Sun Prairie Area School District elections (2015)
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Three seats on the Sun Prairie Area Board of Education were up for general election on April 7, 2015. Two three-year terms and one one-year term were up for election.
Three at-large board incumbents, Mike Krachey, Jessica Moehr and John Whalen, were up for re-election. Only Krachey sought re-election. He was, however, defeated by challengers Marta Hansen, Marilyn Ruffin and David Hoekstra in the general election. As Hoekstra was the third-highest vote recipient, he was elected to the unexpired one-year term up for election, while Hansen and Ruffin won regular three-year terms.[1]
The school board chose a new superintendent following the resignation of Dr. Tim Culver. Culver left his position on June 30, 2015. The district also recently changed its teacher pay model in light of Wisconsin Act 10, which became law in 2011.
One candidate in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey.
About the district
Sun Prairie Area School District is located in Sun Prairie, Wis., which lies in Dane County. In 2013, Dane County was home to approximately 509,939 residents according to estimates by the United States Census Bureau.[2] During the 2011-2012 school year, Sun Prairie School District was the 18th-largest school district in Wisconsin and served 7,095 students.[3]
Demographics
Dane County outperformed the rest of Wisconsin in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 45.8 percent of Dane County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 26.4 percent for Wisconsin as a whole. From 2008 through 2012, the median household income in the county was $61,790, compared to $52,627 for the state of Wisconsin. The poverty rate in Dane County was 12.3 percent from 2008 through 2012. During that same time period, the poverty rate for the entire state was 12.5 percent.[2]
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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 Sun Prairie 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 any board position, there was no primary election. The general election was held on April 7, 2015. Two three-year terms and one one-year term were up for election. The top two vote recipients won the three-year terms and the third place winner won the one-year term.
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 also be a resident of the apportioned area they are elected to at the time of taking office.[5] They 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.[6]
Candidates had between December 1, 2014, and January 6, 2015, to collect 20 signatures for their nomination papers. Because a "Notification of Non-Candidacy" was filed, the filing deadline was extended to January 9, 2015. The signatures had to come from residents of the district that 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.[7]
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.[8] 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.[9]
Elections
2015
Candidates
At-large
- Mike Krachey
- Incumbent, first elected in April 2012
- Assistant portfolio manager, Northern Capital Management, LLC
- Marta Hansen
- Owner, The Piano Gal Shop, LLC
- Bachelor's degree, University of Wisconsin-Madison
- David Hoekstra
- Mechanical engineer
- Served on the district's planning committee
- Marilyn Ruffin
- Substitute teacher in the district
- Bachelor's degree, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Election results
| Sun Prairie Area School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year & 1-year terms, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Nonpartisan |  Marta Hansen (3-year) |
26.8% | 3,420 | |
| Nonpartisan | Marilyn Ruffin (3-year) |
25.5% | 3,259 | |
| Nonpartisan | David Hoekstra (1-year) |
24.4% | 3,112 | |
| Nonpartisan | Mike Krachey Incumbent | 22.8% | 2,911 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.4% | 57 | |
| Total Votes | 12,759 | |||
| Source: Dane County Clerk's Office, "2015 Spring Election: Official Canvass," accessed April 7, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Hansen and Ruffin were endorsed by Wisconsin Progress.[10] Additionally, Hansen was endorsed by the Sun Prairie Education Association (SPEA) and South Central Federation of Labor AFL-CIO.[11][12]
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported in this election, according to the Sun Prairie 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
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2014Incumbent Tom Weber faced Carol Albright and Jessica Moehr in the general election for two at-large seats on April 1, 2014. The other incumbent, Jill Camber Davidson, did not run for re-election. While Moehr did not win the election, she was appointed to the board in July 2014 following the resignation of board member John Welke. Welke announced his decision to resign due to time constraints on June 25, 2014.[14]
2013
2012Steve Schroeder was appointed in June 2012 to fill the seat vacated by Jim McCourt.
2011
2010
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What was at stake?
2015
With three seats up for election and just one incumbent seeking re-election against three challengers, SPASD was not guaranteed to see any returning board member after the 2015 election. The district faced other changes leading into the April election, including a superintendent search and modifications to its teacher pay model in light of Wisconsin's Act 10.
Issues in the district
Superintendents write to state government over proposed budget cuts
Sun Prairie Area Superintendent Tim Culver signed a letter with 18 other superintendents across the state, asking the Governor of Wisconsin and the State Legislature for a consistent funding plan. The letter was written in February 2015 in response to the budget proposed by Gov. Scott Walker (R) earlier in the year that called for a reduction in per-student funding by $150 for the 2015-2016 school year and then increase per-student funding by $165 for the 2016-2017 school year.[15]
In the letter, the superintendents discussed their desire for a consistent funding plan. They also shared concerns that the proposed budget cut for the 2015-2016 school year would require cutting staff, salaries or benefits in order for their districts to stay afloat, which they worried would make it nearly impossible to retain talented teachers. They said they believed inflationary growth was necessary to maintain and grow their educational programs.[15]
Walker's call to change the state's assessment system and allow districts to choose their own assessments from a state-approved list was also mentioned in the superintendent's letter. They asked the state government for one assessment system, saying an accountability system consisting of different assessments would create confusion.[15] The full letter can be found here.
Superintendent resigns
In December 2014, Dr. Tim Culver, superintendent of the Sun Prairie Area School District, announced he would retire from the district effective June 30, 2015, after serving for over 17 years. During his time as superintendent, the district grew from an enrollment of 4,000 to nearly 8,000 students. Culver helped launch full-day kindergarten, the city's 4K program and the Sun Prairie Education Foundation. He left the district to become superintendent of the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District in July 2015.[16]
Changing teacher pay models after Act 10
The Sun Prairie Area School District instituted new requirement of 60 hours of professional development courses for teachers to step up to the district's next pay level. The district also adjusted salaries for teachers with certification in high-need subject areas to help retain and attract good teachers. This model followed a new trend in changing teacher pay plans after Wisconsin's Act 10 came into effect.[17]
Act 10 prohibited unions from negotiating anything more than base wages up to the rate of inflation, leaving the rest of a teacher's salary up to the school district. This created an atmosphere of competition, as districts could offer signing bonuses, raises and to pay resignation fees for teachers who leave a district mid-year. Prior to Act 10, teachers had many incentives to stay in a district long-term. With Act 10 came a rise in teacher turnover in some districts.[17][18]
Tim Culver, Sun Prairie's superintendent, said it was valuable for a district to be able to reward teachers who have degrees in competitive fields like engineering and agriculture. Under the new plan, the district could offer more money to teachers with multiple degrees.[17]
Ballotpedia survey responses
One of the four candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates as of February 12, 2015. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from candidate Marilyn Ruffin.
Top priorities
When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Ruffin stated:
| “ | No matter the pressing issue my top priority will be to LISTEN to all stakeholders before making a decision.[19] | ” |
| —Marilyn Ruffin (2015)[20] | ||
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 candidate's rankings:
| Issue | Ruffin'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 candidate's responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following were key deadlines for Sun Prairie Area School District 2015 elections:[7][21]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2014 | Candidate signature gathering period began |
| January 6, 2015 | Signature submission deadline |
| February 9, 2015 | Campaign finance report deadline |
| March 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report deadline |
| April 7, 2015 | General Election Day |
| July 20, 2015 | Final campaign finance report deadline |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Wisconsin elections, 2015
One seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and four Dane County Circuit Court seats were up for election on April 7, 2015. The general election for city and county offices was also on that date. 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 Sun Prairie Area School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Sun Prairie Area School District | Wisconsin | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Dane County Clerk's Office, "2015 Spring Election: Unofficial Canvass," accessed April 7, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Dane County, Wisconsin," accessed September 24, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Dane County Clerk's Office, "Election Results," accessed January 27, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Wisconsin Candidate Eligibility," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidates: Getting on the Ballot," accessed September 22, 2014
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 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
- ↑ Facebook, "Marta Hansen for Sun Prairie Area School Board: Wall Post," February 17, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Marta Hansen for Sun Prairie Area School Board: Wall Post," February 21, 2015
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Victoria Claas, Administrative Assistant to the Sun Prairie Area School District Assistant Superintendent of Operations and Continuous Improvement," August 25, 2015
- ↑ The Star, "Moehr elected to Sun Prairie School Board," July 22, 2014
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 NBC 15, "Superintendents send letter to lawmakers over budget concerns," February 18, 2015
- ↑ The Sun Prarie Star, "Sun Prairie Area School District superintendent announces retirement," December 17, 2014
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Wisconsin State Journal, "A teacher 'marketplace' emerges in post-Act 10 Wisconsin," September 7, 2014
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "In wake of Act 10, school districts changing teacher pay formulas," August 18, 2014
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Marilyn Ruffin's responses," February 11, 2015
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "CAMPAIGN FINANCE REPORT DATES," accessed September 22, 2014
| 2015 Sun Prairie Area School District Elections | |
| Dane County, Wisconsin | |
| Election date: | April 7, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Mike Krachey • Marta Hansen • David Hoekstra • Marilyn Ruffin |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
