Vineland Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Vineland Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links
See also
New Jersey Vineland Public Schools Cumberland County, New Jersey ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Jersey

Four seats on the Vineland Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on November 3, 2015. The seats of incumbents Frank DiGiorgio, Susanne Morello and Christopher Jennings were up for election to three-year terms, and the seat of incumbent Inez Acosta was up for a one-year term.

DiGiorgio and Morello did not file to run for re-election. Acosta and Jennings won re-election to three-year terms, and newcomer Jeffrey Bordley joined the board. They defeated challengers Cedric Holmes and Xavier Cardona. F. John Sbrana defeated Donald Carter Jr. to win the one-year term.

This election attracted a number of recent high school graduates. Cardona, Holmes and Carter graduated from Vineland High School in the spring of 2015. All three ran together as a slate under the slogan "Revitalizing Vineland's Education." They supported each other's campaigns and asked voters to put all of them on the board. If any of them had been elected, they would have been the district's youngest members to ever serve on the Board of Education.

See how this race compared to past school board elections in both the district and the state in the "Election trends" section.

About the district

See also: Vineland Public Schools, New Jersey

Vineland Public Schools is located in Cumberland County, N.J.

Vineland Public Schools is located in Cumberland County in southern New Jersey. The county seat of Cumberland County is Bridgeton. Cumberland County was home to approximately 157,389 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. During the 2012-2013 school year, Vineland Public Schools was the 18th-largest school district by enrollment in the state and served 9,771 students.

Demographics

Cumberland County underperformed compared to the rest of New Jersey in terms of education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 14.3 percent of Cumberland County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 35.8 percent for New Jersey as a whole. The median household income for Cumberland County was $50,750, compared to the state average of $71,629. The poverty rate in Cumberland County was 17.5 percent, while it was 10.4 percent statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Cumberland County (%)	New Jersey (%)
White	72.4	73.4
Black or African American	21.8	14.7
American Indian and Alaska Native	1.6	0.6
Asian	1.4	9.2
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.1	0.1
Two or More Races	2.7	2.0
Hispanic or Latino	28.6	18.9

Presidential Voting Pattern, Cumberland County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	34,055	20,658
2008	34,919	22,360
2004	27,875	24,362
2000	28,188	18,882

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 Vineland Board of Education consists of nine members elected at large to three-year terms. Members are elected on a staggered basis, with three members up for election every November. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015.

School board candidates had to be U.S. citizens and residents of the school district for at least one year prior to the election. They also had to be able to read and write and be registered voters. They could not hold another elected municipal office in Vineland Township, such as mayor or town council member. To get on the ballot, candidates had to file their nominating petitions with the Cumberland County Clerk's Office by July 27, 2015.

In order to vote in this election, residents of the school district had to be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old. They also had to have lived in the district for at least 30 days prior to the election. They had to file their Voter Registration Application and Party Affiliation Form with the Cumberland County Clerk's Office by October 13, 2015. Photo identification was not required to vote in New Jersey.

At-large three-year term (three seats)

Election results

Vineland Board of Education, Three-year term, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Inez Acosta Incumbent	26.1%	4,389
Christopher Jennings Incumbent	23.9%	4,012
Jeffrey Bordley	20.4%	3,434
Cedric Holmes	15.3%	2,569
Xavier Cardona	14.3%	2,402
Write-in votes	0.09%	15
Total Votes		16,821
Source: Cumberland County Clerk, "Official Results," accessed November 23, 2015

Candidates

Inez Acosta		Christopher Jennings		Jeffrey Bordley
	Incumbent Member from January 2015-November 2015 Municipal prosecutor, City of Vineland		Incumbent Member from 2012-2015 Supervising ITI, State of New Jersey Department of Corrections		Graduate, Cumberland County College Deputy fire marshal, Cumberland County Fire Marshals Office Business owner, Undercover Party Equipment

Xavier Cardona		Cedric Holmes
	Member of the "Revitalizing Vineland's Education" slate		Member of the "Revitalizing Vineland's Education" slate

At-large one-year term (one seat)

Election results

Vineland Board of Education, One-year term, General Election, 2015
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
F. John Sbrana	61.6%	3,720
Donald Carter Jr.	38.3%	2,311
Write-in votes	0.08%	5
Total Votes		6,036
Source: Cumberland County Clerk, "Official Results," accessed November 23, 2015

Candidates

Donald Carter Jr.		F. John Sbrana
	Member of the "Revitalizing Vineland's Education" slate		Retired director of communications, Vineland Public Schools

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

Candidates received a total of $1,917.00 and spent a total of $392.27 in the election, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures	Cash on hand
Inez Acosta	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Christopher Jennings	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Jeffrey Bordley	$460.00	$392.27	$67.73
Xavier Cardona, Cedric Holmes and Donald Carter Jr. (slate)	$300.00	$0.00	$300.00
F. John Sbrana	$1,157.00	$0.00	$1,157.00

School board candidates were required to file a Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository form if they received a contribution of any amount, including their own funds. They filed this form with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Three reports were required from candidates who received contributions: the 29-day pre-election report, the 11-day pre-election report and the 20-day post-election report. Contributions received between October 21, 2015, and November 3, 2015, required 48-hour notice reports.

