Waukesha School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Waukesha School Board were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Three at-large board incumbents were up for re-election.
Incumbents Patricia Madden, Patrick McCaffery and Kurt O'Bryan won re-election against challengers Kari Schulte, Amanda Medina-Roddy and Paul Reese.[1][2] Three of the six candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
The three elections prior to this general election for Waukesha School District were entirely unopposed races. The last contested race in the district took place in 2011.
About the district
- See also: Waukesha School District, Wisconsin
Waukesha School District is located in Waukesha County in southeastern Wisconsin. The county seat is Waukesha. Waukesha County is home to 393,843 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] During the 2011-2012 school year, Waukesha School District was the seventh-largest school district in Wisconsin and served 13,770 students.[4]
Demographics
Waukesha County outperformed the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 39.4 percent of Waukesha County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.4 percent for Wisconsin as a whole. Between 2008 and 2012, the median household income in Waukesha County was $75,689 compared to $52,627 for the entire state. The poverty rate in Waukesha County was 5.0 percent between 2008 and 2012. During that same time period, the poverty rate statewide was 12.5 percent.[3]
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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 Waukesha School Board consists of nine members who are elected at-large on a staggered basis to three-year terms. Because no more than two candidates filed for any one board position, there was no primary election. The general election was held on April 7, 2015.
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. Furthermore, at the time of taking office, each candidate must be a resident of the apportioned area he or she is elected to represent.[6] Candidates must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[7]
Candidates had between December 1, 2014, and January 6, 2015, to collect between 100 and 200 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the district which the candidate sought election to represent, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years or older.[8]
Voters could register to vote in the election at the polling place on the election day. Proof of residence was required when registering to vote.[9] In March 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law allowing it to take effect. However, Wisconsin officials stated they would not enforce the law until after the election on April 7, 2015. No photo identification was required to vote in this election.[10]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
- Patricia Madden
- Incumbent, first elected in 2003
- Former Waukesha County Clerk
- Patrick McCaffery
- Incumbent, first elected in 2006
- IT manager
- Bachelor's degree, Carroll University
- Kurt O'Bryan
- Incumbent, appointed in February 2014
- Previously served on the board from 2004-2011
- Amanda Medina-Roddy
- Destination service consultant,
Community Orientation Services, Inc. - Wellness consultant, The Fundamental Kitchen
- Destination service consultant,
- Paul Reese
- Kari Schulte
- Engineer
Election results
| Waukesha School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Patricia Madden Incumbent |
18.2% | 5,197 | |
| Nonpartisan | Patrick McCaffery Incumbent |
17.5% | 4,992 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kurt O'Bryan Incumbent |
16.6% | 4,738 | |
| Nonpartisan | Amanda Medina-Roddy | 16.3% | 4,649 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kari Schulte | 16% | 4,562 | |
| Nonpartisan | Paul Reese | 15.4% | 4,383 | |
| Total Votes | 28,521 | |||
| Source: Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin 2015 spring general election results," April 7, 2015 These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results by contacting us. | ||||
Endorsements
Medina-Roddy was endorsed by State Assemblyman Chris Kapenga (R-99).[11]
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $8,065.36 and spent a total of $7,467.17 as of March 30, 2015, according to the Waukesha School District. Madden, McCaffery, Schulte and Reese filed as "Exempt from Filing Campaign Finance Records" on their campaign registration statements.[12] The next and final campaign finance reports for this election were due July 20, 2015.
Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:
- accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
- accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patricia Madden | Exempt | ||
| Patrick McCaffery | Exempt | ||
| Kurt O'Bryan | $5,765.36 | $5,765.36 | $0.00 |
| Amanda Medina-Roddy | $2,300.00 | $1,701.81 | $598.19 |
| Paul Reese | Exempt | ||
| Kari Schulte | Exempt | ||
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014Incumbents Barbara Brzenk, Joseph Como Jr. and Karin Rajnicek won re-election to the board without opposition on April 1, 2014. 2013William Baumgart, Steve Edlund and Ellen Langill won re-election to the board without opposition on April 2, 2013.[13] 2012Patricia Madden, Patrick McCaffery and Daniel Warren won re-election to the board without opposition on April 3, 2012.[14][15] 2011
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the district
Parents seek book ban; board refuses
Parents in the Waukesha School District sought a ban on the book Looking for Alaska by John Green, but on July 25, 2014, the school district's consideration committee, which is made up of teachers and school officials, unanimously decided to keep the book on the district's shelves and recommended reading lists. The parents said the book had inappropriate language and advanced sexual content and did not believe it was proper reading for middle school and high school students. David LaBorde, principal of Waukesha West High School and head of the consideration committee, said that despite the differing opinions, the decision to keep the book was completely unbiased.[16][17][18]
Bans on two additional books, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini and Chinese Handcuffs by Chris Crutcher, were also sought by parents who claimed the books' scenes of gang rape, extreme brutality and violence were not appropriate for readers under the age of 18.[18] The Kite Runner is used in the district's 10th grade English curriculum, but district officials said students always have the opportunity to opt out and choose a different book to read in exchange. Chinese Handcuffs is not used in the district's curriculum, but it is housed in the district's libraries. The consideration committee unanimously denied banning the books in their meeting on August 20, 2014.[19]
The board's decisions did not put an end to the discussion, which involved some of school board candidates. Kari Schulte commented on the requests regarding The Kite Runner and Chinese Handcuffs at the time and called one "a very disturbing book." She also stated that she did not think the books needed to be removed, but that parents should be informed of their content before students read them.[20] Paul Reese also spoke at the meeting regarding the book bans and has cited the board's decisions as part of his motivation for running in the election, calling the books "inappropriate" and "pornographic."[21]
Ballotpedia survey responses
Three of the six candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Patrick McCaffery, Kurt O'Bryan and Paul Reese.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, McCaffery stated:
| “ | My top priority has been and will continue to be closing the achievement gap within the Waukesha School District. Regardless of the contributing reasons for an achievement gap, necessary measures need to be taken to address it. I have been a strong proponent of personalized learning which will allow students to get more out of their education. I am also a supporter of district programs such as the AVID program which gives students the abilities needed to develop math and literacy skills which in turn improves critical thinking. These programs and initiatives are integral for college and career readiness.[22] | ” |
| —Patrick McCaffery (2015)[23] | ||
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, O'Bryan stated:
| “ | Ensure the image of the Waukesha School District is one that attracts high quality educators.[22] | ” |
| —Kurt O'Bryan (2015)[24] | ||
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Reese stated:
| “ | If I had to pick just one, then it would have to be to bring back the 4.0 GPA grading system (A,B,C,D,F). There is not a college in this country that doesn't accept anything but a 4.0 GPA grading system and if it is good enough for colleges, it ought to be good enough for parents. This is one of many things I would do to start reducing the confusion/frustration that many of us have.[22] | ” |
| —Paul Reese (2015)[25] | ||
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 displays the candidates' rankings from most to least important:
| Issue | McCaffery's ranking |
O'Bryan's ranking |
Reese's ranking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |||
| Closing the achievement gap | |||
| Expanding arts education | |||
| Expanding career-technical education | |||
| Expanding school choice options | |||
| Improving college readiness | |||
| Improving education for special needs students | |||
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 candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for Waukesha School District 2015 elections:[8][26]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report deadline |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report deadline |
| April 7, 2015 | General Election Day |
| July 20, 2015 | Final campaign finance report deadline |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and four Waukesha County Circuit Court seats were up for election on April 7, 2015. The race for Waukesha County Executive also appeared on the ballot.[27] Statewide, a constitutional amendment question regarding the selection of the state's supreme court chief justice was on the ballot.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Waukesha School District Wisconsin. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Waukesha School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Phone call with Waukesha School District Superintendent's Office," January 8, 2015
- ↑ Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin 2015 spring general election results," April 7, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Waukesha County, Wisconsin," accessed September 5, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Election Results," accessed January 28, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: CHAPTER 8," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Voter Registration," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wisconsin Decides Not to Enforce Voter ID Law," March 23, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Amanda Medina-Roddy: Timeline Photo," March 10, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Sue Ettinger, Executive Assistant to the WSD Superintendent’s Office," March 31, 2015
- ↑ Waukesha School District, "2013 Waukesha School Board Election," accessed February 10, 2014
- ↑ Waukesha School District, "Notice of Election of School Board Members," accessed September 20, 2014
- ↑ Waukesha Patch, "No Challengers Against Waukesha School Board Incumbents," January 4, 2012
- ↑ WISN2, "Waukesha school committee rejects request to ban book," July 25, 2014
- ↑ WHBL, "Waukesha School District parents challenging 3 books deemed inappropriate," July 27, 2014
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Waukesha Now, "Waukesha mom seeks to have two novels banned from schools," August 19, 2014
- ↑ Waukesha Now, "Waukesha school committee denies parent's request to ban 'The Kite Runner,' 'Chinese Handcuffs,'" August 20, 2014
- ↑ New Radio 620 WTMJ, "Request to ban 2 books at Waukesha schools denied," August 20, 2014
- ↑ Facebook, "Paul Reese for Waukesha School Board: About," accessed February 5, 2015
- ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Patrick McCaffery's responses," February 6, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Kurt O'Bryan's responses," February 5, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Paul Reese's responses," February 17, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Waukesha County Clerk, "Office to be Elected 2015 Spring Election," accessed January 9, 2015
| 2015 Waukesha School District Elections | |
| Waukesha County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Patricia Madden • Incumbent, Patrick McCaffery • Incumbent, Kurt O'Bryan • Kari Schulte • Amanda Medina-Roddy • Paul Reese |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
