Oshkosh Area School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Oshkosh Area Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Incumbents Kelli Saginak, Matthew Wiedenhoeft and Allison Garner were up for re-election. Garner most recently won re-election in the 2014 general election but only to a one-year unexpired term.
Neither Saginak and Wiedenhoeft filed to run for re-election. Jim Evans, Huma Malik and Kelly Olmsted challenged Garner in the race for the three seats.[1] In March 2015, however, Malik announced she would be ending her campaign for the board. After becoming a full-time college student, she stated she "would not be able to devote my full attention as it is needed and as I wanted." The announcement was too late to remove her name from the ballot but made the election unofficially unopposed for Evans, Garner and Olmsted. Some district residents still voted for Malik, but Evans, Garner and Olmstead won the three seats by a margin of almost 3,000 votes in the end.[2]
In 2015, the district also dealt with a new teacher pay plan and a debate over the release of student information to a school choice group. Two of the four candidates participated in Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey.
About the district
- See also: Oshkosh Area School District, Wisconsin
Oshkosh Area School District is located in Oshkosh, the county seat of Winnebago County, in east-central Wisconsin. The county was home to an estimated 169,541 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[3] During the 2010-2011 school year, Oshkosh Area School District was the 11th-largest school district in Wisconsin and served 10,064 students.[4]
Demographics
Winnebago County underperformed compared to the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.8 percent for Wisconsin as a whole. The median household income in Winnebago County was $51,010 while it was $52,413 for the entire state. The poverty rate in the county was 12.3 percent compared to 13.0 percent statewide.[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.
School board
The Oshkosh Area School District Board of Education consists of seven members who are elected at-large on a staggered basis to three-year terms. Because no more than two candidates filed for each position up for election, there was no primary election. As three at-large seats were up for election, at least seven candidates would have had to file to cause a primary election to be held.[6] The general election was held on April 7, 2015.
To be elected to the board, candidates must reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days prior to the filing of a "Declaration of Candidacy" form. They must further be residents of the apportioned area they are elected to at the time of taking office.[7] Candidates must also be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who have been convicted of a felony are not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin.[8]
Candidates had between December 1, 2014, and January 6, 2015, to collect between 100 and 200 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the district which the candidate sought election to represent, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years or older.[9]
Voters could register to vote in the election at the polling place on the election day. Proof of residence was required when registering to vote.[10] In March 2015, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to Wisconsin's voter ID law allowing it to take effect. However, Wisconsin officials stated they would not enforce the law until after the election on April 7, 2015. No photo identification was required to vote in this election.[11]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
Allison Garner 
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Jim Evans
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| Huma Malik | Kelly Olmsted
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Election results
| Oshkosh Area School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Allison Garner Incumbent |
31.4% | 4,826 | |
| Nonpartisan | Jim Evans |
29.7% | 4,566 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kelly Olmsted |
29% | 4,463 | |
| Nonpartisan | Huma Malik | 9.6% | 1,476 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 61 | |
| Total Votes | 15,392 | |||
| Source: Margaret Koenig, "Email correpsondance with Oshkosh Area School District Business Office Executive Assistant Teresa Collins," August 5, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Evans was endorsed by Wisconsin Progress.[12]
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported in this election, according to the Oshkosh Area School District. All of the candidates in the election filed as "Exempt from Filing Campaign Finance Records" on their campaign registration statements.[13]
Candidates were only required to file campaign finance reports if they did one of the following:
- accepted contributions, made disbursements or incurred obligations in an aggregate amount of more than $1,000 in a calendar year
- accepted more than $100 from a single source in the calendar year, except contributions made by candidates to their own campaigns
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014Note: The third seat up for election in 2014 was for the remainder of an unexpired term. The third place winner, therefore, earned a one-year term, while the first and second place won regular three-year terms.
2013
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What was at stake?
2015
Issues in the election
Evans, Garner and Olmsted were all interviewed about their candidacies by Eye on Oshkosh. Their full interviews can be watched below.
