Las Cruces Public Schools elections (2015)

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2015 Las Cruces Public Schools Elections
General Election date:
February 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 Mexico Las Cruces Public Schools Dona Ana County, New Mexico ballot measures Local ballot measures, New Mexico

Two seats on the Las Cruces Public Schools Board of Education were up for general election on February 3, 2015.

District 4 incumbent Bonnie Votaw did not file for re-election. Four candidates, Maury Castro, Eldon Troy Tudor, Paul E. Garcia and Paul A. Blevins, vied for her seat. Castro defeated his fellow challengers to win election to the board. District 5 incumbent Connie Phillips faced challenger Edward Frank and lost her bid for re-election.

Two of the six candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "What was at stake?" section to see their answers.

About the district

See also: Las Cruces Public Schools, New Mexico

Las Cruces Public Schools is located in Doña Ana County, N.M.

The Las Cruces school district is located in Doña Ana County in southern New Mexico. The county seat is Las Cruces. Doña Ana County is home to 213,460 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau. During the 2011-2012 school year, Las Cruces Public Schools was the second-largest school district by enrollment in New Mexico and served 25,353 students.

Demographics

Higher education achievement

Doña Ana County outperformed the rest of New Mexico in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 26.6 percent of Doña Ana County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 25.8 percent for New Mexico as a whole.

Median household income

The median household income for Doña Ana County was $37,933 compared to $44,927 for the state of New Mexico.

Poverty rate

The percentage of people below poverty level for Doña Ana County was 27.0 percent while it was 20.4 percent statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2013
Race	Doña Ana County (%)	New Mexico (%)
White	92.2	82.9
Black or African American	2.2	2.5
American Indian and Alaska Native	2.3	10.4
Asian	1.3	1.6
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.2
Two or more races	1.8	2.4
Hispanic or Latino	66.6	47.3

Presidential Voting Pattern, Doña Ana County
Year	Democratic Vote (%)	Republican Vote (%)
2012	56.0	41.1
2008	58.0	41.0
2004	51.0	48.0
2000	51.3	45.6

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.

Voter and candidate information

The Las Cruces Board of Education consists of five members elected to four-year terms by specific geographic areas. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on February 3, 2015. The District 1, 2 and 3 seats were up for election in 2013, and the District 4 and 5 seats were up for election in 2015.

School board candidates must be registered voters residing within the school district they wish to represent. For the 2015 general election, candidates had to file a declaration of candidacy with their county elections office on December 16, 2014. Those wishing to run as a write-in candidate had to file on December 30, 2014. The candidate withdrawal deadline was also December 30, 2014.

To vote in the school board elections on February 3, 2015, voters had to register by January 6, 2015. In-person absentee voting, or early voting, began on January 9, 2015, and continued through January 30, 2015. To vote in-person absentee, registered voters had to mark their absentee ballot in-person at their county elections office on a weekday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the early voting period.

District 4

• Paul A. Blevins
• Maury Castro
  • Graduate, Western New Mexico University and New Mexico State University
  • Retired deputy director, New Mexico Department of Education
  • Veteran, Korean War
• Paul E. Garcia
  • Graduate, El Paso Community College, University of Texas at El Paso and Park University
  • Federal government official, U.S. Border Patrol
  • Children's book author
• Eldon Troy Tudor

District 5

• Connie Phillips
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Ball State University and New Mexico State University
  • Engineer
• Edward Frank
  • Graduate, West Chester University and Illinois Institute of Technology
  • Retired math teacher

District map

Election results

District 4

Las Cruces Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Maury Castro	41.9%	309
	Nonpartisan	Paul E. Garcia	21.1%	156
	Nonpartisan	Paul A. Blevins	20.7%	153
	Nonpartisan	Eldon Troy Tudor	16.3%	120
Total Votes				738
Source: Abbey Smith, "Email communication with Dona Ana County Elections Staff Coordinator Janice Giron," February 26, 2015

District 5

Las Cruces Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2015
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Edward Frank	57.5%	496
	Nonpartisan	Connie Phillips Incumbent	42.5%	367
Total Votes				863
Source: Abbey Smith, "Email communication with Dona Ana County Elections Staff Coordinator Janice Giron," February 26, 2015

Endorsements

District 4 candidate Paul E. Garcia was endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council Local 1929.

