Pueblo City Schools elections (2017)
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Two of the five seats on the Pueblo City Schools Board of Education in Colorado were up for nonpartisan general election on November 7, 2017. C. Dennis Maes and Taylor Voss won the election, defeating appointed incumbent R. Kenneth O'Neal and fellow challengers Dottie Calhoun and Margaret Wright.[1][2]
With no unopposed seats, one open seat, and one incumbent running for re-election, the 2017 election followed three election trends in the district. For information on those election trends, click here.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Pueblo City Board of Education consists of five members elected at large to four-year terms. Elections are held on a staggered basis so that two or three seats are up for election every odd-numbered year in November.[3]
To qualify to run for school board, candidates had to be residents of the school district and registered voters for a minimum of 12 consecutive months before the election. They also could not have been convicted of a sexual offense against a child. To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination petitions containing 50 signatures of eligible voters in the school district by September 1, 2017.[4]
Colorado voters were allowed to register to vote through election day.[5] Photo identification was not required to vote in Colorado.[6]
Candidates and results
At-large
Results
| Pueblo City Schools, At-large General Election, 4-year terms, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 C. Dennis Maes |
42.66% | 17,281 |
| Taylor Voss |
20.14% | 8,158 |
| Margaret Wright | 15.04% | 6,091 |
| R. Kenneth O'Neal Incumbent | 12.52% | 5,070 |
| Dottie Calhoun | 9.64% | 3,906 |
| Total Votes | 40,506 | |
| Source: Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder, "2017 Pueblo County Coordinated Election Official Results," accessed November 27, 2017 | ||
Candidates
| R. Kenneth O'Neal | Dottie Calhoun | C. Dennis Maes | |||
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| Taylor Voss |
Margaret Wright | ||
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Colorado elections, 2017
The Pueblo City Board of Education election shared the ballot with elections for Pueblo City Council.[7]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the 2017 Colorado school board elections.[8][9]
Endorsements
The Pueblo Chieftain endorsed challengers C. Dennis Maes and Taylor Voss.[10]
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
Candidates received a total of $28,919.82 and spent a total of $28,380.23 in the election, according to the Colorado Secretary of State.[11]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| R. Kenneth O'Neal | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Dottie Calhoun | $820.00 | $969.75 | ($149.75) |
| C. Dennis Maes | $21,559.59 | $20,119.50 | $1,440.09 |
| Taylor Voss | $2,835.00 | $2,772.43 | $62.57 |
| Margaret Wright | $3,705.23 | $4,518.55 | ($813.32) |
Reporting requirements
School board candidates in Colorado were required to file three campaign finance reports. The reports were due on October 17, 2017, November 3, 2017, and December 7, 2017.[9]
Past elections
- See also: Past elections in Pueblo City Schools
To see results from past elections in Pueblo City Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Candidate survey
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Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2017 Pueblo City Board of Education election followed a number of trends establed by the district's previous two elections. The 2017 election had no unopposed seats, and it had one incumbent running for re-election, which was also true in the district's 2013 and 2015 elections. The 2017 election was also guaranteed to add one new member to the board due to an open seat, which was also the case in the 2013 and 2015 elections. The three elections differed when looking at incumbency success rates. The 2013 election had a 100 percent incumbency success rate, while no incumbents won re-election in 2015 and 2017.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Pueblo City Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 2.50 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2015 | 2.67 | 0.00% | 33.33% | 0.00% | 100.00% | |
| 2013 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 50.00% | 100.00% | 50.00% | |
| Colorado | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.77 | 30.77% | 55.38% | 83.33% | 53.85% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
Issues in the district
Teachers union asks for state intervention in stalled contract negotiations
The Pueblo Education Association (PEA) asked the Colorado Department of Labor to intervene in the union's contract negotiations with the school district on September 6, 2017. The union also filed notice of a possible job action, such as a walkout, with the department.[12][13]
The request for intervention came after the PEA's contract for the 2017-2018 school year was declared to be at an impasse in August 2017. The PEA and the district could not agree on a cost of living adjustment for teacher salaries. The PEA requested a 2.8 percent increase, but the district did not offer any increase. The district did agree to a step and lane movement change on the teacher salary schedule, which set up salary increases based on years of experience and educational studies. The step and lane movement was added to the 2017-2018 salary schedule after the board unanimously approved it on September 14, 2017.[13][14]
When the district denied the cost of living adjustment, the union requested to extend the negotiations until October 3, 2017, when more information about student enrollment figures would be available. The district declined the extension.[13]
“As of right now, we have no contract,” said PEA President Suzanne Ethredge. She said that opened the door for a job action. "The association believes that the district needs to return to the table and bargain in good faith," she said. "The procedures for bargaining need to be upheld."[12][13]
Ethredge also said that the PEA was "willing to discuss (other) ways to get a salary increase for teachers. But we made it clear that a salary freeze was not an option. The district's only response was 'zero percent.'"[12]