Eye on Oshkosh, "Eye on Oshkosh-2015 Spring Election candidates Jim Evans and Benjamin Stepanek, taped 3 5 15," March 5, 2015 |
Eye on Oshkosh, "Eye on Oshkosh, OASD candidates in spring 2015 election, Allison Garner and Kelly Olmsted, taped 3 1," March 19, 2015 |
Issues in the district
Student information requested from school choice group
School Choice Wisconsin, a school choice advocacy group, requested information on all students attending the Oshkosh Area School District in February 2015, and under state law, the district was required to provide it. The group filed an open records request for student names, addresses, phone numbers, grade levels and schools from a total of 30 school districts in the state. The request came after Gov. Scott Walker (R) proposed lifting the enrollment cap on the statewide voucher program. Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin, said the gathered information would be used to educate parents on their school choice options and would likely be shared with private and parochial schools that are part of the state's voucher program. He likened the requests to other marketing efforts, such as billboards and mailings, and said the same information is provided in student directories and to college and military recruiters.[14][15][16][17]
Some state officials, however, saw the request as an infringement on student privacy. State Sen. Dave Hansen (D) and State Rep. Eric Genrich (D) expressed concern over the student data request. "As a parent and lawmaker, I'm outraged by this request for personal student information," said Genrich. Together, Hansen and Genrich have proposed a bill to protect students’ personal information. They planned to allow access to student information only “to advance a school’s educational mission but keep it out of the hands of those who might seek to harm children.”[14][17]
The Oshkosh Area School District did not have to provide as much information as other school districts that received the same open records request. State law requires school districts to turn over directory data information to anyone who asks for it, but it also allows school districts to decide on their own definition of what constitutes directory data information.[15]
The district said it would provide the information requested, but only that which fell into its definition of directory data information. That means it did not provide School Choice Wisconsin with the addresses or phone numbers of its middle and high school students. It provided the addresses and phone numbers of elementary school students, as that is considered directory data information in order to encourage students in that age bracket to socialize outside of school.[15] According to Oshkosh Superintendent Stan Mack, around 2,000 parents have turned in forms so they could opt out of such data requests in the future.[18]
Board approves new teacher pay plan
Teachers in the Oshkosh Area School District faced a new requirement of taking professional development courses to earn pay raises after the Oshkosh Area Board of Education voted 5-1 to implement a new pay plan on August 13, 2014. Steve Eliasen was the only dissenting vote, and board President Matthew Wiedenhoeft was not present at the meeting. Eliasen called the plan a good starting point, but said he wished district leaders had sought more input from sources outside of education and had included more than just professional development. Other board members called the plan a work-in-progress but believed it was ready to be tested. The plan was set to be reviewed each year and amended as needed.[19]
The pay plan was structured only for professional employees, not support staff. To move up in the plan, professional employees would have to earn 35 district points during the school year, and they were required to earn at least 35 points during their three-year evaluation period to remain a teacher in good standing. Points could be earned by participating in professional development activities outside of school hours, and the activities had to cover one of the following four subjects: technology, disciplinary literacy, effective instruction and assessment or social and emotional growth.[19]
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two of the four candidates in this election had participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display Jim Evans and Allison Garner responses to the survey questions.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Evans stated:
| “ | In this time of spending caps and budget slashing, student retention and recruitment will become even more competitive. We must do all we can to keep our current students and find ways to attract students from outside the district to enroll in the Oshkosh School District. My top priority will be to make the Oshkosh School District a quality option for parents and their children.[20] | ” |
| —Jim Evans (2015)[21] | ||
When asked what her top priorities would be if re-elected, Garner stated:
| “ | Currently, the Oshkosh Area School District is seeing a net loss of students to other public school districts in the surrounding communities. This results in a decrease of revenues for our district. My top priority is to turnaround this net loss to a net gain. Using the results of a survey that answered why families leave our district, we can prioritize the changes that need to be made.[20] | ” |
| —Allison Garner (2015)[22] | ||
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 | Evans's ranking | Garner's ranking |
|---|---|---|
| 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' full responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for Oshkosh Area School District 2015 elections:[9][23]
| Deadline | Event |
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| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
| April 7, 2015 | General Election Day |
| July 20, 2015 | Campaign finance report due |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
Several county and municipal offices were up for election on April 7, 2015. Statewide, a constitutional amendment question regarding the selection of the state's supreme court chief justice was on the ballot.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Oshkosh Area School District Wisconsin. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Oshkosh Area School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Teresa Collins, Executive Assistant for Oshkosh Area School District Business Office," January 7, 2015
- ↑ Oshkosh Northwestern Media, "Oshkosh school board candidate drops out of race," March 4, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 United States Census Bureau, "Winnebago County, Wisconsin," accessed March 25, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Election Results," accessed February 5, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin State Legislature, "Statutes: Chapter 120.06(7)(b)," accessed February 18, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wisconsin State Legislature, "State Statutes: CHAPTER 8," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Voter Registration," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ The New York Times, "Wisconsin Decides Not to Enforce Voter ID Law," March 23, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Progress, "OUR ENDORSEMENTS FOR SPRING 2015," accessed February 25, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Teresa Collins, Executive Assistant in the Oshkosh Area School District Business Office," August 5, 2015
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 ABC 2, "Green Bay lawmakers want law to protect student information," February 13, 2015
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Fox 11, "School districts differ on giving up student information," February 13, 2015
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "School choice group seeks personal data on students," February 13, 2015
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Green Bay Press Gazette, "Voucher group requests student info from public schools," February 13, 2015
- ↑ ABC 2, "Parents opt out of student directory release," February 24, 2015
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 The Northwestern, "Oshkosh school board approves new teacher pay plan," August 13, 2014
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Jim Evan's responses," February 6, 2015
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Allison Garner's responses," January 23, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
| 2015 Oshkosh Area School District Elections | |
| Winnebago County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Allison Garner • Jim Evans • Huma Malik • Kelly Olmsted |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
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