Topeka Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Topeka Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
April 7, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
Kansas Topeka Public Schools Shawnee County, Kansas ballot measures Local ballot measures, Kansas

Four seats on the Topeka Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Position 4 incumbent Janel Johnson, Position 5 incumbent Peg McCarthy, Position 6 incumbent Patrick Woods and at-large Position 7 incumbent Nancy Kirk were up for and sought re-election in 2015..

Johnson won re-election unopposed The other three incumbents, however, faced opposition. Scott Holloman was defeated by McCarthy for the Position 5 seat. Woods fended off two challengers for Position 6: Michael Boyer and Lloyd Fleming. The Position 7 at-large race featured challenger Jenny Prichard against incumbent Kirk, who defeated Prichard and retained her seat.

The 2015 election marked the last spring election for school boards statewide. House Bill 2104 was signed into law by Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) on June 8, 2015. Another bill, Senate Bill 171, originally proposed moving the school board elections to November of even-numbered years, in line with statewide general elections, and would have made all school boards into partisan offices.

HB 2104 did not change the nonpartisan nature of the boards, but it did move their general elections to November of odd-numbered years. A number of school boards across the state opposed the more drastic changes proposed by SB 171, particularly the possibility of partisan elections.

Election changes were not the only point of contention between the state government and Kansas school boards in 2015; all districts also had to adapt to changes in state funding for education due to budget shortfalls.

Income tax reductions in 2012 and 2013 championed by Brownback were blamed by some as the cause of the state's financial woes and, therefore, the reason cuts to education spending were considered. Supporters of the changes emphasized the state's decade-old education funding formula as being the real reason a funding overhaul was necessary. Regardless of the cause, legislation was passed issuing block grants to public school districts while legislators debated how to replace the repealed 1995 funding formula.

One of the candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.

See also: What was at stake in the 2015 Topeka Public Schools elections?

About the district

See also: Topeka Public Schools, Kansas

Topeka Public Schools is located in Shawnee County, Kan.

Topeka Public Schools is located in Shawnee County in northeastern Kansas. The county seat of Shawnee County is Topeka. Shawnee County was home to an estimated 178,831 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau. Topeka Public Schools was the sixth-largest school district by enrollment in Kansas and served 14,082 students in the 2011-2012 school year.

Demographics

Shawnee County underperformed compared to the state of Kansas in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.6 percent of Shawnee County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 30.3 percent for Kansas as a whole. The median household income in Shawnee County was $48,451 compared to $51,332 for Kansas. The poverty rate in Shawnee County was 16.7 percent compared to 13.7 percent for the entire state.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Shawnee County (%)	Kansas (%)
White	84.5	87.1
Black or African American	8.8	6.2
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.4	1.2
Asian	1.3	2.7
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	3.9	2.7
Hispanic or Latino	11.5	11.2

Presidential Voting Pattern, Shawnee County
Year	Republican Vote	Democratic Vote
2012	37,782	36,975
2008	41,476	41,235
2004	44,188	36,264
2000	35,894	34,818

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 Topeka Board of Education is composed of seven members who are elected to four-year terms. Either three or four seats are up for regular election at each time. There are three districts that each have two representatives on the board, and the seventh member is elected at-large. District 1 is represented by Positions 1 and 4, District 2 by Positions 2 and 5 and District 3 by Positions 3 and 6. The at-large seat is Position 7.

House Bill 2104 made this the last election for the district to be held in the spring of an odd-numbered year. Signed into law by Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) on June 8, 2015, the law changed school board election dates to November of odd-numbered years.

Candidates had to file a petition containing 50 signatures or pay a filing fee of $5 by January 27, 2015. If more than three candidates had filed for any one position up for election, a primary election would have been held on March 3, 2015. The general election was held April 7, 2015.

Voters had to register by March 17, 2015, to vote in the general election.

