Lawrence Public Schools, Massachusetts elections (2015)

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This page is about the 2015 school board election for Lawrence Public Schools in Massachusetts. For the Kansas school district of the same name, click here.

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2015 Lawrence Public Schools Elections
Primary Election date:
September 22, 2015
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
Massachusetts
Lawrence Public Schools
Essex County, Massachusetts ballot measures
Local ballot measures, Massachusetts
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Six seats on the Lawrence Public Schools School Committee were up for general election on November 3, 2015.

The seats of all incumbents, with the exception of Mayor Daniel Rivera, were up for election.[1] In the District C race, incumbent Pavel M. Payano defeated challenger Amy Berard. District E incumbent Patricia Mariano won re-election against Homayoun Maali. This was a rematch from 2013, as Mariano defeated Maali in that race.[2]

In the races for Districts A, B, D and F, no prospective candidates submitted nomination petitions for certification by the Lawrence Board of Registrars by the filing deadline on August 5, 2015.[2] There were only three write-in candidates who received the 50-vote minimum necessary to win election to the committee and placed ahead of other write-ins in their district. Kemal Bozkurt received 70 votes and Emmanuel Castaneda received 62 votes in District A, while Francisco Paulino received 78 votes in District B.[3][4]

The board needs at least four sitting members to conduct business and at least one of the write-in candidates needed to accept a committee spot to meet that threshold.[3] In January 2016, the committee was able to conduct business as all six seats were filled. If the seats were not filled, the Lawrence City Council could have appointed new members or board members who did not file for election could have served until vacancies were filled.[5]

The lack of competition for committee seats stems from a 2012 takeover of the district by state officials. The takeover occurred after the district was deemed "chronically underachieving" and placed in the hands of a receiver through at least 2018.[6] The Lawrence School Committee lacks authority to make substantive decisions and provides non-binding recommendations to the state receiver.[5]

One of the four candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "What was at stake?" section to see survey answers.

About the district

See also: Lawrence Public Schools, Massachusetts
Lawrence Public Schools is located in Essex County, Mass.

Lawrence Public Schools is located in northeast Massachusetts in Essex County. The county seats are Lawrence and Salem. This county was home to 762,550 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] In the 2011-2012 school year, Lawrence Public Schools was the seventh-largest school district in Massachusetts and served 12,900 students.[8]

Demographics

Essex County underperformed compared to the rest of Massachusetts in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 36.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 39.4 percent for Massachusetts as a whole. The median household income in Essex County was $67,311, compared to $66,866 for the state of Massachusetts. The poverty rate was 11.2 percent, compared to 11.4 percent for the entire state.[7]

Racial Demographics, 2013[7]
Race Essex County (%) Massachusetts (%)
White 87.2 83.2
Black or African American 6.0 8.1
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8 0.5
Asian 3.6 6.0
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.1 0.1
Two or More Races 2.2 2.1
Hispanic or Latino 18.0 10.5

Essex County Party Affiliation, 2012[9]
Party Registered Voters % of Total
Democratic 154,655 32.45
Republican 57,470 12.06
Green-Rainbow 439 0.09
Other 2,266 0.48
Unaffiliated 261,832 54.93

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 Lawrence School Committee consists of seven members, six of whom are elected by district to two-year terms. The seventh member is the Mayor of Lawrence, who was not up for election in 2015. The primary election was held on September 22, 2015, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015.

Individuals interested in running for the board began obtaining nominating papers on April 1, 2015. The filing deadline for the 2015 general election was August 18, 2015.[10]

Elections

2015

Candidates

District A

No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.

District B

No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.

District C

Pavel M. Payano Green check mark transparent.png Amy Berard

Pavel Payano.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2011
  • Bachelor's degree, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  • Master's degree, University of Massachusetts, Boston
  • Democratic political operative

Placeholder image.png

  • Bachelor's degree, Merrimack College
  • Master's degree, Kennesaw State University
  • Teacher

District D

No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.

District E

Patricia Mariano Green check mark transparent.png Homayoun Maali

Patricia Mariano.jpg

  • Incumbent
  • First elected in 2013
  • Retired teacher and principal

Homayoun Maali.jpg

  • B.S. in industrial engineering
  • Engineer

District F

No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.

