Everything you need to know about ranked-choice voting in one spot. Click to learn more!

Whitefish Township Schools, Michigan, elections

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Whitefish Township Schools
School Board badge.png
District details
School board members: 5
Students: 48 (2023-2024)
Schools: 1 (2023-2024)
Website: Link

Whitefish Township Schools is a school district in Michigan (Chippewa County). During the 2024 school year, 48 students attended the district's single school.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Jump to a section:
Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

Do you know of an individual or group that endorsed a candidate for a position on this board? Click here to let us know.

Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.

Whitefish Township Schools, At-large

General election

General election for Whitefish Township Schools, At-large (3 seats)

Teresa Biehl, Kim Bedell Kirby, and Christopher Lucas ran in the general election for Whitefish Township Schools, At-large on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Teresa Biehl (Nonpartisan)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Kim Bedell Kirby (Nonpartisan)
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Christopher Lucas (Nonpartisan)

There are no incumbents in this race.

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board general elections in Michigan are held on the first Tuesday after the First Monday in November every two years in even-numbered years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Recent or upcoming election dates for all local school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all local school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

  • Filing deadline date: July 21, 2026
  • General election date: November 3, 2026

Election system

School board members in Michigan are elected through nonpartisan general elections without primaries.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Michigan are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Michigan Election Law on school board candidate nominating petitions states, "(2)The nominating petition must be substantially in the form prescribed in section 544c, except that the petition must be nonpartisan." It also states, "At any regular election, the names of the several nonpartisan offices to be voted for shall be placed on a separate portion of the ballot containing no party designation in the following order: [...], and in a year in which an election for the office is held, local school district board member, metropolitan district officer, and district library board member."

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303 and Section 168.699

Winning an election

The candidate or candidates that receive the most votes in the nonpartisan general election are elected to office.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.307

Term length and staggering

All school districts other community school districts in Michigan have board member terms of either four or six years depending on the board by-laws. As of 2022, 60% of school districts in Michigan had six-year board member terms, and 40% -- including community school districts -- had four-year board member terms.

Community school districts in Michigan have four-year board member terms. Initial terms for the first board members of newly organized community school districts are two, four, or six years to stagger elections.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.11a and Michigan Statute Section 380.384

For community school districts in Michigan, as close to half of school board members as possible for each district are elected every two years, which means either three or four seats are up for election at each even-year election. At the first board member election after community school districts are first organized, all seven board member seats are elected. Two members are elected to two-year terms, three members are elected to four-year terms, and two members are elected to six-year terms, with higher vote totals dictating longer initial terms. After initial terms, all board members have four-year terms, which results in staggered elections: four seats up in one election and three seats up in the next election.

Michigan statute requires that at least one board member must be elected every two years at each regular even-year election. Specific seat staggering details for school districts other than community school districts are determined at the local level by the district board's bylaws. Most districts with four-year board member terms elect as close to half of board members as possible every two years. Most districts with six-year board member terms elect as close to one-third of board members as possible every two years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Michigan Statute Section 168.301

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members in Michigan are elected at large by all voters in the district.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303, Section 168.307, and Section 380.384 (3)

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

School board candidates must file affidavits and nomination petitions or candidate filing fees by 4 p.m. on the 15th Tuesday before the November election. This means that the school board candidate filing deadline is in late July every even-numbered year.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 168.303


Newly elected school board members in Michigan officially take office on January 1 of the year following the election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Michigan Statute Section 380.384 and Section 168.302

 


About the district

School board

Whitefish Township Schools consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members
NameYear assumed officeYear term ends
Teresa Biehl2028
Kimberly Kirby2028
Christopher Lucas2028
Patrick Rowley2026
Karen Ruehl2026

Join the conversation about school board politics

Ballotpedia's Hall Pass

Your Ticket to Understanding School Board Politics



  • Unlock the full dataset for your own use cases — explore subscription options to our comprehensive list of all school board members in the country.
    Unlock the full dataset for your own use cases — explore subscription options to our comprehensive list of all school board members in the country.
    Read more