Position 4

Janel Johnson
	Incumbent, member from 2007-2015 Systems analyst, Kansas Division of Information Systems and Communications

Position 5

Peg McCarthy		Scott Holloman
	Incumbent, member from 2006-2015 M.A. and Ph.D., University of Kansas B.A., Yale University Clinical psychologist, Shadow Wood Clinical Associates		Bachelor's degree, Washburn University Certified public accountant (CPA) and owner, Driver & Holloman CPAs

Position 6

Patrick Woods		Michael Boyer		Lloyd Fleming
	Incumbent, member from 2007-2015 Director of talent management and diversity, Westar Energy		B.S. and M.S., University of Kansas Retired high school teacher		Retired executive, Midway Wholesale

Position 7 (At-large)

Nancy Kirk		Jenny Prichard
	Incumbent, member from 2007-2015 Member, Kansas Board of Pharmacy, 2007-2013 Democratic representative, Kansas House of Representatives District 56, 1994-2006		B.S., Fort Hays State University Retired family and consumer science teacher

Election results

Position 4

Topeka Public Schools, Position 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Janel Johnson Incumbent	97.7%	5,442
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	2.3%	128
Total Votes				5,570
Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report April 7, 2015 General Election," April 13, 2015

Position 5

Topeka Public Schools, Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Peg McCarthy Incumbent	56.8%	3,972
	Nonpartisan	Scott Holloman	42.9%	3,000
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.3%	20
Total Votes				6,992
Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report April 7, 2015 General Election," April 13, 2015

Position 6

Topeka Public Schools, Position 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Patrick Woods Incumbent	64.9%	4,442
	Nonpartisan	Lloyd Fleming	17.9%	1,229
	Nonpartisan	Michael Boyer	16.9%	1,159
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.2%	17
Total Votes				6,847
Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report April 7, 2015 General Election," April 13, 2015

Position 7, at-large

Topeka Public Schools, At-Large Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Nancy Kirk Incumbent	67.2%	4,623
	Nonpartisan	Jenny Prichard	32.4%	2,232
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	0.4%	29
Total Votes				6,884
Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report April 7, 2015 General Election," April 13, 2015

Endorsements

In the Position 5 race, Peg McCarthy was endorsed by Equality Kansas, and Scott Holloman was endorsed by NEA-Topeka.

Campaign finance

See also: Fundraising efforts by Katheleen Sebelius & List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

The Shawnee County Election Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia was informed that at least one candidate submitted campaign finance reports.

All of the candidates in this election filed "Affidavits of Exemption" from campaign finance reporting. Candidates who intended to receive or expend less than $500.00 in their campaign were allowed to file a K.S.A. 25-904(a), the "Affidavit of Exemption," attesting to those intentions. Candidates' contributions to their own campaigns are included in those limits. If a candidate exceeded these limits after filing as exempt, he or she would be required to comply with the reporting requirements from that point forward. The next and final campaign finance reporting deadline for this race was May 7, 2015, if any candidate exceeds the stated limits.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2013 District 1: Position 1 Topeka Public Schools, District 1 - Position 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan John R. Williams 98.3% 6,400      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.7% 109 Total Votes 6,509 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 2, 2013,General Election," April 8, 2013 District 2: Position 2 Topeka Public Schools, District 2 - Position 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Michael R. Morrison 98.5% 6,464      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.5% 96 Total Votes 6,560 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 2, 2013,General Election," April 8, 2013 District 3: Position 3 Topeka Public Schools, District 3 - Position 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Scott L. Mickelsen 98.6% 6,287      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.4% 92 Total Votes 6,379 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 2, 2013,General Election," April 8, 2013 2011 District 1: Position 4 Topeka Public Schools District 1 - Position 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Janel Johnson Incumbent 97.7% 5,622      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.3% 132 Total Votes 5,754 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 5, 2011,General Election," April 8, 2011 District 2: Position 5 Topeka Public Schools District 2 - Position 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Peg McCarthy Incumbent 98% 5,787      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2% 121 Total Votes 5,908 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 5, 2011,General Election," April 8, 2011 District 3: Position 6 Topeka Public Schools District 3 - Position 6 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Patrick Woods Incumbent 98.2% 5,787      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 1.8% 107 Total Votes 5,894 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 5, 2011,General Election," April 8, 2011 At-large: Position 7 Topeka Public Schools At-Large - Position 7 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Nancy Kirk Incumbent 97.7% 5,866      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 2.3% 140 Total Votes 6,006 Source: Shawnee County Election Office, "Election Summary Report: April 5, 2011,General Election," April 8, 2011