Election results

General election
Lawrence School Committee, District A, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Write-in votes 100% 219
Total Votes 219
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015


Lawrence School Committee, District B, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Write-in votes 100% 205
Total Votes 205
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015


Lawrence School Committee, District C, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Pavel M. Payano Incumbent 65.8% 743
Amy Berard 33.9% 384
Write-in votes 0.35% 4
Total Votes 1,131
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015


Lawrence School Committee, District D, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Write-in votes 100% 197
Total Votes 197
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015


Lawrence School Committee, District E, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Patricia Mariano Incumbent 88.0% 1,238
Homayoun Maali 11.8% 165
Write-in votes 0.21% 3
Total Votes 1,406
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015


Lawrence School Committee, District F, General Election, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Write-in votes 100% 151
Total Votes 151
Source: City of Lawrence, "Certified Election Results," November 13, 2015
Primary election
Lawrence Public Schools,
District A Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 100% 83
Total Votes 83
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017


Lawrence Public Schools,
District B Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 100% 116
Total Votes 116
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017


Lawrence Public Schools,
District C Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngPavel M. Payano Incumbent 72.6% 353
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngAmy Berard 27.4% 133
Total Votes 486
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017


Lawrence Public Schools,
District D Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 100% 134
Total Votes 134
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017


Lawrence Public Schools,
District E Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngPatricia Mariano Incumbent 89% 636
     Nonpartisan Green check mark transparent.pngHomayoun Maali 11% 79
Total Votes 715
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017


Lawrence Public Schools,
District F Primary Election, 2-year term, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Nonpartisan Write-in votes 100% 115
Total Votes 115
Source: Lawrence Election Division, "Municipal Preliminary Official Results," accessed September 19, 2017

Endorsements

Mass Alliance endorsed District C candidate Amy Berard in this election.[11]

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2015

Candidates received a total of $670.92 and spent a total of $504.38 as of October 28, 2015, according to the Lawrence Election Commission.[12] All candidates were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports at least eight days prior to the general election.

Candidate Contributions Expenditures Cash on hand
District C
Pavel M. Payano (incumbent) $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Amy Berard $670.92 $504.38 $165.66
District E
Patricia Mariano (incumbent) $0.00 $0.00 $95.66
Homayoun Maali $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Past elections

What was at stake?

2015

Ballotpedia survey responses

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One candidate out of four total candidates in this race participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates. The following section displays the responses to the survey questions from District C incumbent Pavel M. Payano.

Top priorities

When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Payano stated:

“

To ensure that the district gets out of receivership as soon as possible. [13]

”
—Pavel Payano, (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:

Education policy
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Click here to learn more about education policy in Massachusetts.
Education on the ballot
Issue importance ranking
Issue Payano
Balancing or maintaining the district's budget
2
Expanding career-technical education
4
Closing the achievement gap
6
Expanding arts education
5
Improving college readiness
7
Improving education for special needs students
3
Expanding school choice options
1
Positions on the issues

The candidates were asked to answer 10 multiple 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 Lawrence Public Schools election in 2015:[10]

Deadline Event
April 1, 2015 First day for candidates to take out nomination documents
August 4, 2015 Last day for candidates to file nomination documents with the Lawrence City Clerk's office
September 22, 2015 Primary election day
October 14, 2015 Last day to register to vote in the general election
November 3, 2015 Election Day

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Massachusetts elections, 2015

This election shared the ballot with races for the Lawrence City Council.[15]

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Lawrence Public Schools Massachusetts. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Lawrence Public Schools, Massachusetts elections (2015) - Google News

See also

Lawrence Public Schools Massachusetts School Boards
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External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Lawrence Public Schools, "School Committee," accessed March 6, 2015
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lauren Dixon, Email correspondence with Lawrence Elections Division Sonia Garcia," August 12, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Eagle-Tribune, " Write-ins carry the day for Lawrence School Committee," November 5, 2015
  4. ↑ City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, "The Charter," accessed November 22, 2015
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Eagle-Tribune, "Lawrence School Committee may dwindle to three in January," September 22, 2015
  6. ↑ WBUR, "Lawrence Schools Under State Control For At Least 3 More Years," June 8, 2015
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Essex County, Massachusetts," accessed January 26, 2015
  8. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
  9. ↑ Massachusetts Secretary of State, “Enrollment Breakdown as of 2/15/2012,” accessed August 7, 2013
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed September 2, 2015
  11. ↑ Mass Alliance, "Endorsed Candidates: 2015 Municipal Pipeline Candidates," accessed October 19, 2015
  12. ↑ Lawrence Election Commission, "Campaign Finance Reports and Information," accessed October 28, 2015
  13. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  14. ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Pavel Payano's responses," October 5, 2015
  15. ↑ City of Lawrence, Massachusetts, "2015 CITY NOMINATION PAPERS CERTIFICATION," accessed September 18, 2015
2015 Lawrence Public Schools Elections
Essex County, Massachusetts
Election date:Primary election: September 22, 2015
General election: November 3, 2015
Candidates:District A: No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.

District B: No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.
District C: Incumbent, Pavel M. Payano • Amy Berard
District D: No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.
District E: Incumbent, Patricia Mariano • Homayoun Maali

District F: No candidate submitted nomination petitions for this seat.
Important information:Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot
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