South Carolina school board elections, 2015
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A total of two South Carolina school districts among America's largest school districts by enrollment held elections for nine seats on November 3, 2015.
Here are several quick facts about South Carolina's school board elections in 2015:
- The largest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Spartanburg County School District 6 with 11,023 K-12 students.
- The smallest school district by enrollment with an election in 2015 was Spartanburg School District 2 with 10,074 K-12 students.
- Spartanburg School District 2 had the most seats on the ballot in 2015 with five seats up for election.
- Spartanburg County School District 6 had the fewest seats on the ballot in 2015 with four seats up for election.
The districts listed below served 21,097 K-12 students during the 2012-2013 school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.[1] Click on the district names for more information on the district and its school board elections.
| 2015 South Carolina School Board Elections | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Date | Seats up for election | Total board seats | Student enrollment |
| Spartanburg County School District 6 | 11/3/2015 | 4 | 9 | 11,023 |
| Spartanburg School District 2 | 11/3/2015 | 5 | 10 | 10,074 |
Trends in South Carolina school board elections
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2015 school board elections in South Carolina's largest school districts attracted a smaller average number of candidates per seat on the ballot than the state's 2014 school board elections did. Despite having fewer candidates per seat, the 2015 elections had a lower percentage of seats go unopposed than the 2014 elections had. Newcomers fared nearly equally well in both 2014 and 2015. They took one-third of the seats on the ballot in 2015, and 35.79 percent of the seats on the ballot in 2014.
The 2015 elections had considerably fewer seats on the ballot than the 2014 elections had. Nine seats were on the ballot in 2015, whereas 95 seats were on the ballot in 2014.
The following sections analyze competitiveness and incumbency advantage in South Carolina's school board elections. These districts did not utilize primary or runoff elections. Winners only had to receive a plurality, or relative majority, of votes to secure a seat. All of the school board elections held in the state in 2014 and 2015 were nonpartisan.
Details of the data discussed here can be found in the table below.
Competitiveness
In 2015, elections held in South Carolina's largest school districts attracted an average of 1.44 candidates per seat. This was lower than the average 1.67 candidates who ran per seat in the state's 2014 school board elections. In spite of having fewer candidates run per seat, the 2015 elections had a lower percentage of seats go unopposed than the 2014 elections had. A total of 11.11 percent of seats went unopposed in 2015, compared to the 44.21 percent of seats that went unopposed in 2014.
Incumbency advantage
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Three-quarters of the incumbents who ran for re-election in 2015 retained their seats. Eight of the nine incumbents whose terms were on the ballot ran to keep their seats, and six of them won. All six of the winners defeated challengers to win additional terms. A newcomer won the one seat that went unopposed that year. In 2014, 79.73 percent of incumbents who ran to keep their seats won re-election. A total of 74 of the 95 incumbents who were up for re-election ran to retain their seats, and 59 of them won. Out of those winners, 38 ran unopposed; the others had to defeat challengers in order to win their bids for re-election. The map below details the success rates for incumbents who ran in the 2015 school board elections that were held in the largest school districts by enrollment in the U.S.
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Data table
The table below displays the statistics for school board elections in South Carolina's largest school districts from 2014 to 2015.
| South Carolina school board elections, 2014-2015 | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Total | Incumbents | ||||||||
| Seats up | Candidates | Candidates/ seat |
Unopposed seats | % unopposed | % seats won by newcomers | Sought re-election | Unopposed | Retained | % retained | |
| 2015 | 9 | 13 | 1.44 | 1 | 11.11% | 33.33% | 8 | 0 | 6 | 75.00% |
| 2014 | 95 | 159 | 1.67 | 42 | 44.21% | 35.79% | 74 | 38 | 59 | 79.73% |
State profile
| Demographic data for South Carolina | ||
|---|---|---|
| South Carolina | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 4,894,834 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 30,061 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 67.2% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 27.5% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 1.4% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.3% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.1% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 2% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 5.3% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 85.6% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 25.8% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $45,483 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 22% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in South Carolina. **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. | ||
Presidential voting pattern
South Carolina voted Republican in all seven presidential elections between 2000 and 2024.
Pivot Counties (2016)
Ballotpedia identified 206 counties that voted for Donald Trump (R) in 2016 after voting for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012. Collectively, Trump won these Pivot Counties by more than 580,000 votes. Of these 206 counties, five are located in South Carolina, accounting for 2.43 percent of the total pivot counties.[2]
Pivot Counties (2020)
In 2020, Ballotpedia re-examined the 206 Pivot Counties to view their voting patterns following that year's presidential election. Ballotpedia defined those won by Trump won as Retained Pivot Counties and those won by Joe Biden (D) as Boomerang Pivot Counties. Nationwide, there were 181 Retained Pivot Counties and 25 Boomerang Pivot Counties. South Carolina had five Retained Pivot Counties, 2.76 percent of all Retained Pivot Counties.
