Mustang Public Schools elections (2015)
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One seat on the Mustang Public Schools school board was scheduled for general election on February 10, 2015. Seat 5 incumbent Chad Fulton was the only candidate to file for the race which led to the cancellation of the election. This is the second consecutive election for the board to be uncontested.[1]
While no elections appeared on the ballot, the district received continuing scrutiny over a decision to establish a Bible history class at Mustang High School.
About the district
- See also: Mustang Public Schools, Oklahoma
Mustang Public Schools is located in Canadian County in central Oklahoma. The county seat of Canadian County is El Reno. Canadian County was home to an estimated 126,123 residents in 2013, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] Mustang was the 13th-largest school district in Oklahoma, serving 9,213 students in the 2011-2012 school year.[3]
Demographics
Canadian County outperformed in comparison to the rest of Oklahoma in terms of higher education achievement in 2012. The United States Census Bureau found that 25.6 percent of Canadian County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 23.2 percent for Oklahoma as a whole. The median household income in Canadian County was $63,884 compared to $44,891 for the state of Oklahoma. The poverty rate in Canadian County was 7.5 percent compared to 16.6 percent for the entire state.[2]
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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 Mustang Board of Education consists of five members elected to five-year terms by geographic electoral districts. There was no primary election, and the general election for Seat 5 was scheduled to be held on February 10, 2015.[5]
Candidates began to file affidavits of candidacy on December 1, 2014. The filing deadline for school board candidates to get on the ballot in the general election was December 3, 2014. The election was canceled after only one candidate filed for the race.[6]
Elections
2015
Candidates
Seat 5
- Chad Fulton
- Incumbent, first elected in 2010
Endorsements
There were no official endorsements in this election.
Campaign finance
No contributions or expenditures were reported during the election, according to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission.[7]
Past elections
Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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2014
Zone 2 incumbent Mike Kessler and Zone 4 incumbent Amanda Strassle ran without opposition and did not appear on the 2014 ballot. 2012Jim Brown defeated Kathleen Barnes and Dona Zanotti in the February 14, 2012, election for the Zone 2 seat on the Mustang Public Schools election.
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What was at stake?
While district residents saw no board races on the ballot in 2015, the district has come under greater media attention following the development of an elective Bible history class for Mustang High School.
Issues in the district
Bible history class controversy
In April 2014, the school board approved a Bible history class as an elective course for students at Mustang High School. The curriculum itself has come under scrutiny, as well as the process by which the decision was made came under fire after allegations were made which have been accused of being in violation of Oklahoma's open meeting laws.[8]
The curriculum approved by the board has been promoted by Steven Green, the president of Hobby Lobby and founder of the Museum of the Bible. Green's politics have been in the spotlight including Hobby Lobby's case before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding religious objections to birth control and the Affordable Care Act. According to a copy of the curriculum obtained by The Associated Press, the "curriculum says people should rest on the Sabbath because God did so after six days of creation, and says people risk God’s punishment if they do not obey him."[8]
Open meetings violation accusations
Just before the meeting at which the vote to approve the curriculum was made, the school board met in small groups with Steve Green, The meetings took place in Oklahoma County. District Attorney David Prater of Oklahoma County stated, " Even if there’s an out-of-county board, if they come here and meet in an attempt to circumvent the Open Meetings Act, just because they’ve met in a place that’s not routine, doesn’t mean they circumvent their requirements for meetings. If someone is going to that great of length to avoid quorum, it sounds like they’re being pretty darn careful."[8]
While board member Jeff Landrith denied even knowing of the meetings, it was later revealed that he had sent a note stating that he would not be able to attend them. Superintendent Sean McDaniel said of the decision to hold separate, private meetings, "This was something that we wanted to be able to have conversation about and ask questions. If we have the media and the public coming into Hobby Lobby headquarters with us, that can just be confusing and awkward since we’re all seeing it for the first time. My thought was, ‘Hey, let’s hold off on having a public meeting until we see a little more."[8]
Lawsuit threatened & legislative response
A Wisconsin-based group called Freedom from Religion threatened to sue the district over the originally approved course, calling the curriculum developed by Green's organization a violation of the First Amendment. The group sent a four-page letter stating their intention to seek legal action against any district that teaches the course to schools across Oklahoma. The letter stated that the curriculum, "did not teach about the bible, but preached from the bible."[9]
In December 2014, it was announced that the district would still be seeking to offer a Bible history class, but that it would not be using curriculum developed in conjunction with Green.[10] In response to the controversy, Sen. Kyle D. Loveless (R-45) introduced Senate Bill 48 in early 2015. The proposed law would protect school districts who provide elective courses on the "objective study of religion or the Bible" from being held liable for providing the courses.[11]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the election in 2015:[5][12]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| December 1-3, 2014 | Candidate filing period |
| January 16, 2015 | Voter registration closes |
| February 4, 2015 | Absentee ballot request deadline |
| February 5-6, 2015 | Early voting period |
| February 10, 2015 | General election date |
| April 7, 2015 | Runoff election, if necessary |
| April 30, 2015 | Campaign finance report deadline |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Oklahoma elections, 2015
The statewide annual school election date was February 10, 2015. A vote about .35 cent county sales tax allocation was scheduled to be voted upon in this election, but it was later removed from the ballot. The cancellation of that election cost the county over $12,000 due required ballot reprinting.[13]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mustang Public Schools Oklahoma. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Mustang Public Schools | Oklahoma | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Margaret Koenig, "Email correspondence with Wanda Armold, Secretary of the Canadian County Election Board," December 8, 2014
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Canadian County, Oklahoma," accessed April 17, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2014
- ↑ Oklahoma State Election Board, "Voter Registration Reports," accessed December 12, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Oklahoma State Elections Board, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedcandidate - ↑ Oklahoma Ethics Commission, "Campaign Reporting Systems," accessed February 17, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 The Dallas Morning News, "Oklahoma school board members met privately with Hobby Lobby president on Bible class," May 21, 2014
- ↑ News9.com, "Wisconsin Group Threatens Oklahoma Schools Over Bible Class Curriculum," January 30, 2015
- ↑ The Oklahoman, "Mustang Schools still plans Bible class, but not with controversial Green scholars' curriculum," December 12, 2014
- ↑ Oklahoma Legislature, "Senate Bill 48: As Introduced," accessed February 2, 2015
- ↑ Oklahoma Ethics Commission, "Reporting Calendar," accessed December 5, 2014
- ↑ Mustang News, "FEB. 10 VOTE ON COUNTY TAX CANCELED BY COMMISSIONERS," January 22, 2015
| 2015 Mustang Public Schools Elections | |
| Canadian County, Oklahoma | |
| Election date: | February 10, 2015 |
| Candidates: | Seat 5: • Incumbent, Chad Fulton |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
