Matthew Sears (North Carolina)
Matthew Sears was a member of the Durham Public Schools school board in North Carolina, representing District 3. Sears assumed office in 2014. Sears left office in 2023.
Sears ran for re-election to the Durham Public Schools school board to represent District 3 in North Carolina. Sears won in the general election on May 17, 2022.
Biography
Sears is a native of St. Louis, Missouri. He studied mathematics and computer science at Washington University and graduated with a B.S. in Math with Computer Science from Purdue University. He earned his Master's of Arts in Teaching degree from UNC-Chapel Hill, where he spent time student teaching at Hillside High School in Durham. Sears began teaching at Hillside High in 2004. He joined Hillside New Tech High School as its founding and lead math teacher in 2007 where he became a state and national leader in Project Based Learning, a practice in which students learn through engaging in real-world problems related to the content area. In 2011, Sears joined North Carolina New Schools, an educational nonprofit that provides professional services to innovative high schools and middle schools across North Carolina. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors to the Kenan Fellows Program and participates in other local education related groups, fellowships and alumni organizations. Sears was awarded Durham’s Teacher of the Year in 2008-2009. The Burroughs Welcome Fund honored him as one of its five inaugural Career Award winners in 2010 and the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Education presented him with the alumni award for Excellence in Teaching in 2011. Sears and his wife, Ellen Beckmann, like in Durham with their two daughters.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: Durham Public Schools, North Carolina, elections (2022)
General election
General election for Durham Public Schools school board District 3
Incumbent Matthew Sears defeated Gayathri Rajaraman in the general election for Durham Public Schools school board District 3 on May 17, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Matthew Sears (Nonpartisan) | 80.3 | 13,512 |
| Gayathri Rajaraman (Nonpartisan) | 18.9 | 3,186 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.8 | 127 | ||
| Total votes: 16,825 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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2018
General election
General election for Durham Public Schools school board District 3
Incumbent Matthew Sears defeated Katie Jones in the general election for Durham Public Schools school board District 3 on May 8, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Matthew Sears (Nonpartisan) | 70.1 | 6,710 |
| Katie Jones (Nonpartisan) | 26.5 | 2,539 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 3.3 | 320 | ||
| Total votes: 9,569 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2014
- See also: Durham Public Schools elections (2014)
Matthew Sears faced fellow newcomers Steven Gatlin, Lisa Gordon Stella and Deborah Bryson for the District 3 seat in the general election on May 6, 2014.
Results
Sears won election to the board in 2014.
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan |  Matthew Sears |
58.6% | 5,034 | |
| Nonpartisan | Deborah Bryson | 21.4% | 1,837 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lisa Gordon Stella | 15.3% | 1,313 | |
| Nonpartisan | Steven Gatlin | 4.1% | 356 | |
| Nonpartisan | Write-in votes | 0.6% | 48 | |
| Total Votes | 8,588 | |||
| Source: North Carolina Board of Elections, "05/06/2014 UNOFFICIAL PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS - DURHAM," accessed June 2, 2014 | ||||
Funding
Sears reported $6,641.09 in contributions and $5,285.38 in expenditures to the Durham County Board of Elections, which left his campaign with $1,355.71 on hand.[2]
Endorsements
Sears was endorsed by The Durham People's Alliance, The Durham Association of Educators and INDY Week.[3][4][5]
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Matthew Sears did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Matt Sears for Board of Education District 3, "About Matt," accessed February 24, 2014
- ↑ Durham County Board of Elections, "2014 Organizational Disclosure Reports," accessed February 24, 2014
- ↑ Wes Plat, The Herdald-Sun, "People’s Alliance releases Durham endorsement slate," April 4, 2014
- ↑ The Herald-Sun, "Durham educators issue endorsements," April 7, 2014
- ↑ INDY Week, "Durham school board: We recommend a clean start this election," April 23, 2014
| Durham Public Schools elections in 2018 | |
| Durham County, North Carolina | |
| Election date: | May 8, 2018 |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
