William Lubaway
William Lubaway was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Farmington Public School District school board in Michigan. Lubaway was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Lubaway was a candidate for an at-large seat on the Farmington Board of Education in Michigan. The seat was up for general election on November 4, 2014. William Lubaway lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Biography
Lubaway earned his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Detroit Mercy. He is the co-founder of healthcare consulting firm Lubaway, Masten & Company, LLC.[1]
Elections
2016
Five of the seven seats on the Farmington Public School District school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. These seats included three seats with six-year terms and two seats with two-year terms. Incumbent Terri Ann Weems ran against challengers Donald David, Clark Doughty, Bruce Lilley, William Lubaway, Tammy Luty, Ed Richardson, Tera Shamey, Angie Smith, and James Stark for the six-year terms. Weems, Smith, and Stark won these seats. Incumbent David Turner and Mark Przeslawski defeated Fritz Beiermeister for the two-year terms.[2]
Results
| Farmington Public School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Terri Ann Weems Incumbent |
18.22% | 13,851 |
| Angie Smith |
13.72% | 10,434 |
| James Stark |
12.02% | 9,142 |
| Tammy Luty | 11.10% | 8,438 |
| Clark Doughty | 9.86% | 7,499 |
| Donald David | 7.80% | 5,929 |
| Bruce Lilley | 7.32% | 5,568 |
| Ed Richardson | 7.06% | 5,367 |
| Tera Shamey | 6.37% | 4,844 |
| William Lubaway | 5.90% | 4,487 |
| Write-in votes | 0.61% | 466 |
| Total Votes | 76,025 | |
| Source: Oakland County Elections Division, "November 8, 2016 General Election," November 22, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $6,710.00 and spent a total of $12,632.11 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds.[5]
Six-year terms
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terri Ann Weems (incumbent) | $6,510.00 | $6,162.61 | $347.39 |
| Donald David | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Clark Doughty | $0.00 | $1,153.35 | -$1,153.35 |
| Bruce Lilley | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| William Lubaway | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Tammy Luty | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ed Richardson | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Tera Shamey | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Angie Smith | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| James Stark | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Two-year terms
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| David Turner (incumbent) | $200.00 | $5,316.15 | $5,116.15 |
| Fritz Beiermeister | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Mark Przeslawski | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
2014
The election in Farmington featured two at-large seats up for general election on November 4, 2014. Incumbent Trisha L. Balazovic ran against challengers Jessica Cummings, Terry L. Johnson and William J. Lubaway for the seats. Fellow board member Frank L. Reid did not file for re-election. Jessica Cummings and Terry L. Johnson defeated the other two candidates to win the two seats.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Jessica Cummings |
33.9% | 13,171 | |
| Nonpartisan | Terry L. Johnson |
25.3% | 9,806 | |
| Nonpartisan | Trisha L. Balazovic Incumbent | 23.1% | 8,948 | |
| Nonpartisan | William J. Lubaway | 17.4% | 6,740 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.3% | 133 | |
| Total Votes | 38,798 | |||
| Source: Oakland County Elections Division, "November 4, 2014 General Election," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Lubaway reported $2,745.00 in contributions and $1,016.79 in expenditures during the election, which left him with $1,728.21 on hand according to the Oakland County Elections Division.[6]
Endorsements
Lubaway did not receive any official endorsements during the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
William Lubaway participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on September 6, 2016:
| “ | Maintain the progress the district has made on financial affairs. Focus like a laser on improving the quality of education and learning environment. Get teacher buy in on improvements.[7][8] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| “ | The district has a history of poor financial management.[8] | ” |
| —William Lubaway (September 6, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. Fox guarding the hen house. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Everyone doesn't have the same capacity to learn. So the tests have to allow for the capabilities of the students. Big question - are the students improving? |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| Another bad government idea. Overly complex. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Merit pay is a good idea but it falls apart when the discussion gets to the metrics to measure performance. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. We already do that in Michigan. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Develop a process that is viewed as fair (tough job) and certain. Then do it for the good of the students who are willing learners. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Teachers. If the students aren't receiving parental support, there's not enough time in the day to make up for that lack. |
Additional themes
Lubaway provided the following statement on his priorities for the district to the League of Women Voters Oakland Area:
| “ |
A school board has one essential job – hire or fire the superintendent who will lead the district in providing a high quality education to our students. When the district stumbled on that mission, it hired Dr. Heitsch who went to work to fix finances so that the district could focus on improving student education. This is particularly important to Bill now that 2 of his grandchildren have become students in the system and their parents are looking forward to 11 more years of high quality education. In the recent past, quality has slipped because the district failed to adapt to its changing demographics. The Board’s job then is make sure that appropriate multi-year improvement goals are set and to measure the District’s progress to achieve those quality goals. It is important to help students realize their potential whatever that may be.[9][8] |
” |
| —William Lubaway (2016) | ||
What was at stake?
