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Pam Robinson
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Pamela "Pam" Robinson was a Position 1 representative on the Blue Valley Unified School District Board of Education in Kansas. First elected to the board in 2003, she won re-election to a fourth-consecutive term in the general election on April 7, 2015. Robinson participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
Biography
Robinson earned a B.S. in education from Creighton University in 1978.[1] She was a classroom teacher from 1978 to 1994. She served as president of the Kansas Association of School Boards from 2009 to 2010. She has one child who graduated from the district.[2]
Elections
2015
Four seats were up for election on April 7, 2015: Positions 1, 2, 3, and 7. Position 1 incumbent Pam Robinson faced and defeated challenger Alana Roethle. Meanwhile, Larry Fotovich lost to Position 3 incumbent Cindy Bowling.[3]
Position 2 incumbent Tony Thill was the only incumbent up for re-election who did not file for the race. Patrick J. Hurley was the sole candidate to file for the open seat and won the election. Also winning unopposed was at-large Position 7 incumbent Thomas Mitchell.[3]
Results
| Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Position 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Pam Robinson Incumbent |
80.1% | 5,536 | |
| Nonpartisan | Alana Roethle | 19.8% | 1,370 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.1% | 8 | |
| Total Votes | 6,914 | |||
| Source: Johnson County Election Office, "Election Summary Report 2015 Spring General," April 13, 2015 | ||||
Funding
Robinson reported $13,390.96 in contributions and $12,756.91 in expenditures to the Johnson County Election Office, which left her campaign with $362.09 in cash on hand in this election.[4]
Endorsements
Robinson was endorsed by MainPAC and The Kansas City Star.[5][6]
2011
| Blue Valley Unified School District, Position 1 General Election, 4-year term, 2011 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan | Pam Robinson Incumbent |
72.3% | 3,337 | |
| Nonpartisan | Beth Brandel | 27.5% | 1,269 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.2% | 10 | |
| Total Votes | 4,616 | |||
| Source: Johnson County Elections, "Election Summary Report 2011 Spring General," April 11, 2011 | ||||
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Robinson participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display her responses to the survey questions. When asked what her top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | State revenue is under projected amounts. Schools are feeling serious political and financial pressure. I have been on the board for some of the district's most successful years. Our schools are recognized as being some of the best in the nation. Making financial decisions based on what is best for our students will be my first priority. We will need to look for additional ways to offer an "Education Beyond Expectations" with fewer dollars.[7] | ” |
| —Pam Robinson (2015)[8] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was 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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Kansas. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Robinson included the following statement regarding this ranking question: "I have a legal duty to support a balanced budget as a first priority. Additionally it is important to evaluate curriculum and program offerings through the lens of college and career ready graduates. Closing the achievement gap includes making sure all our students are succeeding, including those with special needs. Our district has wonderful arts and career tech programs. It would be wonderful to add more but given our current budget situations that decision would need to be made in the context of all other offerings. We are not a district of school choice."[9] | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "I believe the State Board of Education should determine standards to be taught in our schools. Standards should be rigorous and require use of higher level thinking skills. Our KSDE is taking comments on College and Career Ready standards from the public until Oct.1 Our district has done extensive work to prepare teachers and adopt curriculum for the standards." | |
| "Local boards of education should have authority to approve or deny charter school applications after thorough review." | |
| "No." | |
| "Standardized tests should be used as one form of assesing student achievement. I believe multiple measures should be used to gauge students knowledge." | |
| "We need to educate every child. The use of achievement data, PLC's, and differentiated instruction can help guide teaching methods to reach all students. Teachers need to have adequate professional development to meet the needs of all students. Local boards should expect updates on achievement data from subgroups of their student population." | |
| "Expulsion should be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Clear policies and guidelines should help define the action taken. Expulsion should be used as a last resort." | |
| "The Board should hold the superintendent accountable for the achievement in each school. Boards need to make sure adequate resources and personnel are available to help the students in under performing schools. A clear plan for improvement should be given to the board and monitored closely." | |
| "I do not support using test scores for a basis of pay, for comprehensive evaluation, for punitive action, for comparison of teacher quality. Test scores are one piece of data to judge teacher effectiveness and keeping it in the perspective of a comprehensive evaluation system would be crucial for me to support. Even with that it would take convincing that it is a fair and accurate way to evaluate." | |
| "Having been a classroom teacher, I know that mentoring programs work if they are research based, use highly effective teachers and continue past the first year of teaching. Local boards need to be sure they offer enough professional development time for all teachers so that they can improve their skills." | |
| "Communication is essential. Being involved in the community, sitting on board advisory committees, and attending school functions give board members an opportunity to meet and talk with patrons. It is important to be visible and accessible. It is important to reach out to all community members; those with children in school and those who do not." |
See also
- Blue Valley Unified School District 229, Kansas
- Blue Valley Unified School District 229 elections (2015)
- Hot tub Gatorade, turnout in Peoria and the Wisconsin state budget... (April 8, 2015)
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- Campaign website
- Facebook campaign page
- Twitter campaign page
- LinkedIn profile
Footnotes
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Pam Robinson," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ Blue Valley Unified School District, "Board of Education - Board Member Profiles," accessed February 12, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Johnson County Election Office, "Candidates - Spring 2015 Unofficial Listing," accessed January 28, 2015
- ↑ Johnson County Elections Office, " Campaign & Committee Reports," accessed May 28, 2015
- ↑ MainePAC, "MainPAC Endorsements," accessed March 25, 2015
- ↑ The Kansas City Star, "Editorial: Strong school leaders needed in stormy times," March 24, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Pam Robinson responses," March 10, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Pam Robinson," March 10, 2015
| 2015 Blue Valley Unified School District 229 Elections | |
| Johnson County, Kansas | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Position 1: • Incumbent, Pam Robinson • Alana Roethle
Position 2: • Patrick J. Hurley
|
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