What was at stake?

2015

With four seats up for election, the Topeka Board of Education was guaranteed at least one returning incumbent and could have seen up to three newcomers join the board. The district, like the rest of Kansas' public schools, saw funding changes from the state in early 2015. Additionally, its election system changed from a spring cycle to a fall system.

Issues in the election

Fundraising by Sebelius

Kathleen Sebelius, Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services

While Position 4 incumbent Peg McCarthy initially filed for exemption from campaign finance reporting, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius helped raise funds for both McCarthy and Position 6 incumbent Patrick Woods at a gathering in February 2015. Their opponents expressed a range of reactions to having a high-profile fundraiser involved in the campaigns.

Scott Holloman, who was trying to unseat McCarthy, said, “What it looks like, and I don’t know my opponent personally, but it kind of looks like if you can’t connect with the teachers and students and parents here in the district you kind of do what Pat Roberts did and you reach on the outside and get people to drum up support for you." Woods' opponents took a less disparaging tone.

Lloyd Fleming said, "We have these heavy hitters in here — we could have a very serious race. And I think that will give all three candidates an excellent opportunity to get all three of our messages out." Michael Boyer said he had no reaction to the fundraising effort.

Issues in the district

State education funding changes

See also: Kansas state budget and finances

A looming state budget deficit of $600 million led the state legislature to approve a block-grant funding system to replace the state's public school funding formula. Governor of Kansas Sam Brownback (R) had proposed that $44.5 million be cut from state funding for education to make up for budgetary shortcomings on February 5, 2015.

Cuts proposed by governor

Gov. Sam Brownback (R)

Of the total cuts Brownback suggested, $28 million would have come from elementary and secondary education funding, while another $16 million would have been taken from higher education funding.

Critics of Brownback pointed to his campaign promises supporting education in 2013. Kansas State Senate Minority Leader Anthony Hensley (D-19) called the move, “just another deception [Brownbeck] put upon the voters of Kansas." Brownback's spokesperson, however, has stated that the governor “has consistently maintained that the education funding formula is broken and reform is needed to ensure more money goes to the classroom to benefit Kansas students."

Income taxes blamed and defended
Some blamed the income tax reductions signed into law by the governor for the significant shortfall looming for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015. Income tax cuts were championed by Brownback and passed by the Legislature in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, the state had to reassess its spending and consider new forms of revenue. Possible revenue sources that were considered included raising taxes on cigarettes and alcohol or changing tax assessments for farmland, gasoline, and sales and passive income. In 2013, the state collected $2.96 billion in individual income taxes, which made up 38.80 percent of the state's tax collections.

Brownback defended the income tax cuts and pushed for consumption taxes to replace lost funds in April 2015. “I still want to get away from the income tax. Over time, I would like to see us move toward the consumption basket of taxes," he stated at that time. He also voiced support for a higher sales tax. The governor remained vague about exactly which consumption taxes might be used but noted his support for tax increases on cigarettes and alcohol.

At the same time, Brownback responded to criticisms over the fact that he shared budget information prior to the legislative session with David Kensinger, his former chief of staff and current lobbyist for Reynolds American tobacco company. Brownback defended the move, saying, “What I try to do is get as much input from people as possible. I’ve tried to operate most of my public career in trying to solicit lots of input. I wish he wasn’t lobbying for that group. He’s free to do what he’s doing.”

