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South Washington County Schools elections (2015)

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2015 South Washington County Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 3, 2015
Table of Contents
About the district
Method of election
Elections
What was at stake?
Key deadlines
Additional elections
External links
See also
Minnesota
South Washington County Schools
Washington County, Minnesota ballot measures
Local ballot measures, Minnesota
Flag of Minnesota.png

Three seats on theSouth Washington County School Board were up forgeneral election onNovember 3, 2015.

The seats of incumbentsRon Kath,Joe Slavin andMichelle Witte were up for election.[1] Kath, Slavin and Witte defeated challengersDean Barton,Patricia Driscoll,Molly Lutz andAndrea Mayer-Bruestle for the three at-large seats. Lutz previously ran unsuccessfully for a board seat in2013.

About the district

See also:South Washington County Schools, Minnesota
South Washington County Schools is located in Washington County, Minn.

South Washington County Schools is located in east-centralMinnesota inWashington County. The county seat is Stillwater. This county was home to 238,136 residents in 2010, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2011-2012 school year, South Washington County Schools was thesixth-largest school district inMinnesota and served 17,858 students.[3]

Demographics

Washington County outperformed the rest of Minnesota in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 40.5 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 32.6 percent for Minnesota as a whole. The median household income in Washington County was $81,540, compared to $59,836 for the state of Minnesota. The poverty rate was 5.7 percent, compared to 11.5 percent for the entire state.[2]

Racial Demographics, 2013[2]
RaceWashington County (%)Minnesota (%)
White87.986.2
Black or African American4.25.7
American Indian and Alaska Native0.51.3
Asian5.34.5
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander0.10.1
Two or More Races2.02.3
Hispanic or Latino3.75.0

Presidential Voting Pattern,
Washington County[4]
YearDemocratic VoteRepublican Vote
201270,20369,137
200870,27764,334
200461,39565,751
200049,63751,502

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 censushere.

Voter and candidate information

The South Washington County School Board consists of seven members electedat-large to four-year terms. There was noprimary election, and thegeneral election was held onNovember 3, 2015. Three seats were up for election in 2015.[1]

School board candidates had to file nomination documents during the candidate filing period, which began on July 28, 2015, and ended on August 11, 2015. The deadline for candidates to withdraw was August 13, 2015.[5]

Elections

2015

Candidates

At-large
Ron KathGreen check mark transparent.pngJoe SlavinGreen check mark transparent.pngMichelle WitteGreen check mark transparent.png

Ron Kath.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • Bachelor's degree, the University of St. Thomas
  • Director of customer planning and communication, Schwan's Food Company

Joe Slavin.jpg

Michelle Witte.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • Director, Merrill Community Arts Center
Dean BartonPatricia Driscoll

Dean Barton.jpg

  • Veteran, United States Marine Corps
  • Finance professional, American Enterprise Investment Services

Patricia Driscoll.jpg

  • B.S., the University of Wisconsin at River Falls
  • M.A., the University of St. Thomas
  • Retired educator
Molly LutzAndrea Mayer-Bruestle

Molly Lutz.jpg

  • Member, District 833 Communications Team

Andrea Mayer-Bruestle.jpg

  • B.S., the University of Wisconsin at River Falls

Election results

South Washington County Schools, At-Large, General Election, 2015
CandidateVote %Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRon KathIncumbent18.4%5,382
Green check mark transparent.pngMichelle WitteIncumbent17.2%5,028
Green check mark transparent.pngJoe SlavinIncumbent15.1%4,431
Molly Lutz14.1%4,120
Dean Barton12.1%3,547
Patricia Driscoll11.3%3,297
Andrea Mayer-Bruestle10.9%3,186
Write-in votes0.94%276
Total Votes29,267
Source:Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Local Results in Washington County," accessed November 4, 2015
These election results are not official and will be updated when certified results are available. You can submit certified results bycontacting us.

Endorsements

IncumbentsRon Kath,Joe Slavin andMichelle Witte received endorsements from the United Teachers of South Washington County.[6]

Campaign finance

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TheSouth Washington County Schools administration does notpublish 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 ateditor@ballotpedia.org.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.
 