Past elections

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

2014 See also: Vineland Public Schools elections (2014) Vineland Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Kimberly L. Codispoti 17.4% 3,693      Nonpartisan Joseph Pagano 15.9% 3,374      Nonpartisan Diamaris Rios Incumbent 15.6% 3,311      Nonpartisan Anthony Rizzo 15.2% 3,221      Nonpartisan Jason Scalzi 13.5% 2,860      Nonpartisan Eugene Medio Incumbent 13.1% 2,787      Nonpartisan Sean R. McCarron 9.4% 1,992      Nonpartisan Personal choice 0.1% 11 Total Votes 21,249 Source: Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Kelly A. Hoffman, Cumberland County Clerk's Office Principal Clerk Typist/Election Clerk," February 27, 2015 2013 See also: Vineland Public Schools elections (2013) Vineland Public School Board, At-Large Unexpired Term, 1-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Tom Ulrich Incumbent 42.8% 3,326      Nonpartisan Geralynn Testa-McCann 22.9% 1,780      Nonpartisan Wanda Lopez 20.9% 1,629      Nonpartisan Eric Girone 8.2% 635      Nonpartisan Ryan DeVito 5.2% 406      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 4 Total Votes 7,780 Source: Cumberland County Clerk, "2013 General Election Results," accessed January 29, 2014 Vineland Public School Board, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Richard Baruffi 25.8% 5,272      Nonpartisan Scott English Incumbent 21.2% 4,349      Nonpartisan Brian DeWinne 17.6% 3,607      Nonpartisan Alan Mounier Incumbent 13.3% 2,727      Nonpartisan Frank Bongiovanni Incumbent 13% 2,652      Nonpartisan David Mazur 9% 1,852      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 14 Total Votes 20,473 Source: Cumberland County Clerk, "2013 General Election Results," accessed January 29, 2014 2012 Vineland Board of Education, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2012 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Frank DiGiorgio Incumbent 30.8% 9,926      Nonpartisan Susanne Morello 21.6% 6,971      Nonpartisan Christopher Jennings 18.5% 5,969      Nonpartisan Frank Bongiovanni 14.9% 4,793      Nonpartisan Rigo Onofre 14.1% 4,549      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 19 Total Votes 32,227 Source: Cumberland County Board of Elections, "General - November 6, 2012," December 12, 2012 2011 Vineland Board of Education, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Carlos A. Mercado Jr. 21.7% 1,470      Nonpartisan Eugene Medio 17.3% 1,166      Nonpartisan Diamaris Rios Incumbent 16.4% 1,110      Nonpartisan Graig S. Parrish 15.9% 1,076      Nonpartisan Gary E. Beres 15.3% 1,034      Nonpartisan Rudolph W. Harris 6.7% 454      Nonpartisan Warren J. Devonshire Sr. 6.5% 440      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0.1% 9 Total Votes 6,759 Source: Cumberland County Board of Elections, "School Board Election Results," April 27, 2011

What was at stake?

2015

Election trends

See also: 2013 school board elections and 2014 school board elections

With four seats up for election in 2015, nearly half of the Vineland Board of Education had the potential to change hands. At least two new members were guaranteed to join the board as two incumbents did not file to run in the election. Each seat attracted some competition, though not as many candidates filed to run per seat compared to recent years. Five candidates ran for the three three-year terms, and two candidates ran for the one-year term. The race also included one candidate slate composed of three challengers, all recent high school graduates. A total of two newcomers were elected to the board. None of the recent graduates won the election.

Several new faces had been elected to the board in recent years. Three joined in 2013, and two joined in 2014. In both cases, newcomers defeated at least one incumbent to win a seat. Three incumbents ran to retain their seats in 2013. One was re-elected, but two were defeated in the at-large race for three three-year term seats. A fourth seat for an unexpired one-year term was left open. In 2014, only two incumbents ran for re-election. One kept her seat, but the other received the sixth-most votes and lost his.

A significant number of candidates ran for election to the board in both 2013 and 2014. The 2013 race attracted an average of 2.75 candidates per seat, and an average of 2.33 candidates ran per seat in 2014. These were both higher than the 2014 state average of two candidates per seat in New Jersey's largest school districts.

Vineland's 2014 race saw one candidate slate. Two out of the three members of that slate won election to the board.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Vineland Public Schools election in 2015:

Deadline	Event
July 27, 2015	Candidate filing deadline
July 31, 2015	Objection to petitions filing deadline
September 4, 2015	Candidate withdrawal deadline
October 5, 2015	29-day pre-election campaign finance report due
October 13, 2015	Voter registration deadline
October 23, 2015	11-day pre-election campaign finance report due
November 3, 2015	Election Day
November 23, 2015	20-day post-election campaign finance report due

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: New Jersey elections, 2015

The Vineland Public Schools election shared the ballot with two District 1 New Jersey General Assembly seats. It also shared the ballot with Cumberland County seats for County Committee and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

Recent news

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

Vineland Public Schools elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Vineland Public Schools	New Jersey	School Boards
Vineland Public Schools elections (2014) Vineland Public Schools elections (2013) List of school districts in New Jersey	New Jersey school board elections, 2015 Public education in New Jersey Local ballot measures, New Jersey	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

• Vineland Public Schools
• Cumberland County Clerk’s Office