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Stevens Point Area Public School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Stevens Point Area Public Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Three at-large board incumbents were up for re-election.
Incumbents Angel Faxon, Jeff Presley and Meg Erler were up for re-election. Faxon and Erler faced challengers Samuel Levin and Judy Rannow. Preley did not filed to seek re-election.[1] While Erler retained her seat as the highest vote recipient in the election, Faxon was unseated. Rannow and Levin each won their first terms on the board.[2]
Two more board members could have faced an election in 2015 as community members organized for but ultimately abandoned a recall effort against Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek. Other issues in the district in 2015 included the resignation of Superintendent Attila Weninger effective June 30, 2015, a series of bomb threats and school policy updates to protect transgender students.
About the district
Stevens Point Area Public School District is located in Portage County in central Wisconsin. The county seat is Stevens Point. Portage County was home to 70,380 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] In the 2011-2012 school year, Stevens Point Area Public School District was the 14th-largest school district by enrollment in Wisconsin and served 7,453 students.[4]
Demographics
Portage County outperformed the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 27.2 percent of Portage County residents aged 25 years or older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.4 percent for Wisconsin as a whole. From 2008 to 2012, the median household income in Portage County was $51,422. During that same time period, the median household income for the entire state was $52,627. The poverty rate in Portage County from 2008 to 2012 was 13.5 percent. During that same time period, it was 12.5 percent statewide.[3]
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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 Stevens Point Area Public School District Board of Education consists of nine members who are elected at-large on a staggered basis to three-year terms. Because no more than two candidates filed for any board position, there was no primary election. The general election was held on April 7, 2015.
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. They must further be residents of the apportioned area they are elected to at the time of taking office.[6] They must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[7] Candidates did not have to submit any signatures for their nomination, but they were required to submit a Declaration of Candidacy and Campaign Registration Statement by January 9, 2015.[8][9]
Voters could register to vote in the election at the polling place on the election day. Proof of residence was required when registering to vote.[10] In March 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law allowing it to take effect. However, Wisconsin officials stated they would not enforce the law until after the election on April 7, 2015. No photo identification was required to vote in this election.[11]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
- Meg Erler
- Incumbent, appointed in July 2014
- Self-employed development consultant
- Incumbent, appointed in July 2014
- Angel Faxon
- Incumbent, first elected in April 2012
- Personal care worker, Midstate Independent Living
- Samuel Levin
- Former member, Portage County Board
- Former member, Whiting Village Board
- Judy Rannow
Election results
| Stevens Point Area Public School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Meg Erler Incumbent |
30.9% | 5,276 | |
| Nonpartisan | Judy Rannow |
23.8% | 4,067 | |
| Nonpartisan | Samuel Levin |
22.8% | 3,885 | |
| Nonpartisan | Angel Faxon Incumbent | 22.5% | 3,832 | |
| Total Votes | 17,060 | |||
| Source: Stevens Point Area Public School District, "Election Information: Spring Election, April 17, 2015 Official Results," accessed May 28, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
There were no official endorsements in this election.
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported in this election, according to the Stevens Point Area Public School District. All of the candidates in the election filed as "Exempt from Filing Campaign Finance Records" on their campaign registration statements.[12]
Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:
- accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
- accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
Past elections
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2014Note: The top three winners of the 2014 general election were elected to regular, three-year terms. The fourth-place finisher was elected to an unexpired one-year term. This special term was needed to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of John Zellmer.
2013Note: The top three winners of the 2013 general election were elected to regular, three-year terms. The fourth-place finisher was elected to an unexpired one-year term. This special term was needed to fill a vacancy due to the death of board member Elmer Fournier in 2012.[13]
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the district
Transgender protections added to school policies
In March 2015, the Stevens Point school board voted unanimously to add protections for transgender students to the following three policies: the nondiscrimination, anti-harassment and anti-bullying policy; the equal educational opportunities policy; and the equal opportunity employment policy. Chair of the board's Policy and Legislation Committee Meg Erler stated that the additions came out of discussions with local and state leaders about the protection of transgender students. The board planned to review other policies that could be updated to include protections for transgender students and staff, including its nondiscrimination notice for its employment policy.[14]
Bomb threat leads to arrest of student
The Stevens Point Area Public School District had six bomb threats in the first semester of the 2014-2015 school year. The sixth occurred on December 9, 2014, and led to the arrest of a junior high school student who would face repercussions from both the school district and the legal system.[15]
The threat was written on a stall in a girl's bathroom, stating that someone was going to bring a bomb to the school on December 10, 2014. The student who reported the threat to school staff later confessed to being the one who wrote it. The student said that the threat had not been real. The district did not release the name of the student.[16]
That student's threat was the third made at P.J. Jacobs Junior High School during the 2014-2015 school year. Whether the student was involved in previous threats is unclear. Two more threats were made at Stevens Point Area Senior High, and one happened at Ben Franklin Junior High School. Both district officials and police officers said the threats caused significant disruption in regular routines. After previous threats, school staff had to conduct bag checks as students entered school grounds. Because the third threat at P.J. Jacobs Junior High School was not legitimate, those checks were not conducted.[16]
Possible repercussions for that threat included suspension or expulsion from the district; felony charges punishable with up to three and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine or a maximum of three years probation, if the student is tried as an adult; or being sentenced to secure detention if tried as a juvenile. The decision between the two paths was the responsibility of the police department. Officials could refer the case to either Health and Human Services or the district attorney, who could then decide if there was legal basis to try to the student as an adult. District Attorney Louis Molepske said he expected the case to be referred to Health and Human Services.[15]
School board member recall abandoned