Legislative response
In response to Brownback's proposal, the Kansas State Legislature outlined a plan in March 2015 to fund public schools with block grants for two years while they rewrite the school funding formula. According to The Kansas City Star, the block grants would provide an increase of more than $4.2 billion for the 2016-2017 school year, which would represent a 9 percent increase from the 2013-2014 allocations. Additionally, the block grants would return the 2014-2015 district allocations to the amounts they were set at before Brownback announced his planned budget cuts. Whether or not these funds actually indicate an increase in classroom spending and how the Legislature would pay for the increase in funding remained unclear as of the bill's introduction.

Democratic legislators criticized the bill, arguing that the majority of the additional funding would go toward retirement and meeting the requirements of a 2014 Kansas Supreme Court ruling mandating more funding for schools. Sen. Hensley argued, "Their proposal does not do what they claim it’s going to do. It does not allocate $300 million in new money, nor does it put more money into the classroom.”

Sen. Susan Wagle (R-30)

In a 64 to 57 vote on March 13, 2015, the House of Representatives approved Senate Bill 7, a plan to overhaul the state's 13-year-old school finance system. State law required at least 63 votes in favor of the measure for it to pass the House. The bill was immediately moved back to the Senate. This prevented any motions to reconsider the House vote. On March 16, 2015, the Senate approved the revised bill 25 to 14. Because the bill sent back from the House had been a Senate bill with additions from the House, senators only had to vote yes or no to the House revisions and were not able to offer amendments. The bill was signed into law by Brownbeck on March 25, 2015.

The approved bill replaced the current system with block grants for two years while the funding formula is overhauled. Republican leaders argued that the state's funding formula, which is based on a per-pupil formula and includes weighting for bilingual and low-income students, was broken. Senate President Susan Wagle (R-30), who voted in favor of the old formula in 1992 and in favor of SB 7, said, "We are no longer talking about student outcomes and student achievement. We’re fighting for money."

Sen. Tom Holland (D-3)

Not all of her colleagues agreed that SB 7 was a solution to education funding woes. Some senators objected to how quickly the bill was passed and to the lack of discussion before the final Senate vote on the matter. Sen. Tom Holland (D-3) voted against the measure and said:

“	While Charles and David Koch may have won this particular battle, Kansas families can at least take some small measure of comfort in knowing that our Kansas courts — as yet uncorrupted by the supply-side ideology cancer that has metastasized Kansas’ legislative and executive branches of government — that they are keeping a watchful eye on this Legislature’s actions.	”
—Sen. Tom Holland (D-3) (2015)

Judicial response
Holland was referencing judicial action taken the same day the House passed SB 7, when a three-judge district court panel ordered the reopening of a school funding lawsuit that had been settled in 2014. The lawsuit was settled after the Legislature equalized funding between districts through increased allocations, but the new court order reopened the equity portion of the case. It also added new state officials to the list of defendants in the case, including the state treasurer and revisor of statutes. The panel announced that it might issue temporary orders blocking the recent legislative action if necessary "to preserve the status quo and to assure the availability of relief, if any, that might be accorded should the Court deem relief warranted.”

Election date changes

Early legislative action in 2015 could have made all Kansas school board elections into partisan races held in November of even-numbered years. Those changes were not approved, but a smaller change was signed into law on June 8, 2015; House Bill 2104 changed all school board election dates to November of odd-numbered years.

HB 2104
HB 2104 was introduced to the Kansas House of Representatives on January 23, 2015, and sponsored by the House Elections Committee. The house approved the measure 69 to 54 on February 26, 2015. Following the withdrawal of a similar senate bill, HB 2104 was approved by the senate by a vote of 28 to 12.