Campaign finance

The New Mexico Secretary of State's Office requires school board candidates in districts with an enrollment of 12,000 students or more to file an annual report each year. Candidates running for a seat on this district's school board had to file that annual report by April 13, 2015.

Past elections

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

2013 Las Cruces Public Schools, District 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Chuck Davis Incumbent 59.2% 221      Nonpartisan Lenwood P. Hampton 23.1% 86      Nonpartisan Brian King Marshall 17.7% 66 Total Votes 373 Source: Dona Ana County, "School Board Election February 5, 2013 Official Results," accessed December 17, 2014 Las Cruces Public Schools, District 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Barbara S. Hall Incumbent 100% 93 Total Votes 93 Source: Dona Ana County, "School Board Election February 5, 2013 Official Results," accessed December 17, 2014 Las Cruces Public Schools, District 3 General Election, 4-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Maria A. Flores Incumbent 75.4% 641      Nonpartisan Beverly K. Hine 24.6% 209 Total Votes 850 Source: Dona Ana County, "School Board Election February 5, 2013 Official Results," accessed December 17, 2014 2011 Las Cruces Public Schools, District 4 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Bonnie L. Votaw Incumbent 100% 39 Total Votes 39 Source: Dona Ana County, "Las Cruces School Board Official Results February 2, 2011," accessed December 17, 2014 Las Cruces Public Schools, District 5 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Connie Phillips Incumbent 100% 60 Total Votes 60 Source: Dona Ana County, "Las Cruces School Board Official Results February 2, 2011," accessed December 17, 2014

What was at stake?

2015

Issues in the election

Candidates discuss the frustrations of standardized testing

Standardized testing was a key issue discussed at the Las Cruces School Board candidate forum on January 21, 2015, which was sponsored and moderated by the League of Women Voters. All but one candidate running in the election on February 3, 2015, attended the forum. District 4 candidate Eldon Troy Tudor could not attend due to a prior commitment.

All five candidates agreed that a joy of learning should be instigated by teachers, and many voiced concerns that current state standardized testing requirements were getting in the way of that process. District 5 candidate Edward Frank said teachers should spend less time teaching to the test, and District 5 incumbent Connie Phillips agreed with him. She said that the school board could make strides to reduce some of the pressures teachers must deal with on a daily basis.

"The board of education should do everything it could to make sure those things are lifted off the teachers," said Phillips. She also said that the board should make sure the district's schools are in good condition.

District 4 candidate Paul A. Blevins said that an atmosphere focused on the joy of learning would help not only teachers and students, but also parents, school staff and administrators.

District 4 candidate Maury Castro said that process should start with who is hired and that the district should focus on finding teachers who truly enjoy being with children. He also said reducing class sizes would be even more important in that process.

Another District 4 candidate, Paul E. Garcia, said that to instill a joy in learning, teachers should focus on empowering each student's passion.

Frank promised he would be a strong supporter of changing standardized testing requirements in New Mexico, and Garcia said he would advocate for more communication to make sure parents are familiar with all the rules and requirements that come with standardized testing. Phillips told all in attendance at the forum that parents and students did have opportunities to opt out of standardized testing.

Ballotpedia survey responses

Two 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 District 4 candidate Maury Castro and District 5 candidate Edward Frank.

