Thomas Thomasik
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Thomas Thomasik is an at-large member of the Bethlehem Area Board of Directors in Pennsylvania. The seat was up for general election on November 3, 2015. There was a primary election on May 19, 2015. He filed to run in both the Democratic and Republican primaries. Thomasik won a nomination in both primaries and advanced to the general election.[1][2] Thomas Thomasik won the general election on November 3, 2015.
Biography
Thomasik obtained his bachelor's degree in political science and East Asian studies from Muhlenberg College. He went on to earn his master's degree in human resources from the University of Scranton. He formerly worked as a human resources professional in the Allentown City School District and in the Bethlehem Area School District. He is now retired.[3]
Elections
2015
Five of the nine seats on the Bethlehem Area Board of Directors were up for election in the general election on November 3, 2015. There was a primary election on May 19, 2015.
Incumbent Craig Neiman ran unopposed and won re-election to the Region 2 seat. He cross-filed in the primary election and won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for the seat. He originally filed to run for an at-large seat as well but withdrew from that race.
Region 3 candidates included incumbent Eugene McKeon and newcomer Dan Treffinger, who also ran for an at-large position in the primaries. McKeon won both primaries for the Region 3 seat and was, therefore, the sole candidate to advance to the general election for the region. While Treffinger did not advance in the Region 3 race, he did advance from the Republican primary for the at-large seat.
In addition to Treffinger, the race for the at-large seat included Dean Donaher and Thomas Thomasik running as cross-filed candidates, as well as Karen Beck Pooley running as a Democrat. Donaher, Thomasik and Pooley defeated Treffinger in the general election.
Other candidates that ran in the primary election but did not win a nomination were incumbent Basilio Bonilla, Inez Aguilar and Samuel Nazario. No independent candidates filed to run in the general election.[4][5]
Results
| Bethlehem Area School District, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Dean Donaher |
33.2% | 11,853 | |
| Democratic/Republican | Thomas Thomasik |
32.1% | 11,451 | |
| Democratic | Karen Beck Pooley |
20.8% | 7,420 | |
| Republican | Dan Treffinger | 13.9% | 4,978 | |
| Write-in votes | 0.05% | 19 | ||
| Total Votes | 35,721 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Lehigh County Chief Clerk of Registration and Elections Timothy Bento," December 17, 2015 Northamption County, Pennsylvania, "Summary Report Northamption County Official Results," accessed December 17, 2015 | ||||
| Bethlehem Area School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Dean Donaher |
22.2% | 2,949 | |
| Democratic | Thomas Thomasik |
17.3% | 2,297 | |
| Democratic | Karen Beck Pooley |
16.4% | 2,178 | |
| Democratic | Basilio Bonilla Incumbent | 15.4% | 2,042 | |
| Democratic | Samuel Nazario | 13% | 1,732 | |
| Democratic | Inez Aguilar | 8.6% | 1,138 | |
| Democratic | Dan Treffinger | 7.1% | 944 | |
| Democratic | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 10 | |
| Total Votes | 13,290 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 19, 2015: Bethlehem School District," accessed July 7, 2015Ballotpedia confirmed these results are official by phone. and Northhampton County, "May 19, 2015: Summary Report," accessed July 7, 2015 | ||||
| Bethlehem Area School District, At-Large Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Dean Donaher |
26.5% | 1,662 | |
| Republican | Thomas Thomasik |
25.6% | 1,602 | |
| Republican | Dan Treffinger |
17.1% | 1,068 | |
| Republican | Samuel Nazario | 16.5% | 1,032 | |
| Republican | Karen Beck Pooley | 14.3% | 893 | |
| Republican | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 5 | |
| Total Votes | 6,262 | |||
| Source: Lehigh County, "Municipal Primary - May 19, 2015: Bethlehem School District," accessed July 7, 2015Ballotpedia confirmed these results are official by phone. and Northhampton County, "May 19, 2015: Summary Report," accessed July 7, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Thomasik reported no contributions or expenditures to the Lehigh County Voter Registration Department in the election.[6]
Endorsements
Thomasik received an official endorsement from the Bethlehem Education Association.[7]
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Thomasik participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Balancing the budget and backing full day kindergarten![8] | ” |
| —Thomas Thomasik (2015)[9] | ||
Thomasik also included the following statement with his responses:
| “ | We need to recognize, appreciate, and reward teachers who instill innovation and creativity in our students![8] | ” |
| —Thomas Thomasik (2015)[9] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was 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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Idaho. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "Improving education for special needs students" | |
| "Ensure the teachers are included in the decision process to ensure equal opportunities are distributed evenly." | |
| "Practices such as positive behavior strategies should be used before expulsion is considered." | |
| "Do whatever it takes to bring about a change to help the students and do it quickly with the input of the teachers, parents and administration." | |
| "Yes" | |
| "Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district." | |
| "Communicate, communicate, communicate!" |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Thomas Thomasik Bethlehem Area School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Bethlehem Area School District, Pennsylvania
- Bethlehem Area School District elections (2015)
- Embroiled incumbents see differing outcomes in May 19 school board elections across five states (May 21, 2015)
- Incumbency no guarantee of success in Nov. 3 school board elections (November 6, 2015)
- What happened in Nov.'s top board elections? (November 4, 2015)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Bethlehem Area School District, "Board of School Directors," accessed April 15, 2015
- ↑ Northampton County, "2015 Unofficial Ballot," accessed March 17, 2015
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Thomas Thomasik," accessed May 13, 2015
- ↑ Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, "Unofficial List of Candidates, Municipal Election, November 3, 2015," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ Northampton County, "Unofficial General Municipal Ballot," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, "Campaign Finance Reports," accessed February 3, 2016
- ↑ Twitter, "Bethlehem Education Association," May 18, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Thomas Thomasik responses," May 13, 2015
| 2015 Bethlehem Area School District Elections | |
| Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and Northampton County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary election: May 19, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Basilio Bonilla (D) • Incumbent, Craig Neiman (D/R) • Inez Aguilar (D) • Dean Donaher (D/R) • Samuel Nazario (D/R) • Karen Beck Pooley (D/R) • Thomas Thomasik (D/R) • Dan Treffinger (D/R)
Region 2: • Incumbent, Craig Neiman (D/R) Region 3: • Incumbent, Eugene McKeon (D/R) • Dan Treffinger (D/R) |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
