Steven Maul
Steven Maul was a candidate for an at-large seat on the L'Anse Creuse Public Schools school board in Michigan. Maul was defeated in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Maul was a candidate for an at-large seat on the L'Anse Creuse Board of Education in Michigan. The seat was up for general election on November 4, 2014. Steven Maul lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
Elections
2016
Three of the seven seats on the L'Anse Creuse Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Mary Hilton, Jeffrey Pegg, and Sharon McTavish Ross filed for re-election. They were joined on the general election ballot by challengers Necole Cichowlas, Hilary Dubay, Steven Maul, James Munroe, Terri Spencer, and Brandon Trondle. Hilton, Spencer, and Ross won in the general election.[1]
Results
| L'Anse Creuse Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 6-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Mary Hilton Incumbent |
14.36% | 7,866 |
| Terri Spencer |
13.80% | 7,559 |
| Sharon McTavish Ross Incumbent |
13.36% | 7,318 |
| Hilary Dubay | 12.94% | 7,088 |
| Jeffrey Pegg Incumbent | 10.71% | 5,869 |
| James Munroe | 10.70% | 5,862 |
| Necole Cichowlas | 9.10% | 4,986 |
| Steven Maul | 8.46% | 4,636 |
| Brandon Trondle | 6.56% | 3,593 |
| Total Votes | 54,777 | |
| Source: Macomb County, Michigan, "Election Results," accessed December 14, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[2]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[3]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $4,740.00 and spent a total of $2,447.57 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Macomb County Clerk/Register.[4]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary Hilton (incumbent) | $250.00 | $0.00 | $250.00 |
| Jeffrey Pegg (incumbent) | Exempt | Exempt | Exempt |
| Sharon McTavish Ross (incumbent) | $1,445.00 | $1,238.49 | $161.51 |
| Necole Cichowlas | Exempt | Exempt | Exempt |
| Hilary Dubay | Exempt | Exempt | Exempt |
| Steven Maul | $280.00 | $0.00 | $280.00 |
| James Munroe | $2,765.00 | $1,209.08 | $1,555.92 |
| Terri Spencer | Exempt | Exempt | Exempt |
| Brandon Trondle | Exempt | Exempt | Exempt |
2014
The election in L'Anse Creuse featured four at-large seats up for general election on November 4, 2014. Incumbents Charles W. Eslinger and Linda J. McLatcher ran against challengers Jeff Klenner, Jackie Sage-Phillips, Amy Servial and Abu Young for the two seats with four-year terms, and fellow board members Pamela L. Hornberger and Donald R. Hubler competed with newcomer Steven J. Maul for the two seats with six-year terms.
Incumbent Linda J. McLatcher and challenger Amy Servial defeated four other candidates to win the two seats with four-year terms, while incumbents Pamela L. Hornberger and Donald R. Hubler defeated challenger Steven J. Maul for the two seats with six-year terms.
Results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Pamela L. Hornberger Incumbent |
40.6% | 9,065 | |
| Nonpartisan | Donald R. Hubler Incumbent |
30.4% | 6,788 | |
| Nonpartisan | Steven J. Maul | 29% | 6,473 | |
| Total Votes | 22,326 | |||
| Source: Macomb County Election Department, "Race Summary," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Maul did not report any contributions or expenditures during the election, according to the Macomb County Election Department.[5]
Endorsements
Maul did not receive any official endorsements during the election.
Campaign themes
2016
Ballotpedia survey responses
Steven J. Maul participated in Ballotpedia's 2016 survey of school board candidates. In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on October 29, 2016:
| “ | There are three areas I would like to work on if elected. 1. Fiscal Responsibility – Sharp focus on every dollar spent with emphasis on resources going to students first. Develop real strategic plans for the district that lay out our goals and document measures of success. 2. Rebuild Sense of Community – Help to build real, two-way communication between the community and the school district administration. All too often, it feels like the current administration isn’t really listening to the community and we need to encourage participation and feedback from all stakeholders in our district. 3. Strengthen relationship between the Administration and BoE – Help to heal the division that exists between the administration and board as well as between board members so that we can effectively move our district forward. I have a long track record of building teams and moving towards a common goal.[6][7] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Michigan. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| “ | All of the ranked items are important to our district. However, there is a finite amount of resources available and prioritization is required.[7] | ” |
| —Steven J. Maul (October 29, 2016) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer nine questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| No. We need to focus on our public schools. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| Yes. Whether we like it or not, we are tested everyday. The purpose of education is to prepare our students for life after their K-12 experience. There needs to be some sort of standard metric that demonstrates the student's proficiency with the subjects, methods and information being provided. With that said, we need to be sure that we are balancing the time spent on standardized testing and ensure that it isn't getting in the way of actually teaching our kids. |
| What is your stance on the Common Core State Standards Initiative? |
| I believe that control of curriculum standards and content should be kept as close to the local districts as possible. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. Many times, an under performing person simply needs some assistance from a mentor or more experienced teacher in the district. I believe that it takes a special person to become a teacher and we need to do everything possible to help them perform. Once assigned a mentor, an improvement plan and timeline should be documented and signed by all parties. Performance against that improvement plan then needs to be monitored. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Merit pay has been shown in many industries to improve performance. However, to implement such a system, a standardized and effective evaluation system needs to be in place and fully implemented. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| No. I believe the state has some significant work to do with the current system in place for funding public schools. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| Expulsion should be used as a last resort after all other options have been exhausted. Our mission is to have students in classes learning, but sometimes it is important to define and enforce the behaviors and norms that are expected of each student. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement. All of the possible answers are important for classroom success. Student-teacher ratio, curriculum, teachers and school administration are all key for success. However, I believe that students that come from homes where parents place a high value on education, achievement and success are more likely to be successful in the classroom. Just like many other things, if it is important to the parent, it will become important to the child. |
Additional themes
Maul provided the following response to the district's candidate survey:
Note: You can navigate the documents by zooming in or out with the + and - buttons and using the horizontal and vertical scrollbars on the document.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Steven Maul L'Anse Creuse Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- L'Anse Creuse Public Schools, Michigan
- L'Anse Creuse Public Schools elections (2016)
- L'Anse Creuse Public Schools elections (2014)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Macomb County, Michigan, "November 8, 2016 Candidate List : Candidate List," accessed August 30, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Macomb County Clerk/Register, "Campaign Finance Reporting," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Macomb County Election Department, "Campaign Finance Reporting," accessed October 24, 2014
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2016, "Steven J. Maul's responses," October 29, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| 2016 L'Anse Creuse Public Schools Elections | |
| Macomb County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Mary Hilton • Incumbent, Jeffrey Pegg • Incumbent, Sharon McTavish Ross • Necole Cichowlas • Hilary Dubay • Steven Maul • James Munroe • Terri Spencer • Brandon Trondle |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