Top priorities

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, District 4 candidate Castro stated:

“	My top priority is do away with the current teacher evaluation criteria and to lower the over emphasis of testing on students so teachers can spend more time teaching.	”
—Maury Castro (2015)

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, District 5 candidate Frank stated:

“	We need a moratorium on the state mandated teacher evaluation system. The state system doesn't improve teaching and it erodes morale. What good is it?	”
—Edward Frank (2015)

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:

Issue importance ranking
Issue	Castro's ranking (District 4)	Frank's ranking (District 5)
Expanding arts education	2	3
Expanding career-technical education	6	1
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget	4	4
Improving college readiness	3	2
Closing the achievement gap	1	6
Improving education for special needs students	5	5
Expanding school choice options	7	7

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. The questions are shown in the left column of the following table, and the candidates' responses to those questions are shown in the two right columns.

Question	Castro's Response (District 4)	Frank's Response (District 5)
What is your stance on implementing Common Core standards?	"They should not be implemented."	"After further investigation I have discovered that the implementation of the Common Core has resulted in a proliferation of standardized tests. At this point, I believe that the Common Core is a detriment to quality education and it should be abandoned."*
Should your district approve the creation of new charter schools?	"No."	"only if they are part of the public school system and are not for profit."
Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system?	"No."	"No."
Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement?	"No."	"they are one of many ways to evaluate student achievement."
How can the district ensure equal opportunities for high and low achieving students?	"The district needs to make an in-depth assessment of cultural, social and ethnic differences. Then solicit adequate funding to implement special programs that are directed at increasing opportunities for all students. A study of best practices from around the country should also be conducted to see what works in similar regions so we can evaluate what will work for our district."	"Our schools should offer courses that will challenge even our smartest students. Low achieving students should have the availability of vocational courses so that they have marketable skills when they graduate."
How should expulsion be used in the district?	"Expulsion cases must be viewed on a case-by-case basis rather than the district having an overarching policy."	"Expulsion should only be used as a last resort and only when the expelled student poses a threat to other students and staff."
If a school is failing in your district, what steps should the school board take to help the students in that school?	"There should be a thorough evaluation looking at what factors are causing a school to fail. A one-size fits all approach should not be taken when looking for a solution, instead a case-by-case approach should be applied. The expansion of community inclusion should be used to help improve the school."	"Identify student weaknesses and remediate them by hiring reading specialists and tutors to provide extra help."
Do you support merit pay for teachers?	"No."	"No."
How should the district handle underperforming teachers?	"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."	"Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district."
How would you work to improve community-school board relations?	"There should be a formal program of inclusion, inviting the community to meeting and making school board meetings more inclusive. I'd like to have forums within the community as a way for parents to get more involved and informed."	"All decisions of the school board must be transparent. Also, the community deserves a voice at school board meeting."
*Frank emailed Ballotpedia on January 20, 2015 requesting to change his answer on Common Core. He previously answered "It should be implemented." In his email, he explained the change in the following way: "I've decided to change my answer with regard to the Common Core. After further investigation I have discovered that the implementation of the Common Core has resulted in a proliferation of standardized tests. At this point, I believe that the Common Core is a detriment to quality education and it should be abandoned."

Key deadlines

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

Deadline	Event
December 16, 2014	Candidate filing date
December 30, 2014	Write-in candidate filing date
December 30, 2014	Last day to withdraw as a candidate
January 6, 2015	Last day to register to vote in the election
January 9, 2015	First day to vote in-person absentee
January 30, 2015	Last day to vote in-person absentee
February 3, 2015	General election date
April 13, 2015	Last day to file annual campaign finance report

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: New Mexico elections, 2015

This election shared the ballot with other school board elections and mill levy and general obligation bond questions for Doña Ana Community College.

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term "Las + Cruces + Public + Schools + New + Mexico"

Las Cruces Public Schools News Feed

See also

Las Cruces Public Schools	New Mexico	School Boards
List of school districts in New Mexico	New Mexico school board elections, 2015 Public education in New Mexico Local ballot measures, New Mexico	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

• Las Cruces Public Schools
• Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections