Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools elections (2015)
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Four seats on the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education were up for election on November 3, 2015.
Incumbent Annetta Streater won re-election to her seat. Rani Dasi, Margaret Samuels and Pat Heinrich were elected to the other three seats on the ballot. Incumbent David Saussy, Joal Hall Broun, Gregg Gerdau and Theresa Watson were defeated.[1][2]
Two of the eight candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey as of September 22, 2015. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see their answers.
About the district
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools is located in central North Carolina in Orange County. The county seat is Hillsborough. The county was home to an estimated 140,420 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] In the 2012-2013 school year, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools was the 34th-largest school district in North Carolina and served 12,329 students.[4]
Demographics
Orange County outperformed the rest of North Carolina in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 55.8 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 27.3 percent of state residents. The median household income in the county was $55,569, compared to $46,334 for the state. The poverty rate for the county was 17.8 percent, compared to 17.5 percent for the entire state.[3]
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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 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. All members are elected by the district at-large. Four seats were up for election on November 3, 2015, and the remaining three seats were up for election on November 7, 2017.
School board candidates had to file for this election with the Orange County Board of Elections by July 17, 2015. To vote in the election, residents had to register by October 9, 2015.[6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
| David Saussy | Annetta Streater 
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Joal Hall Broun | Rani Dasi
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| Gregg Gerdau | Pat Heinrich
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Margaret Samuels
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Theresa Watson | ||||
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Election results
| Chapel Hill-Carrboro Schools, At-Large, 4-year Term, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Rani Dasi |
19.6% | 7,009 |
| Margaret Samuels |
15.7% | 5,629 |
| Annetta Streater Incumbent |
15.0% | 5,379 |
| Pat Heinrich |
12.5% | 4,459 |
| Theresa Watson | 11.9% | 4,253 |
| Joal Hall Broun | 11.2% | 4,005 |
| David Saussy Incumbent | 9.3% | 3,321 |
| Gregg Gerdau | 4.4% | 1,590 |
| Write-in votes | 0.42% | 151 |
| Total Votes (100% of precincts reporting) | 35,796 | |
| Source: North Carolina Secretary of State, "11/03/2015 Official Municipal Election Results," accessed November 10, 2015 | ||
Endorsements
Broun, Dasi, Samuels and Streater received official endorsements from the North Carolina State AFL-CIO.[7]
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported in the election, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections.[8]
Past elections
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2013
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What was at stake?
2015
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Two incumbents, David Saussy and Annetta Streater, were running for re-election. With eight candidates running for the seats, over half of the board could have been replaced. This field of candidates was much larger than the field in 2013, when four candidates ran for three open seats. Two of the four were incumbents, and they both won re-election. In 2011, eight candidates ran for four open seats. Four candidates were incumbents, and they all won re-election.[9]
Issues in the district
Bond on ballot in 2016
In April 2015, the Orange County Commission approved a measure to include a school bond referendum on the general election ballot in 2016. This bond would give the schools $125 million to make facility upgrades to schools in the Orange County school district and the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district. The bond would be spread out over 10 years and could possibly cause a 5-cent property tax increase if the county's sales tax doesn't generate enough revenue to pay for the bond.[10]
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two of the eight candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Rani Dasi and Pat Heinrich.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Dasi stated:
| “ | Improving educational outcomes for all students via:
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” |
| —Rani Dasi (2015)[12] | ||
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Heinrich stated:
| “ | Developing a comprehensive plan to address the achievement gap given the resource constraints of our schools [11] | ” |
| —Pat Heinrich (2015)[13] | ||
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 from most to least important:
| Issue | Dasi's ranking | Heinrich's ranking | ||
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| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
| Improving college readiness | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
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. Links to the candidates' responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board of Education election in 2015:[6]
| Deadline | Event |
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| July 6-17, 2015 | Candidate filing period |
| October 2, 2015 | Absentee voting by mail begins |
| October 9, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in election |
| October 22-31, 2015 | In person absentee voting period |
| November 3, 2015 | Election Day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: North Carolina elections, 2015
Elections for mayors and other municipal offices in Carrboro, Chapel Hill, Hillsborough and Mebane were also held on November 3, 2015.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Chapel Hill Carrboro City Schools North Carolina. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools | North Carolina | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Orange County, North Carolina, "2015 Candidate Filings for Chapel Hill/Carrboro School Board," accessed July 20, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina Secretary of State, "11/03/2015 Unofficial Municipal Election Results," accessed November 3, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Orange County, North Carolina," accessed June 22, 2015"
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools," accessed June 22, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Election Results," accessed June 29, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 North Carolina State Board of Elections, "Election Calendar," accessed June 18, 2015
- ↑ NC State AFL-CIO, "Working-family endorsed candidates for Fall 2015," September 22, 2015
- ↑ North Carolina State Board of Elections, "NC Campaign Report Search by Entity," accessed February 2, 2016
- ↑ Orange County, North Carolina, "Election Results," accessed August 5, 2015
- ↑ Warner Cable News, Central North Carolina, "$125 Million Bond Referendum for Schools to Appear on 2016 Ballot," April 24, 2015
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Rani Dasi responses," July 31, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Pat Heinrich's responses," September 21, 2015
| 2015 Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Elections | |
| Orange County, North Carolina | |
| Election date: | November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, David Saussy • Incumbent, Annetta Streater • Joal Hall Broun • Rani Dasi • Gregg Gerdau • Pat Heinrich • Margaret Samuels • Theresa Watson |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional measures on the ballot |