Issues in the election
Candidate survey answers
The four candidates who ran for school board in 2014 provided the following answers to a survey conducted by The Farmington Observer:
| “ | Do you believe pensions provided to retirees of the public school system are fair and equitable? If not, what’s a solution for this growing burden of legacy costs that continue to drain school budgets in Farmington and throughout Michigan?
Trisha L. Balazovic: I believe that true reform is needed regarding the pension system in Michigan. The system is currently over $24 billion dollars underfunded for our teacher’s retirement. That number in itself shows how unstable this system is and the risk to our teachers’ pensions. I believe that Michigan should move to a cash balance plan similar to states such as Kansas, Kentucky and Nebraska. Under such a system, the state and school districts save money and the benefit to the teachers is secure, preventing future legislation from hurting their retirement savings. Jessica Cummings: The state of Michigan determines, without negotiation, what school districts must pay for employee retirement. Those costs on districts have nearly doubled in the last eight years. This is due to fewer workers paying into the fund because of districts across the state being financially forced to outsource jobs such as custodians, nutrition services and bus drivers. Even with a budget surplus in Lansing, school districts are being told to use more of their per pupil foundation allowance (a number set by Lansing) to fund legacy costs. The state determines how much our district receives per student and how much the district must pay in retirement for each teacher. The state is lowering the dollar amount per student and raising legacy costs per employee. We must call on Lansing to fix this problem, which poses serious financial challenges to the district. Terry L. Johnson: I would like to see a long-term a plan in which the public school districts allow each individual employee to individually manage their own plan. I think the district should contribute a portion to the plan but long term it’s up to the employee to manage, direct and be responsible for their own retirement. William J. Lubaway: A common sense guideline is to pay today for services today. That’s easy with paychecks but requires expert help to identify the current cost of future benefits such as pensions. Then it takes fiscal discipline to set aside the funds to pay for those future benefits now. Ignore this discipline and end up paying today for today’s services, last year’s services and 1980’s services. Some counties and cities have calculated the amount of unfunded pensions, frozen the liabilities and issued bonds. That still leaves the question of who pays — the state or the school district. There’s no pot of gold with which to pay down this liability. Detroit ignored pension liabilities until it tipped into bankruptcy and the pension liability was reduced by reducing future pension payments to retirees. Should the school district consider outsourcing more services as a cost-saving measure? Why or why not? Trisha L. Balazovic: It has been a number of years since the FPS Board has fully considered outsourcing more services. In order to balance our budget while continuing to provide the best classroom and school experience for our students, we need to consider every option that could provide significant savings, and then weigh the risk versus the reward. I have researched districts that have outsourced services and in some cases it was successful for the district and the employees and in others it didn’t have the expected savings impact for the district and the employees were hurt in the process. Jessica Cummings: Outsourcing is one reason why legacy costs are out of control. We should not outsource our workforce. With that said, if the lawmakers in Lansing continue to cut funding, we must make sure to keep those cuts as far from the classroom and extra district programing as we can. With cuts to funding, all options for cost savings must be considered. Terry L. Johnson: The school district is in financial crisis. We need to be competitive in every area. I believe we first give our employees the opportunity to compete on any service that they are currently performing. If our employees can perform the task at a competitive level then we should remain with our team. William J. Lubaway: Compared to other public schools in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne in 2012-13, costs in areas usually subject to outsourcing are fairly close to average. Instruction Staff Support is $772 (70 percent) above average. Two considerations apply here: (1) to the extent these costs should be reduced, the method is not germane; (2) these comparisons are two budget years old, which means that reductions may have already been made. If you