Verona Area School District elections (2017)
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Three seats on the Verona Area School District school board were up for at-large general election on April 4, 2017. Portion 1 incumbent Meredith Stier-Christensen and at-large incumbent Russell King won re-election to their respective seats, running unopposed. Incumbent Dennis Beres chose not to seek re-election, and one newcomer filed for and won his Portion 3 seat: Kristina Navarro-Haffner.[1][2]
Both Stier-Christensen and King were appointed to the board in 2016 to replace former board members Joanne Gauthier and Derrell Connor, who both resigned. Since Gauthier's term was not set to expire until 2018, Stier-Christensen ran to complete the last year of the term. Gauthier, who represented Portion 1, cited an "overwhelming" time commitment that came with being a board member. Connor, the former at-large representative, moved outside of the district's boundaries.[3]
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The seven-member Verona Area school board is made up of four members who may live in the district at-large and three members who must reside in specific geographic portions within the district. The Portion 1 member must live in the part of the district outside of the cities of Verona and Fitchburg. The Portion 2 member must live in Fitchburg, and the Portion 3 member must live in Verona. Each term is three years long. In a three year cycle, one at-large member and one portion member is elected each year for two years while during the third year, two at-large members and one portion member are elected.[4]
While candidates for the board must conform to the above residency requirements to run for the Portions 1, 2, or 3 seats, all elections for the board are held at large. Elections are also nonpartisan, meaning candidates appear on the ballot without political party affiliations. When more than one at-large seat is up for election in a given year, the candidates for that race appear on a joint ballot. However, each geographic area always appears on a separate ballot.
School board candidates had to be at least 18 years old, U.S. citizens, and residents of the school district for a minimum of 28 consecutive days before filing as a candidate. They also could not be disqualified from voting under Wisconsin law.[5]
To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination papers with the school district clerk by January 3, 2017. If incumbents whose terms were up for re-election did not file to run in the race and did not file written notification that they would not be running, the candidate filing deadline could have been extended until January 6, 2017. The terms of candidates elected in the race started on April 24, 2017.[5]
Candidates and results
Portion 1
Results
| Verona Area School District, Portion 1 General Election, 1-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Meredith Stier-Christensen Incumbent (unopposed) |
99.23% | 4,488 |
| Write-in votes | 0.77% | 35 |
| Total Votes | 4,523 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Tamera Stanley," May 25, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Meredith Stier-Christensen | |
|---|---|
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Portion 3
Results
| Verona Area School District, Portion 3 General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Kristina Navarro-Haffner (unopposed) |
99.20% | 4,459 |
| Write-in votes | 0.8% | 36 |
| Total Votes | 4,495 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Tamera Stanley," May 25, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Kristina Navarro-Haffner | |
|---|---|
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At-Large
Results
| Verona Area School District, At-large General Election, 3-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Russell King Incumbent (unopposed) |
98.83% | 4,487 |
| Write-in votes | 1.17% | 53 |
| Total Votes | 4,540 | |
| Source: Elisabeth Moore, "Email correspondence with Tamera Stanley," May 25, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| Russell King | |
|---|---|
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2017
The Verona Area School District school board election shared the ballot with elections for the office of Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction and one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Voters in the district also decided on three bonds.[6][7]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2017:[8][9]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| January 3, 2017 | Candidate filing deadline |
| January 16, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for candidates registered before January 1 |
| February 13, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for districts holding primary elections |
| March 27, 2017 | Campaign finance deadline for general election |
| April 4, 2017 | Election Day |
| April 24, 2017 | Board members take office |
| July 15, 2017 | Post-election campaign finance deadline |
Endorsements
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
No candidate in this election filed contributions or expenditures, according to the Verona Area School District.[10]
All school board candidates in Wisconsin were required to file a campaign registration statement with the Wisconsin Ethics Commission after qualifying as candidates. This statement declares their candidacy to the county clerk's office and allows them to claim exemption from reporting campaign contributions and expenditures. Candidates were only required to report campaign contributions and expenditures if they did one or both of the following:[11]
- Accepted contributions, made disbursements, or incurred debt in excess of $2,000 during the calendar year
- Accepted more than $100 from a single source during the calendar year, barring contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