More South Carolina coverage on Ballotpedia
- Elections in South Carolina
- United States congressional delegations from South Carolina
- Public policy in South Carolina
- Endorsers in South Carolina
- South Carolina fact checks
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Academic performance
| Education terms |
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| For more information on education policy terms, see this article. |
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- See also: Public education in South Carolina
NAEP scores
- See also: NAEP scores by state
The National Center for Education Statistics provides state-by-state data on student achievement levels in mathematics and reading in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The chart below presents the percentage of fourth and eighth grade students that scored at or above proficient in reading and math during the 2012-2013 school year. Compared to three neighboring states (Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee), South Carolina had the smallest percentage of fourth grade students score at or above proficient in both math and reading.[3]
| Percent of students scoring at or above proficient, 2012-2013 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Math - Grade 4 | Math - Grade 8 | Reading - Grade 4 | Reading - Grade 8 | |
| South Carolina | 35% | 31% | 28% | 29% |
| Georgia | 39% | 29% | 34% | 32% |
| North Carolina | 45% | 36% | 35% | 33% |
| Tennessee | 40% | 28% | 34% | 33% |
| United States | 41% | 34% | 34% | 34% |
| Source: United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables" | ||||
Graduation, ACT and SAT scores
The following table shows the graduation rates and average composite ACT and SAT scores for South Carolina and surrounding states during the 2012-2013 school year. All statements made in this section refer to that school year.[3][4][5]
In the United States, public schools reported graduation rates that averaged to about 81.4 percent. About 54 percent of all students in the country took the ACT, while 50 percent reported taking the SAT. The average national composite scores for those tests were 20.9 out of a possible 36 for the ACT and 1,498 out of a possible 2,400 for the SAT.[6]
South Carolina schools reported a graduation rate of 77.6 percent, second-lowest among its neighboring states.
In South Carolina, more students took the SAT than the ACT, earning an average SAT score of 1,436.
| Comparison table for graduation rates and test scores, 2012-2013 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Graduation rate, 2013 | Average ACT composite, 2013 | Average SAT composite, 2013 | ||||
| Percent | Quintile ranking** | Score | Participation rate | Score | Participation rate | ||
| South Carolina | 77.6% | Fourth | 20.4 | 51% | 1,436 | 64% | |
| Georgia | 71.7% | Fifth | 20.7 | 51% | 1,452 | 75% | |
| North Carolina | 82.5% | Third | 18.7 | 100% | 1,479 | 62% | |
| Tennessee | 86.3% | Second | 19.5 | 100% | 1,709 | 8% | |
| United States | 81.4% | 20.9 | 54% | 1498 | 50% | ||
| **Graduation rates for states in the first quintile ranked in the top 20 percent nationally. Similarly, graduation rates for states in the fifth quintile ranked in the bottom 20 percent nationally. Sources: United States Department of Education, "ED Data Express" ACT.org, "2013 ACT National and State Scores" The Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT scores by state, 2013" | |||||||
Dropout rate
- See also: Public high school dropout rates by state for a full comparison of dropout rates by group in all states
The high school event dropout rate indicates the proportion of students who were enrolled at some time during the school year and were expected to be enrolled in grades nine through 12 in the following school year but were not enrolled by October 1 of the following school year. Students who have graduated, transferred to another school, died, moved to another country, or who are out of school due to illness are not considered dropouts. The average public high school event dropout rate for the United States remained constant at 3.3 percent for both school year 2010–11 and school year 2011–2012. The event dropout rate for South Carolina was lower than the national average at 2.8 percent in the 2010-2011 school year, and 2.5 percent in the 2011-2012 school year.[7]
See also
| South Carolina | School Boards | News and Analysis |
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Footnotes
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed April 21, 2015
- ↑ The raw data for this study was provided by Dave Leip of Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 United States Department of Education, ED Data Express, "State Tables," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ ACT, "2012 ACT National and State Scores," accessed May 13, 2014
- ↑ Commonwealth Foundation, "SAT Scores by State 2013," October 10, 2013
- ↑ StudyPoints, "What's a good SAT score or ACT score?" accessed June 7, 2015
- ↑ United States Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data (CCD), State Dropout and Graduation Rate Data File, School Year 2010-11, Provision Version 1a and School Year 2011-12, Preliminary Version 1a," accessed May 13, 2014
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