Spotsylvania County Public Schools elections (2017)
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Three of the seven seats on the Spotsylvania County Public Schools school board in Virginia were up for by-district general election on November 7, 2017. In his bid for re-election to the Battlefield District seat, incumbent Baron Braswell ran unopposed and won another term on the board. Incumbent Erin Grampp defeated challenger April Gillespie for the Berkeley District seat. In the race for the Lee Hill District seat, Lisa Phelps defeated Kathryn “Kassie” Palmer.[1] Palmer was appointed to the formerly vacant seat on July 10, 2017.[2]
Braswell and Palmer participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. Click here to read their responses.
The 2017 election had a lower percentage of unopposed seats than the district's previous two elections. For information on election trends in the district, click here.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Spotsylvania County school board consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Elections are held by district on a staggered basis every November of odd-numbered years. Four seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and three seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.[3]
To qualify as school board candidates, interested parties had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of Virginia for at least one year prior to the election. To get on the ballot, candidates had to file nomination paperwork with their county election office by June 13, 2017.[4][5]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by October 16, 2017.[6] Photo identification was required to vote in Virginia.[7]
Candidates and results
Battlefield District
Results
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Battlefield District General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Baron Braswell Incumbent (unopposed) |
97.02% | 4,300 |
| Write-in votes | 2.98% | 132 |
| Total Votes | 4,432 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Baron Braswell 
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Berkeley District
Results
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Berkeley District General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Erin Grampp Incumbent |
52.19% | 2,468 |
| April Gillespie | 47.22% | 2,233 |
| Write-in votes | 0.59% | 28 |
| Total Votes | 4,729 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Erin Grampp
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April Gillespie | ||
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Lee Hill District
Results
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools, Lee Hill District General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Lisa Phelps |
56.17% | 2,695 |
| Kathryn Palmer Incumbent | 43.27% | 2,076 |
| Write-in votes | 0.56% | 27 |
| Total Votes | 4,798 | |
| Source: Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 November General," accessed November 21, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer | Lisa Phelps
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Virginia elections, 2017
The Spotsylvania County school board election shared the ballot with elections for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and the Battlefield, Berkeley, and Lee Hill District seats on the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors.[1]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Virginia school board elections in 2017:[6]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 13, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| October 16, 2017 | Voter registration deadline |
| November 7, 2017 | General election |
Endorsements
The Spotsylvania Education Association endorsed incumbents Baron Braswell, Erin Grampp, and Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer for the Battlefield District, Berkeley District, and Lee Hill District seats, respectively.[8] The Spotsylvania Republican Committee endorsed Berkeley District challenger April Gillespie and Lee Hill District challenger Lisa Phelps.[9] Gillespie was also endorsed by the Fredericksburg Virginia Patriots.[10]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $18,904.08 and spent a total of $17,976.88 in the election, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.[11]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Battlefield District | |||
| Baron Braswell | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Berkeley District | |||
| Erin Grampp | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| April Gillespie | $6,333.67 | $6,207.24 | $126.43 |
| Lee Hill District | |||
| Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer | $4,775.40 | $4,775.40 | $0.00 |
| Lisa Phelps | $7,795.01 | $6,994.24 | $800.77 |
Filing schedule
The following table details the filing schedule for campaign finance reports for school board candidates in Virginia who ran in a general election on November 7, 2017. The left column details the time period covered for each report, and the right column details the report's due date.[12]
Past elections
To see results from past elections in Spotsylvania County Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Candidate survey
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Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey. |
Survey responses
Two candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Battlefield District incumbent Baron Braswell and Lee Hill District incumbent Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer.
Hope to achieve
When asked what he hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Braswell stated:
| “ | Students that are prepared to be college or career ready upon graduation[13] | ” |
| —Baron Braswell (July 24, 2017)[14] | ||
When asked what she hoped to achieve if elected to the school board, Palmer stated:
| “ | I hope to represent the schools to the community, improve communication, and ensure that the budget that is presented to the Board of Supervisors is efficient and transparent.[13] | ” |
| —Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer (September 9, 2017)[15] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidates were asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays their rankings:
| Issue importance ranking | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issue | Braswell's ranking (Battlefield District) |
Palmer's ranking (Lee Hill District) | ||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Improving relations with teachers | ||||
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Improving post-secondary readiness | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidates were asked to answer nine multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. A link to their responses can be found below.
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
With one-third of the seats unopposed, the 2017 Spotsylvania County school board election had a lower rate of unopposed seats than the district's two previous elections had. Two-thirds of the seats were unopposed in 2013, and three-quarters of the seats were unopposed in 2015.
The 2017 election was also the first in the three consecutive election cycles to have every incumbent run to retain his or her seat. Two won re-election, but the third was defeated. In 2013, two of the three incumbents ran for re-election, and one of them won another term. In 2015, three of the four incumbents ran, and all of them won re-election.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 1.33 | 33.33% | 100.00% | 66.67% | 33.33% | |
| 2015 | 1.25 | 75.00% | 75.00% | 100.00% | 25.00% | |
| 2013 | 1.67 | 66.67% | 66.67% | 50.00% | 66.67% | |
| Virginia | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.61 | 44.66% | 66.02% | 85.29% | 41.75% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
About the district
The Spotsylvania County school district is located in northeastern Virginia in Spotsylvania County. The county seat is Spotsylvania Courthouse. This county was home to 132,010 residents in 2016, according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[16] The district was the 13th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 23,887 students.[17]
Demographics
Spotsylvania County underperformed compared to Virginia as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 29.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 36.3 percent of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income in Spotsylvania County was $78,125, compared to $65,015 for the entire state. The poverty rate in the county was 7.7 percent, while it was 11.2 percent statewide.[16]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[16] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Spotsylvania County (%) | Virginia (%) |
| White | 76.9 | 70.2 |
| Black or African American | 16.3 | 19.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Asian | 2.7 | 6.5 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 3.5 | 2.9 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 8.9 | 9.0 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Spotsylvania County Public Schools Virginia election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Spotsylvania County Public Schools | Virginia | School Boards |
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External links
- Spotsylvania County Public Schools
- Spotsylvania County Voter Registration
- Virginia Department of Elections
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Christina Johnson, Spotsylvania County Chief Deputy Registrar," June 14, 2017
- ↑ News Talk 1230, "Spotsy School Board Selects Palmer," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Spotsylvania County Public Schools, "School Board Governance Policy," accessed June 8, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Becoming a Candidate," accessed June 8, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Certificate Of Candidate Qualification: Local Offices," accessed June 8, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Virginia Department of Elections, "2017 Election Calendar: Election Deadline Calendar," accessed June 8, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "In-Person Voting," accessed June 8, 2017
- ↑ Spotsylvania Education Association, "Reminder," October 16, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Kathryn Gregorio," November 11, 2017
- ↑ Fredricksburg.com, "Tension among Spotsylvania Republicans highlights local races," June 22, 2017
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Finance Reports: Search Committees," accessed January 17, 2018
- ↑ Virginia Department of Elections, "Campaign Committee: 2017 Reporting Deadlines," accessed July 18, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Baron Braswell's responses," July 24, 2017
- ↑ Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey, "Kathryn "Kassie" Palmer responses," September 9, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Spotsylvania County, Virginia," accessed June 9, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