Stevens Point Area Board of Education members Lisa Totten and Kim Shirek were the targets of a recall effort that was ultimately abandoned on February 12, 2015. Both Totten and Shirek had been criticized for their behavior in board meetings, including insulting district employees and fellow board members and delaying votes due to lack of knowledge. Both members were elected in April 2010.[17][18]
The Save Our Schools Committee recall committee formed and registered its specific intent for a recall with a GAB-1 form on January 9, 2015. The committee had 60 days, or until March 10, 2015, to circulate a petition and submit signatures to the district’s business services office. Proponents would have had to gather at least 6,549 valid signatures for the recall election to be held.[18]
Supporters stated in early February 2015 that they were unlikely to be able to gather sufficient signatures in time to place the recall on the regular school board ballot.[19] On February 12, 2015, the recall committee released a statement explaining that they would not continue with the efforts against Totten and Shirek, and said:
| “ | As the committee and many volunteers have moved through the community having conversations and collecting signatures, it has become clear that our priority needs to shift from collecting signatures to community education. The general public was highly unaware of what was occurring on our school board, and it has now become our mission to educate our community through examples of past as well as future school board meetings.[20] | ” |
| —Save Our Schools (2015)[21] | ||
If sufficient signatures had been submitted, the cost of holding a recall election could have ranged from $3,000 to $40,000.[17]
Board moves forward with replacing superintendent despite community opposition
After teachers gave Superintendent Attila Weninger a vote of no confidence during the 2013-2014 school year, the Stevens Point Area Board of Education voted to not renew Weninger’s contract in May 2014. That vote, however, occurred in a closed session, which brought up possible legal ramifications. Because it was deemed to be "unenforceable" under the law, that vote was retracted. Before the vote, Weninger had submitted his resignation effective the last day of his contract, July 30, 2015, which the board accepted after retracting their vote to non-renew his contract.[22][23]
The vote of no confidence and Weninger's subsequent resignation came after an inability to agree on teacher contracts after Act 10 was passed in 2011 and stripped the collective bargaining rights of unions. Weninger's relationship with the school board had also become contentious, with board members arguing that Weninger had not fairly considered new teacher contracts. The school board cited irreconcilable differences in communication when members voted to non-renew his contract.[22]
Business leaders in the school district community did not support Weninger's resignation. At a school board meeting in August 2014, CEOs and business leaders from companies such as Skyward, Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection and Sentry Insurance were joined by Stevens Point Mayor Andrew Halverson and other county officials to express their desire for the school board to rescind Weninger's resignation and keep him on after his contract ended. The public support came out of a previous school board meeting, when community members were asked to share their approval of Weninger's job performance.[23]
The school board did not carry out the request to keep Weninger. Instead, the board formed a committee to look into going without a superintendent once Weninger retired after the 2014-2015 school year. Instead of having one person in that position, the board looked into creating an "Office of the Superintendent," which would have included a group of administrative decision-makers. That idea, however, was rejected on September 15, 2014, when the board voted 5-3 to stop pursuing the "Office of the Superintendent" model. Lisa Totten, Kim Shirek and Alex Kochanowski were in the minority, voting in favor of the model.[24][25]
In November 2014, the school board moved forward in their search for Weninger's replacement, asking community members to take a survey developed by the firm Ray and Associates to describe which qualities they wanted to see in their next superintendent.[26]
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for Stevens Point Area Public School District 2015 elections:[27][28]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| April 7, 2015 | General Election Day |
| July 20, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court was up for election on April 7, 2015. The general election for city and county offices was also on that date. Statewide, a constitutional amendment question regarding the selection of the state's supreme court chief justice was on the ballot.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Stevens Point Area Public School District Wisconsin. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Stevens Point Area Public School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Karlyn Krautkramer, Administration Assistant to the Director of Business Services," January 12, 2015
- ↑ Stevens Point City Times, "Erler, Rannow Tops in School Board Race," April 7, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Portage County," accessed September 23, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Portage County, Wisconsin, "Portage County Election Information and Results," accessed September 23, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Karlyn Krautkramer, Administration Assistant to the Director of Business Services," September 23, 2014
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Karlyn Krautkramer, Administration Assistant to the Director of Business Services," January 7, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Voter Registration," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wisconsin Decides Not to Enforce Voter ID Law," March 23, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Karlyn Krautkramer, Administration Assistant to the Director of Business Services," August 25, 2015
- ↑ Stevens Point City Times, "School Board to See New Faces," April 4, 2013
- ↑ Stevens Point Journal, "Leaders: Students deserve trans-inclusive policies," March 13, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Stevens Point Journal, "Update: Bomb threat suspect faces host of consequences," December 10, 2014
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Stevens Point Journal, "P.J. Jacobs student arrested after bomb threat," December 9, 2014
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Stevens Point City Times, "School Board Watch Column: Details on Recall Election Requested," December 3, 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 WSAU.com, "Recall campaign started against Stevens Point School Board members Totten & Shirek," January 9, 2015
- ↑ WSAU, "Stevens Point recall election won't make April ballot, Special election coming," February 3, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Stevens Point Journal, "Recall group halts School Board effort," February 12, 2015
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 Stevens Point City Times, "Growing Support for Weninger to Culminate at Monday’s Board Meeting," August 11, 2014
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 Steven Point Journal, "Business leaders want Weninger to stay," August 11, 2014
- ↑ Stevens Point Journal, "School Board considers going topless," August 20, 2014
- ↑ Stevens Point Journal, "UPDATE: District drops superintendent-by-committee idea," September 19, 2014
- ↑ Stevens Point Journal, "School Board asks for input on superintendent search," November 19, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedfiling
| 2015 Stevens Point Area Public School District Elections | |
| Portage County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Meg Erler • Incumbent, Angel Faxon • Samuel Levin • Judy Rannow |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