The portion of the Conference Committee Report of the bill relating to the election date changes states:

“	The bill would move all elections for office holders of local governments currently held in the spring of odd-numbered years to the fall of odd-numbered years, with one exception (described below). In general, the elections would remain nonpartisan, although a city could choose to make its elections partisan. Sections to be added to the law, Sections 7, 8, and 13 through 16, would be cited as the Help Kansas Vote Act. Beginning in 2017, the election dates for the specified units of local government would mirror the election dates for the elections held in even-numbered years. That is, the primary election would be held on the first Tuesday in August, and the general election would be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. The elections, to be administered by the county election officers, would be consolidated into one ballot, which would be prescribed by the Secretary of State through rules and regulations. Those entities currently with district method elective offices (i.e., cities and school districts) would retain that authority.	”
—HB 2104 Conference Committee Report (2015)

SB 171

Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-33) introduced SB 171 on February 9, 2015.

On February 9, 2015, Sen. Mitch Holmes (R-33) introduced Senate Bill 171 to the Ethics, Elections and Local Government Committee. The bill, as it was initially introduced, would have moved school board and other local elections to November in even-numbered years, in addition to changing school boards from their current nonpartisan status by requiring candidates to declare party affiliations.

Supporters claimed that moving the school board elections to a date when there are more elections would increase voter turnout for such races as well as reduce the costs of printing the number of current ballot variations. Others questioned whether or not a move would actually improve turnout, as it would place school board elections on an already lengthy ballot.

The bill was amended before being approved 21 to 18 by the Senate on February 26, 2015. The approved version would move school board and other local elections to the November general election date in odd-numbered years. It removed the language that would have made those elections partisan. During the debate of the revised version, Holmes expressed frustration with the resistance to moving local elections. He argued that such a move would increase voter turnout and bring greater transparency to local government, saying that such offices are "elected on a day that nobody notices."

Holmes also argued that the disproportionately white city council of Ferguson, Mo., was caused by holding off-year elections and postulated that "minorities vote better in on-cycle elections than off-cycle elections." Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau (D-29), the first African American woman elected to the State Senate and one of the two African American members of the body, dismissed this argument, saying, “I don’t live in Ferguson. I don’t know anybody who lived there. ... We’re here in Kansas."

On March 4, 2015, the revised Senate bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. The House Elections Committee recommended the revised bill be approved with some amendments regarding date changes in the law on March 19, 2015. The measure was withdrawn from the Senate calendar shortly thereafter.

Ballotpedia survey responses

One of the eight candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates as of March 30, 2015. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Scott Holloman.

Top priorities

Scott Holloman

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Holloman stated:

“	Retaining teachers and making the district a coveted place to teach in and a premier place to learn.	”
—Scott Holloman (2015)

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 can be sorted to display the candidates' rankings from most to least important:

Issue importance ranking
Issue	Position 5
	Holloman's ranking
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget	1
Closing the achievement gap	2
Expanding arts education	6
Expanding career-technical education	3
Expanding school choice options	7
Improving college readiness	4
Improving education for special needs students	5

Positions on the issues

The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidate's responses can be found below.

• Scott Holloman's survey responses

Key deadlines

The following were the key deadlines for the 2015 Kansas school board election cycle:

Deadline	Event
January 27, 2015	Candidate filing deadline
March 17, 2015	Voter registration deadline
March 28, 2015	In-person advance voting begins
April 2, 2015	Last campaign finance deadline before the election
April 7, 2015	Election Day
May 7, 2015	Last campaign finance deadline for the election cycle
July 1, 2015	Election winners begin terms

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Kansas elections, 2015

The school board election was on the general election ballot for county, municipal and other local offices. The Topeka City Council District 2, 4, 6 and 8 seats were also up for election.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Topeka Public Schools Kansas. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Topeka Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Topeka Public Schools	Kansas	School Boards
List of school districts in Kansas	Kansas school board elections, 2015 Public education in Kansas Local ballot measures, Kansas	School board elections, 2015 School board elections, 2014 School board election data analysis, 2015 School board election data analysis, 2014

External links

Suggest a link

• Topeka Public Schools
• Shawnee County Election Office