Todd Broughton
Todd Broughton was the District 3 representative on the Sullivan County Board of Education in Tennessee until reapportionment moved him to District 5.[1] He was first elected to the board in 2012 and served until September 5, 2016.[2]
Broughton sought another term in the general election on August 4, 2016.[3] He lost the election.[4] Broughton participated in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2016
- See also: Sullivan County Schools elections (2016)
Four of the seven seats on the Sullivan County Schools Board of Education were up for by-district general election on August 4, 2016.[5] Mark Ireson and Matthew Spivey ran unopposed and won the open District 1 and 3 seats, respectively. Two incumbents, Randall Jones and Todd Broughton, ran against each other for the District 5 spot after reapportionment changed district boundaries, leaving District 3 open and moving Broughton's residence to District 5. Jones won the seat. Incumbent Jane Thomas ran unopposed and won re-election to District 7.[3][6][7][4]
Results
| Sullivan County Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-Year Term, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Randall Jones Incumbent |
50.74% | 895 |
| Todd Broughton Incumbent | 49.26% | 869 |
| Total Votes | 1,764 | |
| Source: Sullivan County Election Commission, "Election Results: August 4, 2016 County General and State Primary," accessed September 1, 2016 | ||
Funding
The Sullivan County Election Commission did not publish school board campaign finance reports online for this election. Ballotpedia staff directly requested this information, but the county did not provide it.
Endorsements
Broughton received no official endorsements in the election.
2012
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Todd Broughton |
57.3% | 1,085 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jim Kiss Incumbent | 42.7% | 808 | |
| Total Votes | 1,893 | |||
| Source: Sullivan County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report — Official," August 14, 2012 | ||||
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Todd Broughton participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on May 24, 2016:
| “ | I would like to create a more transparent environment. One in which parents, students, and tax payers have more of a say about our operations.[8][9] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Tennessee. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | When you can only use each answer once it makes it difficult to prioritize answers.[9] | ” |
| —Todd Broughton (May 24, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. I feel community schools provide a better education and less distance to travel to school. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. Some students suffer from test anxiety |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I feel Common Core should be revoked. State standards always have and always will exist |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Termination should be last resort. Many people just have not had the proper training |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. I feel Teachers should receive meet pay. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. Private is just that private. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Only as a last resort |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers Teachers are the leaders. The rest of us are the support staff |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Todd Broughton' 'Sullivan County Schools'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Times News, "Bales not seeking re-election to Sullivan BOE," April 7, 2016
- ↑ Sullivan County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report — Official," August 14, 2012
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sullivan County Election Commission, "Noon, April 7, 2016 Filing Deadline Candidate Petitions Filed," accessed April 8, 2016
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Sullivan County Election Commission, "Cumulative Report — Unofficial August 4, 2016," accessed August 5, 2016
- ↑ Tennessee Secretary of State, "Election Calendar 2016," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ Sullivan County Schools, "Board," accessed March 31, 2016
- ↑ Times News, "Bales not seeking re-election to Sullivan BOE," April 7, 2016
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Todd Broughton's responses," May 24, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 Sullivan County Schools Elections | |
| Sullivan County, Tennessee | |
| Election date: | August 4, 2016 |
| Candidates: | District 1: • Mark Ireson District 3: • Matthew Spivey District 5: • Incumbent, Randall Jones • Incumbent, Todd Broughton District 7: • Incumbent, Jane Thomas |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