District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Whitefish Township Schools
Office NameCurrent OfficeholderParty% School District Covered% Other District Covered
Michigan House of Representatives District 108David PrestinRepublican Party 100% 3%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]

Revenue, 2021-2022
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $247,000 $4,660 12%
Local: $1,317,000 $24,849 64%
State: $485,000 $9,151 24%
Total: $2,049,000 $38,660
Expenditures, 2021-2022
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $2,094,000 $39,509
Total Current Expenditures: $1,559,000 $29,415
Instructional Expenditures: $807,000 $15,226 39%
Student and Staff Support: $1,000 $18 0%
Administration: $418,000 $7,886 20%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $333,000 $6,283 16%
Total Capital Outlay: $376,000 $7,094
Construction: $114,000 $2,150
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $0 $0
Interest on Debt: $30,000 $566

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 <=10 PS <=20
2018-2019 21-39 PS 21-39
2017-2018 <=20 PS <=20
2016-2017 <=20 PS <50
2015-2016 21-39 PS PS <50
2014-2015 <50 <50
2013-2014 40-59 40-59
2012-2013 21-39 21-39
2011-2012 21-39 21-39
2010-2011 >=80 >=80

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 11-19 PS <=20
2018-2019 40-59 PS 21-39
2017-2018 <=20 PS <=20
2016-2017 <=20 PS <50
2015-2016 <50 PS <50
2014-2015 <50 <50
2013-2014 60-79 60-79
2012-2013 40-59 40-59
2011-2012 40-59 40-59
2010-2011 >=80 >=80

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 PS PS
2018-2019 >=50 >=50
2017-2018 PS PS
2016-2017 PS PS
2015-2016 PS PS
2014-2015 PS PS
2013-2014 PS PS
2012-2013 PS PS
2011-2012 PS PS
2010-2011 >=50 >=50

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2023-2024 48 -31.3
2022-2023 63 15.9
2021-2022 53 -20.8
2020-2021 64 18.8
2019-2020 52 9.6
2018-2019 47 10.6
2017-2018 42 23.8
2016-2017 32 46.9
2015-2016 17 -41.2
2014-2015 24 -37.5
2013-2014 33 -36.4
2012-2013 45 -2.2
2011-2012 46 -8.7
2010-2011 50 -2.0
2009-2010 51 2.0
2008-2009 50 -16.0
2007-2008 58 5.2
2006-2007 55 -16.4
2005-2006 64 0.0
2004-2005 64 -29.7
2003-2004 83 1.2
2002-2003 82 3.7
2001-2002 79 0.0
2000-2001 79 2.5
1999-2000 77 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2023-2024
RACE Whitefish Township Schools (%) Michigan K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 6.3 0.6
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 0.0 3.7
Black 0.0 18.2
Hispanic 0.0 9.2
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.0 0.1
Two or More Races 27.1 5.3
White 66.7 63.0

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.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]

As of the 2023-2024 school year, Whitefish Township Schools had 7.00 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 6.86.

Teachers, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 0.00
Kindergarten: 0.00
Elementary: 2.10
Secondary: 4.40
Total: 7.00

Whitefish Township Schools employed 0.70 district administrators and 0.30 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrators, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 0.70
District Administrative Support: 0.00
School Administrators: 0.30
School Administrative Support: 1.00
Other staff, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 1.00
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 0.00
Total Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 0.00
Librarians/Media Specialists: 0.00
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 0.00
Other Support Services: 5.08

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]

Whitefish Township Schools operates one school. It is listed below.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Whitefish Township School48PK-12


About school boards

Education legislation in Michigan

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards Education Policy Local Politics Michigan
School Board badge.png
Education Policy Icon.png
Local Politics Image.jpg
Seal of Michigan.png

External links

  • Office website
  • Search Google News for this topic

    • Footnotes

    1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    2. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
    3. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    4. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    5. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    v • e
    Michigan school districts
    Flag of Michigan
    v • e
    State of Michigan
    Lansing (capital)
    Elections

    What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures

    Government

    Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy

    Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Whitefish_Township_Schools,_Michigan,_elections&oldid=10231757"