David Horner, the district's chief financial officer, estimated that the step and lane change cost the district approximately $1.3 million.[14] Dalton Sprouse, director of communications for Pueblo City Schools, said the 2.8 percent cost of living adjustment would have cost the district an additional $1.8 million. “PEA was given every opportunity to meet the district halfway and to work together to meet the significant challenges the district faces in an environment of inconsistent and insufficient funding,” said Sprouse. “And, despite evidence of a greater-than-expected decline in enrollment, PEA instead chose to declare impasse and seek state intervention. The association’s position is harmful to the district and deeply disappointing.”[13]
"Basically, the district has imposed its own contract," said Ethredge. "The terms and conditions of the current contract are still in place and they don't intend to change it until we're finished with the mediation process."[14]
In November 2017, representatives from the union and the district spent two days in mediation, but they again came to an impasse. The matter was sent to a fact-finder. At the mediation, the union requested a 2.8 percent cost-of-living allowance (COLA) and for the district to contribute an additional $30 per month for health insurance. Representatives from the district said that declining enrollment and construction needs for aging facilities made them unable to meet those requests.[15]
"Once again, we are frustrated that after another round of mediation the district has chosen to not value teachers. We started bargaining in August, with the district offering zero percent for a cost of living. And we have ended mediation at zero percent," said Ethredge.[15]
Pueblo City Superintendent Charlotte Macaluso expressed regret at the impasse. "We believe our employees are committed to providing quality educational opportunities for all students, and in many cases, we share the same goals as PEA," said Macaluso. "No one disputes that effective teachers deserve to be paid more."[15]
An assessment conducted by the Colorado Department of Education identified $500 million in needed facility improvements for Pueblo City Schools. Macaluso said that $100 million of those facility needs were marked as critical and had to be addressed within three years. Union representatives said they were aware of those needs. "Withholding a COLA from us isn't going to fix those facilities' needs," Ethredge said.[15]
The PEA and the district came to an agreement on a pay increase for the 2016-2017 school year in August 2017, days before they began negotiating the contract for the 2017-2018 school year. The district agreed to pay teachers a retro-active salary increase as part of that agreement.[16]
At the time of that agreement, Ethredge said she hoped it would help relieve tension as they moved forward. "Every student deserves to have a quality teacher in their classroom," Ethredge said. A spokesperson for the district said it had the same goal, but the problem was finding money in the budget.[16]
About the district
- See also: Pueblo City Schools, Colorado
The Pueblo City school district is located in Pueblo County in south-central Colorado. The county seat is Pueblo. Pueblo County was home to an estimated 165,123 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[17] The district was the 15th-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 17,979 students.[18]
Demographics
Pueblo County underperformed compared to Colorado as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2011 and 2015. The United States Census Bureau found that 21.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 38.1 percent of state residents. During the same time period, the median household income in Pueblo County was $41,286, compared to $60,629 statewide. The county poverty rate was 19.8 percent, and the state poverty rate was 11.5 percent.[17]
| Racial Demographics, 2016[17] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Pueblo County (%) | Colorado (%) |
| White | 90.5 | 87.5 |
| Black or African American | 2.5 | 4.5 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 3.1 | 1.6 |
| Asian | 1.0 | 3.3 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Two or More Races | 2.7 | 3.0 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 42.8 | 21.3 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Pueblo City Schools Colorado election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Pueblo City Schools | Colorado | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Pueblo Chieftain, "Consultant seeking D60 board seat," September 6, 2017
- ↑ Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder, "2017 Pueblo County Coordinated Election Unofficial Results," accessed November 8, 2017
- ↑ Pueblo City Schools, "Board of Education," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Association of School Boards, "2017 Elections School Board Candidate Guide," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Voter Registration FAQs," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "Acceptable Forms of Identification," accessed August 29, 2017
- ↑ City of Pueblo, "Council Members," accessed September 14, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "2017 Election Calendar," accessed August 28, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Colorado Secretary of State, "2017 Biennial School Election Calendar," accessed August 28, 2017
- ↑ The Pueblo Chieftain, "Vote Maes, Voss for school board," October 19, 2017
- ↑ Colorado Secretary of State, "TRACER: Candidate Search," accessed December 18, 2017
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 The Pueblo Chieftain, "D60 teachers ask for state intervention in impasse," September 6, 2017
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 The Pueblo Chieftain, "D60 teachers threaten 'job action'; impasse again declared," August 31, 2017
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 The Pueblo Chieftain, "D60 board OKs step and lane movement for teachers," September 14, 2017
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 The Pueblo Chieftain, "D60, teachers fail to reach agreement," November 6, 2017
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 KRDO News Channel 13, "Pueblo teachers, board agree on 2016 contracts, salary increases," August 2, 2017
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Pueblo County, Colorado; Colorado," accessed August 31, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Pueblo City Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Pueblo County, Colorado | |
| Election date: | November 7, 2017 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Appointed incumbent, R. Kenneth O'Neal • Dottie Calhoun • C. Dennis Maes • Taylor Voss • Margaret Wright |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
