratoga County in eastern New York. The county seat is Ballston Spa. Saratoga County was home to 223,865 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[6] During the 2012-2013 school year, Shenendehowa Central was the 16th-largest school district in New York and served 9,776 students.[7]
Demographics
Saratoga County outperformed the rest of New York in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 37.1 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 33.2 percent for New York as a whole. The median household income in Saratoga County was $69,826, compared to $58,003 statewide. The poverty rate was 6.5 percent, compared to 15.3 percent for the entire state.[6]
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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 Shenendehowa Central Board of Education consists of seven members elected at large to three-year terms on a staggered basis every year in May. Three seats were up for election in 2014, and two seats were up for election in 2015. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on May 19, 2015. Because the election was held at-large, every qualified voter in the school district was able to vote for both seats. The two candidates who received the most votes in the election were elected to the board.[9]
School board candidates must be at least 18 years old and must be qualified voters who have lived in the district for at least one full, uninterrupted year prior to the election. They must also be able to read and write. School board candidates cannot reside in the same household of a current board member, hold another incompatible office or have been removed from another school board office within a year of the election.[10] To get on the ballot, candidates had to file nominating petitions with the district clerk by April 20, 2015.[1][11]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
Robert Pressly 
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Samuel H. Hazleton V | ||
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| Christina Rajotte
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Kerensa Rybak | ||
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Election results
| Shenendehowa Central School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Robert Pressly Incumbent |
29% | 1,811 | |
| Nonpartisan | Christina Rajotte |
26.2% | 1,636 | |
| Nonpartisan | Samuel H. Hazleton V | 22.7% | 1,420 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kerensa Rybak | 22.1% | 1,378 | |
| Total Votes | 6,245 | |||
| Source: Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Shenendehowa Superintendent's Office," June 30, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
CSEA Unit 8458 endorsed incumbent Robert Pressly and challenger Christina Rajotte.[12]
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported in the election, according to the New York State Board of Elections.[13][14]
Candidates must file finance statements if they spend more than $500 on their campaign. The statements had to be filed with the clerk of the school district as well as the New York Commissioner of Education on April 20, 2015, May 14, 2015, and June 8, 2015. Candidates who did not spend more than $500 on their campaign had to file a signed statement to that effect with the clerk of the school district.[15]
Past elections
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2014
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the district
Parents opt students out of state testing
School districts in New York held Common Core-aligned state testing in April 2015, but a large movement of parents opting their children out of the testing meant many did not take the tests. Shenendehowa Central School District saw 861 students opt out of testing, which was 18 percent of the district's enrollment of students in third through eighth grade for the 2014-2015 school year.[16]
School districts across the state saw a rise in the number of students opting out of testing in 2015 compared to 2014. Over 50 percent of students opted out statewide. The greatest number of opt-outs occurred in the regions of Long Island, Westchester and Buffalo. Some school district officials voiced concern over the opt-outs as districts could be penalized at both the state and federal level if less than 95 percent of students participated in testing. New York State United Teachers started a robocall campaign with automated, pre-recorded messages a few days before the test began to remind members they could opt out their children. In reaction to the union's campaign, the New York Department of Education said standardized testing helps ensure the state's most vulnerable students do not get ignored.[17][18]
Shenendehowa education officials send letter to governor
The Shenendehowa Central School District Board of Education, superintendent, PTA president and the president of the Shenendehowa Teachers Association sent a letter to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) on March 24, 2015, expressing their concern and frustration with his proposed policies and detailing the priorities they felt he needed to address. The full letter can be found here.[19]
"You say you want what's best for New York, yet our vast experiences and perspectives within public school systems have led to the conclusion that your proposals negatively impact our children and our community," the letter stated. It was addressed directly to the governor, but a number of state officials were cc'd, including Chair of the Assembly Education Committee Catherine Nolan (D), Chair of the Senate Education Committee John J. Flanagan (R), New York Board of Regents Chancellor Meryl Tisch and Acting Commissioner of Education Beth Berlin.[19]
The letter outlined three priorities the Shenendehowa education groups wished the New York government would address. The first priority was a commitment to fair public school funding, including paying the $6 billion owed to public schools under the court order from the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit, ending the gap elimination adjustment, increasing Foundation Aid funding, amending the tax cap law and discarding any plans to set permanent tax caps.[19]
The second priority was to increase the emphasis on teaching and learning rather than on testing, and the third priority was to retain local control, such as releasing school-aid runs and teacher evaluation processes back to the control of the school board.[19]
The letter was sent one month after Gov. Cuomo released a report of failing schools in the state. The report listed 178 failing schools in 17 school districts. A number of superintendents whose districts were listed in the report requested that the state government provide equitable funding for high-poverty attendance areas.[20]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Shenendehowa Central School District election in 2015:[1][15]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| April 20, 2015 | Last day to file candidate nominating petitions |
| First campaign finance report due | |
| May 14, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in this election |
| Second campaign finance report due | |
| May 19, 2015 | Election Day |
| June 8, 2015 | Third campaign finance report due |
| July 1, 2015 | First day of term for newly elected board members |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: New York elections, 2015
This election shared the ballot with the school district's annual budget vote, which was passed by voters.[1][2] The budget for the 2015-2016 school year included a $162.9 million spending plan, which was a 1.72 percent increase from the previous year's budget. Because it passed, the true value tax rate increased an estimated 1.04 percent, according to the district. That increase constituted another $47 in school taxes for market value properties of $250,000.[21]
There was also a second proposition on the ballot that asked voters to approve the purchase of 21 new buses for the district. It was approved.[2][21]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Shenendehowa Central School District New York. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Shenendehowa Central School District | New York | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 New York State School Boards Association, "Timeline - 2015 Annual Budget Vote & School Board Election," accessed April 13, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Shenendehowa Central School District, "Latest News: Post from 5/19/2015," accessed May 19, 2015
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "Board of Education," accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "Budget," accessed April 27, 2015
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "Latest News: Post from 5/19/2015," accessed May 19, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 United States Census Bureau, "Saratoga County, New York," accessed January 23, 2015
- ↑ National Central for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 29, 2015
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "NYS Voter Enrollment by County, Party Affiliation and Status - Voters Registered as of November 01, 2013," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "Board of Education," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "1210 -- By-Laws: Board of Education Members - Qualifications," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ Shenendehowa Central School District, "1220 -- By-Laws: Board of Education Members - Nomination and Election," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ CSEA Unit 8458, "Home," accessed May 19, 2015
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Financial Disclosure: Expenditure Search Page," accessed June 30, 2015
- ↑ New York State Board of Elections, "Campaign Financial Disclosure: Contribution Search Page," accessed June 30, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Shenendehowa Central School District, "1230 -- By-Laws: Reporting of Contributions and Expenditures," accessed April 24, 2015
- ↑ The Times Union, "Students opt out of Common Core tests," April 16, 2015
- ↑ Syracuse.com, "NYS opt-out movement grows; tens of thousands - maybe more - expected to skip tests," April 14, 2015
- ↑ Business Insider, "Over 50% of students in some New York school districts are boycotting Common Core tests," April 15, 2015
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 Shenendehowa Central School District, "Shen Advocacy Letter March 2015," March 24, 2015
- ↑ Troy Record, "Superintendents of ‘failing schools’ unite with message," March 31, 2015
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 Shenendehowa Central School District, "2015-16 Budget Newsletter," accessed April 29, 2015
| 2015 Shenendehowa Central School District Elections | |
| Saratoga County, New York | |
| Election date: | May 19, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Robert Pressly • Samuel H. Hazleton V • Christina Rajotte • Kerensa Rybak |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
