Robert Edwards (Ohio)

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Robert Edwards
Board Member, Westerville City School District, At-large
Former candidate
Elections and appointments
Last election	November 5, 2013
Term limits	N/A
Education
Associate	Clark State Community College
Bachelor's	Franklin University
Personal
Profession	Information Technology Professional
Websites
Campaign website
Robert Edwards campaign logo
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Robert Edwards was a candidate for the Westerville City School Board. He lost election to the board on November 5, 2013 against six fellow challengers and one incumbent.

Biography

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Edwards has his Associate of Applied Science degree from Clark State Community College and his Bachelor's degree in Information Technology from Franklin University. He has been an Information Technology Professional for 35 years. Edwards is also married with two children.

Elections

2013

See also: Westerville City School District elections (2013)

Eight candidates declared their intentions to run for three at-large seats on the Westerville City School Board. Three of the candidates — Jim Burgess, Luke Davis and John Sodt — announced that they would run for the Westerville Board of Education as a unit, saying electing them as a team would prove effective for change in the district.

Results

Westerville City School District, At-large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Nancy Nestor‐Baker	17.8%	5,086
	Nonpartisan	Tracy A. Davidson	17.2%	4,900
	Nonpartisan	Rick A. Vilardo	15.1%	4,316
	Nonpartisan	Jim Burgess	13.4%	3,819
	Nonpartisan	Luke Davis	11.4%	3,238
	Nonpartisan	John Sodt	11.2%	3,192
	Nonpartisan	Kevin Hoffman Incumbent	9.3%	2,659
	Nonpartisan	Robert Edwards	4.5%	1,296
Total Votes				28,506
Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, "Election Summary Report for General Election in Franklin County, Ohio," accessed December 13, 2013

Endorsements

Edwards was not endorsed in this campaign.

Funding

Edwards reported no contributions or expenditures to the Ohio Secretary of State.

Campaign themes

Edwards stated the following on his website as his priorities for WCSD:

Technology Explore feasibility of an electronic tablet or laptop in the hands of every student Textbooks delivered electronically Increase online learning Long-distance learning capability between all schools Extra Curricular Sports, band, arts would no longer be allowed “on the chopping block” (in lean times, consider higher fees and other options before the threat of cuts) Self-funded models explored for sports, band, arts, etc. Transportation Busing services restored to 2010 levels (1 mile and over vs. state mandated 2 mile rule) Remove the 1 mile and high school service from chopping block threat when levies are proposed Allow all (9-12) high school students over 1 mile who need transportation to ride in recognition that we assign kids in one county to attend school in another, kids are breaking the law by driving numerous kids in vehicles, and we do not have adequate public transportation throughout the district area Communication/Community Involvement Expansion of community engagement in board decision making Increase diversity of viewpoints to be heard on committees and work groups by inviting a better variety of participants (instead of too often the same ones who dominate the process and don’t allow for new voices to be heard) Request board agendas be distributed at least one week before board meeting to allow better board and public review Greater transparency Extensive online district phonebook/communications portal Financial Strive to set a goal of no new levies until 2020 so that Westerville will not be the second highest in the area per 100k valuation (or worse, move to the highest position) Smaller, less frequent levies (with a target goal of no more frequent than every 5 years) Increases in spending lock-step with CPI Zero-based budgeting Limit debt in use of capital improvement funding Board member representation at all contract negotiations Stretch goal: save district $50 million minimum between 2014 and 2020 Consolidation of administrative positions through attrition (review every one that comes open before automatically filling) Establish a position to seek grants, private/public partnership and other funding opportunities Review benefits and salary schedules and compare with private sector and other districts Study districts like Gahanna who maintain a A rating without passing levies so often Benefits brought in-line with private sector New hire practices based upon job requirements Tightening of spending policies in non-salary employee expenditures Sale of non-school use properties Review and reform procurement policies and procedures to ensure all expenses over a certain threshold are competitively bid out to ensure services/products are secured for the best price, similar to how local governments operate Explore additional revenue opportunities like advertising/sponsorships, fee-based after school study/latchkey programs for the middle school level, and form a committee to explore other ideas Operations District administration running “leaner and cleaner” Greater accessibility to administration and public records Better defined organizational chart More defined job descriptions

Note: The above quote is from the candidate's website, which may include some typographical or spelling errors.

About the district

See also: Westerville City School District, Ohio

Westerville City School District is located in Westerville, Ohio

Westerville City School District is located in the city of Westerville, which is situated in central Ohio. The city's population was 36,120 according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Demographics

In terms of graduation rate, average household income and poverty rate, Westerville overperformed in these areas by a fairly wide margin. The graduation rate was 96.5% compared to 87.8% statewide. The average household income was $83,234 compared to $48,071 in the entire state. The poverty rate with 6.3%, while the poverty rate for Ohio was 14.8%.

Racial Demographics, 2010
Race	Westerville City (%)	Ohio (%)
White	88.6	83.4
Black	6.4	12.5
Asian	2.3	1.8
Hispanic or Latino	1.9	3.3
American Indian	0.2	0.3
Two or More Races	2.1	2.0

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.

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term "Robert + Edwards + Westerville + City + School + District + Ohio"

Robert Edwards News Feed

See also

• Westerville City School District
• Westerville City School District elections (2013)

External links

Suggest a link

• District page
• Campaign page
• Facebook page