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Gary Community School Corporation elections (2014)
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Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links |
Gary Community School Corporation Lake County, Indiana ballot measures Local ballot measures, Indiana |
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Three seats on the Gary Community School Corporation Board of Trustees were up for general election on November 4, 2014.
District 6 incumbent and Board President Rosie G. Washington defeated challenger Richard Hayes. Both District 3 board member Nellie F. Moore and District 5 newcomer Darling Pleasant ran unopposed.[1]
About the district
Gary Community School Corporation is located in Lake County, Indiana. The county seat is Crown Point. Lake County is home to 491,456 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2011-2012 school year, Gary Community School Corporation was the 22nd-largest school district in Indiana and served 10,215 students.[3]
Demographics
Lake County underperformed compared to the rest of Indiana in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 19.7 percent of Lake County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 23.0 percent for Indiana as a whole. The median household income for Lake County was $49,315 compared to $48,374 for the state of Indiana. The percentage of people below poverty level for Lake County was 17.4 percent while it was 14.7 percent for the state of Indiana.[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 Gary Board of Trustees consists of seven members elected at-large or by specific geographic district to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held on November 4, 2014. Three seats were up for election in 2014.[1]
School board candidates had to file with their county elections department during the candidate filing period, which began on July 23, 2014, and ended on August 22, 2014. Write-in candidates also had to file by August 22, 2014. To vote in the 2014 general election, voters had to register by October 6, 2014.[5]
Elections
2014
Candidates
District 3
- Nellie F. Moore
- Incumbent
District 5
District 6
- Rosie G. Washington
- Incumbent
Election results
District 3
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Nellie F. Moore Incumbent |
100% | 1,582 | |
| Total Votes | 1,582 | |||
| Source: Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, "Lake County Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
District 5
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Darling Pleasant |
100% | 950 | |
| Total Votes | 950 | |||
| Source: Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, "Lake County Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
District 6
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Rosie G. Washington Incumbent |
59.6% | 997 | |
| Nonpartisan | Richard Hayes | 40.4% | 675 | |
| Total Votes | 1,672 | |||
| Source: Lake County Board of Elections and Registration, "Lake County Election Results," accessed December 29, 2014 | ||||
Endorsements
No candidates received endorsements in this election.
Campaign finance
The Lake County Board of Elections and Registration does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports.
Past elections
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What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Financial obligations
Bus service debt
The Gary Community School Corporation owes approximately $3 million to Illinois Central Bus Co., which has provided school bus services to the district since 2012. The organization's chief executive officer, Steve Heimerlein, issued a statement in October 2014 that, "The amount in arrears grows approximately $150,000 each week."[6] The company gave the Gary school district a November 10, 2014, deadline to begin payments and stated, "ICSB cannot continue to pay for salaries, fuel and bus maintenance with no payment plan in place. [...] If bus service is discontinued, families of the 4,000-plus students will undergo significant hardship to transport their children to and from school, and the jobs of 100 drivers and staff will be eliminated."[7]
Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt criticized Illinois Central Bus Co. at a public hearing, insisting, "I don’t understand the harassment and intimidation on this community. [...] I would like Illinois Central to stop attacking this community. Children will have viable transportation." Pruitt also explained that the district's transportation fund has lost approximately $34 million since 2009 due to both uncollected property taxes and caps on those taxes.[8] On November 4, 2014, the Illinois Central Bus Co. announced that the district had secured sufficient funding for the business to continue serving the district uninterrupted.[9]
Sanitary District debt
On October 10, 2014, the Gary Sanitary District sent a letter to the school district stating that it owed approximately $800,000. The letter provided the district 30 days to settle its debt.[9] Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, who also serves as a special administrator for the Gary Sanitary District due to a federal consent decree, announced on November 8, 2014, that the school district and the sanitary district had agreed to settle the debt for $400,000 to be paid before the end of 2014. In her announcement, Freeman-Wilson added that, "There was never a danger that services would be stopped."[10]
Internal Revenue Service debt
In November 2014, the Internal Revenue Service contacted the school district regarding $6.78 million in unpaid payroll taxes.[11] Superintendent Pruitt issued a statement following the IRS's announcement insisting that, "The district is working diligently to resolve all collection matters. An agreement has been reached with Illinois Central Bus Company and the Gary Sanitary District. We feel confident that other matters will be resolved. [...] We are trying to resolve the issues. That's why we closed five schools and reduced the payroll. We will continue to do that until all of the issues are resolved." Pruitt also contacted the state budget agency to determine whether any of the district's state funding could be given to the district earlier than scheduled, but her request was denied.[10]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Gary Community School Corporation election in 2014:[5]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 23, 2014 | First day for candidates to file nomination documents |
| August 6, 2014 | First day for write-in candidates to file nomination documents |
| August 22, 2014 | Last day for traditional and write-in candidates to file nomination documents |
| October 6, 2014 | Last day to register to vote in the general election |
| October 17, 2014 | Last day to file pre-election campaign finance reports |
| November 4, 2014 | General election day |
| November 18, 2014 | Last day for candidates to file a verified election recount or contest petition |
Additional elections on the ballot
This election shared the ballot with general elections for a U.S. House seat, Indiana state executive offices, Indiana House of Representatives seats and Indiana State Senate seats. It also shared the ballot with county, municipal and judicial elections.[12]
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Gary + Community + School + Corporation + Indiana"
See also
- Indiana
- Gary Community School Corporation, Indiana
- Indiana school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Lake County, Indiana ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Indiana
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Gary Community School Corporation, "GCSC Board Members," accessed August 30, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Lake County, Indiana," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Indiana Election Division, "Election Results," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Indiana Election Division, "2014 Indiana Election Calendar," accessed September 3, 2014
- ↑ Post-Tribune, "Illinois Central: Gary schools can’t pay bill for buses," October 16, 2014
- ↑ StateImpact, "Gary Schools Get Nov. 10 Deadline To Pay Bus Company," October 16, 2014
- ↑ Post-Tribune, "Gary school chief to bus company: ‘Stop attacking this community’," October 16, 2014
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Fox19, "Gary schools keep buses running, but face new lien," November 4, 2014
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The Times, "Gary schools settles sanitary bill for half the cost," November 8, 2014
- ↑ The Indy Channel, "Ind. school corp. owes IRS $6.78M," November 9, 2014
- ↑ Indiana Election Division, "November 4, 2014 General Election," accessed September 3, 2014
| 2014 Gary Community School Corporation Elections | |
| Lake County, Indiana | |
| Election date: | November 4, 2014 |
| Candidates: | District 3: • Incumbent, Nellie F. Moore District 5: • Darling Pleasant |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
