Bill Grove
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Bill Grove is an at-large member of the Council Bluffs Board of Education in Iowa. He won re-election to his seat in the general election on September 8, 2015, by defeating challenger Richard Dallinger.[1][2]
Grove participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates.
Biography
Grove is a retired educator. He retired as the superintendent of the Eldora-New Providence School District in 2004. He worked as a teacher and a principal throughout his career.[3]
Elections
2015
Four of the seven seats on the Council Bluffs Board of Education were up for election on September 8, 2015. The available seats represented the district at-large.
Incumbents Troy Arthur, David Coziahr and Bill Grove ran for re-election in a race for the four available seats. Challengers included Richard Dallinger and Chris LaFerla. Incumbent J.J. Harvey did not seek re-election.[2][4]
Arthur, Coziahr, Grove and LaFerla defeated Dallinger and won the election for the four seats.[5]
Results
This election was held September 8, 2015.
| Council Bluffs Community School District, At-Large, 4-Year Term, General Election, 2015 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Troy Arthur Incumbent |
22.7% | 608 |
| David Coziahr Incumbent |
22.6% | 606 |
| Bill Grove Incumbent |
21.8% | 585 |
| Chris LaFerla |
19.6% | 525 |
| Richard Dallinger | 13.3% | 356 |
| Total Votes | 2,680 | |
| Source: 'Tiffany Rouse, "Email correspondence with Pottawattamie County Elections <marilyn.kennedy@pottcounty-ia.gov> Marilyn Kennedy," November 13, 2015 | ||
Funding
Grove reported no contributions or expenditures to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board during the election.[6] Any candidate spending, receiving or incurring debt in the amount of $1,000 or less was not required to file the disclosure form for campaign finances.[7]
Endorsements
Grove received no official endorsements during the election.
Campaign themes
2015
Ballotpedia survey responses
Grove participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | Have the educational players (teachers, union, school board, and parents) develop an accountability system for schools on which we can all agree.[8] | ” |
| —Bill Grove (2015)[9] | ||
Grove also included the following statement with his responses:
| “ | We must find a way to re-gain the trust of our citizens about public schools. Our public schools are too essential to our democracy and provide an opportunity for upward social mobility.[8] | ” |
| —Bill Grove (2015)[9] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was 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 this candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Idaho. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Expanding career-technical education | |
| Improving college readiness | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are in the left column, and the candidate's responses are in the right column of the following table:
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| "They should be implemented." | |
| "No" | |
| "No" | |
| "No" | |
| "Help our country improve the economic status of all our families." | |
| "Expulsion should be used for serious offenses to ensure the safety of other students as well as the integrity of education at district schools." | |
| "Provide a team approach for teachers to meet the needs. Teachers should not work in isolation." | |
| "for the teacher team" | |
| "Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district." | |
| "Make sure we always give honest answers to questions and concerns." |
What was at stake?
2015
Four seats were up for election in 2015. Three incumbents and two challengers ran for the four seats. One new member won a seat on the board.
The district continued planning for massive renovations and additions to its athletic complex in 2015. The renovations and additions were estimated to cost approximately $15 million.[10]
Athletic complex renovations
The Community Bluffs School District athletic complex was home to a football stadium, track, softball fields, baseball fields and soccer fields that were outdated and in need of repairs. The district was not able to host certain sporting events due to the conditions of the facilities. In 2014, the district began a fundraising campaign for the three phase project. The district raised $13.2 million of the $15 million budget in the first year of fundraising. By September 2015 the district raised the remaining $2 million to fully fund the renovations.[11]
The first phase of the project included renovations to the football stadium and track that surrounds it. The cost was approximately $2 million dollars, and it was completed by the start of the 2015 football season. The second phase plan included work on the softball, baseball and soccer fields. The bids for the second phase came in over budget, but the board hired an engineering firm to conduct a value engineering audit that saved the district $1.36 million. The engineering firm suggested decreasing the depth of the concrete and the width of the sidewalks among other suggestions in an effort to find savings.[10]
The second phase of the project was expected to be finished in August 2016. The plan for the third phase of the project required procuring additional property to expand the footprint of the complex and did not have a set timeline as of September 2015.[12]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Bill Grove Council Bluffs Community School District. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Council Bluffs Community School District, Iowa
- Council Bluffs Community School District elections (2015)
- Newcomers and incumbents share the victories in Iowa's largest school district elections (September 9, 2015)
- Analysis of incumbency advantage in the 2014 school board elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Council Bluffs Community School District," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, "Candidate List," accessed August 3, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "Bill Grove to run for school board seat," April 17, 2008
- ↑ Council Bluffs Community School District, "Board Members," accessed March 5, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Council Bluffs Community School District," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "State/Local Campaign Disclosure Forms," accessed February 2, 2016
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "Reporting Dates," accessed August 13, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Bill Grove responses," August 18, 2015
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedvalue - ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "CBCSD launches effort to renovate stadium," March 22, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "More property purchased for athletic complex," August 27, 2015
| 2015 Council Bluffs Community School District Elections | |
| Pottawattamie County, Iowa | |
| Election date: | September 8, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Troy Arthur • Incumbent, David Coziahr • Incumbent, Bill Grove • Richard Dallinger • Chris LaFerla |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