could single-handedly change one thing about Farmington Public Schools, what would it be? Trisha L. Balazovic: I believe that Farmington Public Schools district is a fantastic place to live in and raise children. We have some the best teachers in the state. We offer incredible programs for our students and community. And as we move forward, we will only continue to improve upon all of these things. If I could change one thing about Farmington Public Schools, it would be the perception that people within our own district have of the school system. To do that we need to build trust back with the community and implement additional transparency throughout everything we do. Jessica Cummings: The one issue I will tackle first as a school board member will be improving, increasing, and building communication between the board and the community. In my conversations with residents, it has become apparent that the community wants open lines of communication with the board, and many residents do not think open lines of communication currently exist. Building the bridges of communication with the community is critical for the district's future success. Working together with the community, the board will be able to accomplish much more when handling difficult issues, which I anticipate will be presented to the board in the near future. The financial situation in the district, and other challenging issues, will test the board’s abilities when making decisions. Strong communication is crucial. I will work with my colleagues on the board to find and implement immediate solutions to this issue. Communication is the bedrock upon which all progress in this district will be built.I will request to be appointed to the board’s Community Relations Committee.I will investigate this issue by discussing with my colleagues past communication procedures. I want the committee to brainstorm solutions for this issue and present potential solutions to the board, the PTA Council, and the community. Community feedback and input will be imperative when building and strengthening the bridges of communication. Once solutions are identified, I will work with the Community Relations Committee to implement solutions. An important part of implementing solutions will be following up at later dates to ensure that solutions are working as anticipated. Every effort the board makes to provide a high quality of education, make difficult financial decisions, and improve the district will begin with the foundation of communication and understanding. Terry L. Johnson: I would like to make sure each and every student is successful with his or her test scores, and preparation for higher education. I would like to see our school district return to the exemplary level that we once were. There was a time when a student graduated from Farmington Public Schools and was prepared for the next level. Today that is not the case. I want our district to return to being one of the best districts in the state. William J. Lubaway: Balance the budget while achieving excellent educational quality.[8] |
” |
| —The Farmington Observer survey (2014)[10] | ||
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms William Lubaway Farmington Public School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Farmington Public School District, Michigan
- Farmington Public School District elections (2016)
- Farmington Public School District elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ William Lubaway for School Board, "About," accessed October 25, 2016
- ↑ Oakland County Elections Division, "Unofficial Candidate List," August 19, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, "Campaign Finance Reporting System," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Oakland County Elections Division, "Campaign Finance - Oakland County Clerk," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "William Lubaway's responses," September 6, 2016
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ League of Women Voters Oakland Area, "Voter Guide - November General Election," accessed October 25, 2016
- ↑ The Farmington Observer, "FPS candidates talk pensions, outsourcing," October 10, 2014
| 2016 Farmington Public School District Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | Six-year terms (Three seats): Incumbent, Terri Ann Weems • Donald David • Clark Doughty • Bruce Lilley • William Lubaway • Tammy Luty • Ed Richardson • Tera Shamey • Angie Smith • James Stark Two-year terms (Two seats): Incumbent, David Turner • Fritz Beiermeister • Mark Przeslawski |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
| 2014 Farmington Public School District Elections | |
| Oakland County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Trisha L. Balazovic • Jessica Cummings • Terry L. Johnson • William J. Lubaway |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
