Rick Behrens
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Rick Behrens is the former at-large representative on the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools school board in Kansas. Behrens was initially appointed to the position in 2015.[1] Behrens lost a re-election campaign in the at-large general election on November 7, 2017.
Biography
Behrens earned a B.A. in music and theater from Ottawa University in 1981. He went on to Central Baptist Theological Seminary where he earned an M.Div. in theology and church history in 1985. In 1989, he became pastor of Grandview Park Presbyterian Church. From 1991 to 1997, he served as a supply pastor of Miami Presbyterian Church in Miami County, Kansas, and from 2007 to 2014, he worked with Public Square Communities, Inc.[2]
Behrens also began working as a standardized patient for the Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in 2000. In 2001, Behrens served on KCKPS's School Bond Citizen's Committee.[3] He became the Levee Trail Coordinator for the Healthy Communities Wyandotte in October 2015.[2]
In 2012, Behrens testified in front of the Kansas House of Representatives in opposition to House Bill 2576, which was not approved in the legislative session.[4]
Elections
2017
Five of the seven seats on the Kansas City Kansas Public Schools Board of Education in Kansas were up for at-large general election on November 7, 2017. Three of the seats were up for regular election to four-year terms, and two of the seats were up for special election to two-year terms due to appointments on the board. In the election for the three four-year terms, incumbent Irene Caudillo lost her seat as Maxine Drew, Wanda Brownlee Paige, and Stacy Yeager won election. Challengers Joseph Straws III and Maria Ysaac also lost. In the special election, appointed incumbent Janey Humphries and newcomer Harold Brown won two-year terms, defeating incumbent Rick Behrens and challengers Harold Brown and Korri Hall-Thompson.[5][6][7]
Results
| Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, At-large General Election, 2-year terms, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Janey Humphries Incumbent |
27.73% | 4,542 |
| Harold Brown |
26.15% | 4,283 |
| Korri Hall-Thompson | 23.64% | 3,872 |
| Rick Behrens Incumbent | 22.14% | 3,627 |
| Write-in votes | 0.35% | 57 |
| Total Votes | 16,381 | |
| Source: Wyandotte County, "2017 General Election (Results): Official Results," accessed November 17, 2017 | ||
Funding
The Wyandotte County Election Office does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Endorsements
Behrens was endorsed by MainPAC, the political action committee for the MainStream Coalition, and Equality Kansas.[8][9]
2015
George Breidenthal, first elected to the board in 1983, died on June 23, 2015. He had won re-election to a new term on April 7, 2015; he was the second-highest vote recipient in the at-large election.
The district published its notice of vacancy for the position on August 31, 2015. Interested district residents had until September 18, 2015, to submit their applications. Written responses from the candidates were due on September 30, 2015. The board interviewed candidates and appointed Reverend Rick Behrens to replace Breidenthal at a special meeting on October 19, 2015.[1]
Breidenthal's re-election on April 7, 2015, meant that almost an entire term in his seat remained. Because any unexpired term lasting more than two year is subject to a special election, Behrens was up for election on November 7, 2017.
Recent news
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See also
- Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, Kansas
- Kansas City Kansas Public Schools elections (2017)
- Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, school board vacancies (2015)
External links
Additional reading
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Margaret Koenig, "Phone call with Susan Westfall, Kansas City Kansas Public Schools Board of Education Secretary," October 20, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 LinkedIn, "Rick Behrens," accessed October 20, 2015
- ↑ Public Square Communities, Inc., "Rich Behrens," accessed October 20, 2015
- ↑ Kansas State Legislature, "Written Testimony Submitted to the Kansas of [sic] House of Representatives Committee on State and Federal Affairs Regarding House Bill 2576: Reverend Rick D. Behrens," February 16, 2012
- ↑ Wyandotte County Election Office, "2017 Candidate Filings," accessed June 2, 2017
- ↑ Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, "Board Vacancy Notice: At-large Member to Fill Vacancy for the Remainder of the Unexpired Term," accessed March 13, 2017
- ↑ Kansas City Kansas Public Schools, "Special Meeting Agenda (Monday, April 17, 2017)," accessed May 30, 2017
- ↑ Equality Kansas, "2017 Municipal and School Board Primary Election Endorsements," July 16, 2017
- ↑ MainPac, "MainPAC Endorsements," accessed October 13, 2017