There were three campaign finance report deadlines in 2017:
- The pre-primary report was due February 13, 2017,
- The pre-election report was due March 27, 2017, and
- The post-election report was due July 15, 2017.[12]
Candidates who filed before January 1, 2017, also had to file a continuing campaign finance report on January 16, 2017.[9]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2016Portion 2
At-large
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What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
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Candidate survey
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Three bonds set for 2017 ballot
Voters in the Verona Area school district passed three bonds in the April 2017 general election. The first bond asked voters to approve exceeding the revenue limit by $2,289,747 for the 2020-2021 school year and thereafter for new district facilities and grounds operational expenses. The second asked voters to approve $18,520,000 in order to construct a swimming pool and competition athletic fields. The third asked voters to approve $162,760,000 in order to construct a new high school and renovate other schools.[7][13]
Election trends
- See also: School board elections, 2017
The Verona Area School District saw one candidate file per seat in the 2017 election. That number was 1.50 in the 2016 election. In 2015, the Wisconsin state average of unopposed seats was 32.00 percent, and the U.S. average was 35.95 percent. During the same year, 35.29 percent of the seats up for election in Wisconsin were filled by newcomers, while newcomers won 40.81 percent of school board seats in the largest school districts across the United States. The state saw a lower rate of seats won by newcomers in 2014 when that rate was 23.33 percent, while it was 38.24 percent in the U.S.
| School board election trends | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Verona Area School District | |||||
| 2017 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 100.00% | 33.33% | |
| 2016 | 1.50 | 50.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| Wisconsin | |||||
| 2015 | 1.38 | 32.00% | 84.00% | 35.29% | |
| 2014 | 1.40 | 46.67% | 88.46% | 23.33% | |
| United States | |||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.59% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
About the district
- See also: Verona Area School District, Wisconsin
The Verona Area School District serves the community of Verona in Dane County. The seat of county government is Madison. Located in south-central Wisconsin, the county was home to approximately 523,643 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 28th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 5,411 students.[14][15]
Demographics
Higher education achievement
Dane County outperformed Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 47.9 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.8 percent for the state as a whole and 29.8 percent for the entire country.[15]
Median household income
From 2011 to 2015, the median household income in the county was $62,865, compared to $53,357 for the state as a whole. During that same period, the median household income for the entire United States was $53,889.[15]
Poverty rate
The poverty rate in Dane County was 11.2 percent from 2011 to 2015. During that same period, the poverty rate was 12.1 percent statewide, and it was 13.5 percent for the country as a whole.[15]
| Racial Demographics, 2015[15] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Dane County (%) | Wisconsin (%) |
| White | 85.8 | 87.6 |
| Black or African American | 5.4 | 6.6 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.5 | 1.1 |
| Asian | 5.8 | 2.8 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Two or More Races | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 6.3 | 6.6 |
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 Verona Area School District Wisconsin election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Verona Area School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email conversation with Tamera Stanley," January 16, 2017
- ↑ County of Dane, County Clerk's Office, "2017 Spring Election: Unofficial Canvass," accessed April 4, 2017
- ↑ Connect Fitchburg, "Board appoints two members," May 5, 2016
- ↑ Verona Area School District, "Board Policies," accessed February 10, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Wisconsin Association of School Boards, "Guide for Candidates: 2017 Spring Election Edition," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Election Commission, "Candidate Tracking by Office: 2017 Spring Election - 4/4/2017," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Verona Area School District, "What is on the ballot?" accessed February 23, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Guided for Candidates," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Campaign Finance Checklist," accessed December 16, 2016
- ↑ Elisabeth Moore, "Email exchange with Tamera Stanley," March 29, 2017
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "11.0104 Reporting exemptions: limited activity," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Wisconsin Ethics Commission, "Filing Deadlines and Reporting Periods," accessed December 15, 2016
- ↑ Dane County, "2017 Spring Election Unofficial Canvass," accessed April 5, 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
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 United States Census Bureau, "Dane County, Wisconsin," accessed January 13, 2017
| Verona Area School District elections in 2017 | |
| Dane County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 4, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Portion 1: Incumbent, Meredith Stier-Christensen Portion 3: Kristina Navarro-Haffner |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
