Council Bluffs Community School District elections (2015)
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Four seats on the Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education were up for general election on September 8, 2015.
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. Arthur, Coziahr, Grove and LaFerla defeated Dallinger for the four seats.[1][2][3]
The district finished the first of three phases in its plan for an athletic complex renovation in August 2015. The district along with the community raised over $15 million to fund the project.[4]
Two of the five candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see the candidates' answers.
About the district
Council Bluffs Community School District is located in southwestern Iowa in Pottawattamie County. The city of Council Bluffs is the county seat. Pottawattamie County was home to 93,128 residents in 2014, according the United States Census Bureau.[5] Council Bluffs Community School District was the ninth-largest school district in Iowa, serving 9,438 students during the 2012-2013 school year.[6]
Demographics
Pottawattamie County underperformed in comparison to the rest of Iowa in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 19.1 percent of county residents over the age of 25 had a bachelor's degree or higher compared to 25.7 percent of state residents. The median household income in the county was $51,304, compared to $51,843 in the entire state. The county had a poverty rate of 13.8 percent, while the poverty rate for Iowa was 12.4 percent.[5]
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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.
Voter and candidate information
The Council Bluffs Board of Education consists of seven members elected at-large to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and the general election was held September 8, 2015. Four seats were up for election in 2015.[2]
The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was July 30, 2015. To vote in the election, residents had to register by August 28, 2015.[8]
Elections
2015
Candidates
| Troy Arthur |
David Coziahr |
Richard Dallinger | |||
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| Bill Grove |
Chris LaFerla | ||
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Election results
This election was held September 8, 2015.
| Council Bluffs Community School District, At-Large, 4-Year Term, General Election, 2015 | ||
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| 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 | ||
Endorsements
No candidate received an official endorsement during the election.
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board during the election. 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.[9][10]
Past elections
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2013
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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.[4]
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.[4]
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]
Ballotpedia survey responses
Two of the five candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates as of September 1, 2015. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Bill Grove and Chris LaFerla.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Grove stated:
| “ | Have the educational players (teachers, union, school board, and parents) develop an accountability system for schools on which we can all agree.[13] | ” |
| —Bill Grove (2015)[14] | ||
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, LaFerla stated:
| “ | My highest priority as a board member will be to ensure that the district and other board members are intensely focused on the continuous improvement and strategic planning. [13] | ” |
| —Bill Grove (2015)[14] | ||
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 from most to least important:
| Issue | Grove's ranking | LaFerla's ranking | ||
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| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
| Improving college readiness | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidate's responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Council Bluffs Community School District election in 2015:[8]
| Deadline | Event |
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| July 6, 2015 | First day for candidates to file |
| July 30, 2015 | Candidate filing deadline |
| August 4, 2015 | Candidate withdrawal deadline |
| August 28, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in the election |
| September 8, 2015 | Election Day |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Iowa elections, 2015
There were no other elections on this ballot.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Council Bluffs Community School District Iowa. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Council Bluffs Community School District | Iowa | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Tiffany Rouse, Email correspondence with Pottawattamie County Auditor's Office Marilyn Kennedy," August 6, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Council Bluffs Community School District, "Board Members," accessed March 5, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Council Bluffs Community School District," accessed September 8, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 The Dailey Nonpareil, "District grapples with high bid, avoids reducing ‘wow’ factor," September 2, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 United States Census Bureau, "Pottawattamie County," accessed March 27, 2015]
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "District Directory Information," accessed March 9, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Secretary of State, “Monthly Voter Registration Totals,” accessed September 3, 2013
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Iowa Secretary of State, "Auditor's Calendar of School Elections," accessed March 6, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "Reporting Dates," accessed August 13, 2015
- ↑ Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, "State/Local Campaign Disclosure Forms," accessed February 2, 2016
- ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "CBCSD launches effort to renovate stadium," March 22, 2015
- ↑ The Daily Nonpareil, "More property purchased for athletic complex," August 27, 2015
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Bill Grove responses," August 18, 2015 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "survey" defined multiple times with different content
| 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 |