2013

See also:South Washington County Schools elections (2013)
South Washington County Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2013
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngKatie Schwartz11.5%3,239
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngTracy BrunnetteIncumbent10.6%2,990
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngKaty McElwee-StevensIncumbent9.4%2,648
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngSharon H. Van Leer8.7%2,464
    NonpartisanMolly Lutz8.7%2,458
    NonpartisanDavid G. KemperIncumbent8%2,267
    NonpartisanMike Thissen6.7%1,900
    NonpartisanMichael P. Edman6.7%1,880
    NonpartisanRaj Gandhi6.4%1,803
    NonpartisanFrederick E. Hess5.9%1,679
    NonpartisanLeilani Holmstadt5.5%1,567
    NonpartisanWayne A. Johnson5.5%1,541
    NonpartisanJohn P. Griffin, II4.7%1,323
    NonpartisanSafiyyah Cummings1.2%339
    Nonpartisan Write-in votes0.6%163
Total Votes28,261
Source:Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 833 - South Washington County," accessed December 18, 2013 andSouth Washington County Bulletin, "Recount confirms Van Leer District 833 School Board victory," November 22, 2013


South Washington County Schools, At-Large Special Election, 2-year term, 2013
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngLaurie JohnsonIncumbent51.2%3,873
    NonpartisanSusan Richardson32.8%2,484
    NonpartisanDavid W. Firkus15.3%1,158
    Nonpartisan Write-in votes0.6%47
Total Votes7,562
Source:Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Results for Selected Contests in School District No. 833 - South Washington County," accessed December 18, 2013

2011

South Washington County Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year term, 2011
PartyCandidateVote %Votes
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngRon KathIncumbent20.1%2,127
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngJim GelbmannIncumbent19.3%2,036
    NonpartisanGreen check mark transparent.pngLeslee BoydIncumbent18.6%1,964
    Nonpartisan Katie Schwartz14.2%1,501
    Nonpartisan Joe Ryan13.9%1,471
    Nonpartisan Lezlie Schriver8.1%852
    Nonpartisan Steve Lagoon5.4%572
    Nonpartisan Write-in votes0.5%50
Total Votes10,573
Source:Washington County, Minnesota, "Election Summary Report," accessed October 15, 2013

What was at stake?

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also:Ballotpedia's school board candidate survey
Candidate Connection Logo - stacked.png

Two of the seven candidates in this election participated inBallotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions fromPatricia Driscoll andMichelle Witte.

Top priorities

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Patricia Driscoll stated:

“Financial stability.[7]”
—Patricia Driscoll, 2015[8]

When asked what her top priorities would be if elected, Michelle Witte stated:

“Ensure educators have the resources they need to serve our students, through passage of our levy referendums, and budgeting driven by evidence of what supports student achievement; To recruit and retain excellence in our workforce through support of more competitive compensation, professional development, and efforts to diversify; Support curriculum re-design that meets changing student needs.[7]”
—Michelle Witte, 2015[9]
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 candidates' rankings:

Issue importance ranking
IssueDriscollWitte
Expanding arts education
5
5
Expanding career-technical education
3
6
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
1
1
Improving college readiness
4
3
Closing the achievement gap
2
2
Improving education for special needs students
6
4
Expanding school choice options
7
7
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. A link to the candidates' responses can be found below.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the South Washington County Schools election in 2015:[5]

DeadlineEvent
July 28, 2015First day for candidates to file nomination documents
August 11, 2015Last day for candidates to file nomination documents
August 13, 2015Last day for candidates to withdraw
November 3, 2015Election Day

Additional elections on the ballot

See also:Minnesota elections, 2015

This election did not share the ballot with other elections.[10]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the termsSouth Washington County Schools Minnesota. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

South Washington County SchoolsMinnesotaSchool Boards
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Seal of Minnesota.png
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑1.01.1South Washington County Schools, "School Board Members," accessed January 26, 2015
  2. ↑2.02.12.2United States Census Bureau, "Washington County, Minnesota," accessed October 15, 2013
  3. ↑National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
  4. ↑Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Election Results and Statistics," accessed October 15, 2013
  5. ↑5.05.1Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, "Filing Periods," accessed January 26, 2015
  6. ↑United Teachers of South Washington County, "Home," accessed October 29, 2015
  7. ↑7.07.1Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  8. ↑Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Patricia Driscoll Responses," September 25, 2015
  9. ↑Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Michelle Witte Responses," October 3, 2015
  10. ↑Washington County, Minnesota, "Sample Ballots," accessed October 21, 2015
2015 South Washington County Schools Elections
Washington County, Minnesota
Election date:November 3, 2015
Candidates:At-large: •Incumbent, Ron Kath •Incumbent, Joe Slavin •Incumbent, Michelle Witte •Dean Barton •Patricia Driscoll •Molly Lutz •Andrea Mayer-Bruestle
Important information:What was at stake? •Key deadlines •Additional elections on the ballot
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