Kyrene Elementary School District elections (2016)

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Kyrene Elementary School District Elections

General election date:
November 8, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
17,401 students

Three of the five seats on the Kyrene Elementary School District school board were up for at-large general election on November 8, 2016. The sole incumbent to file for re-election was John King. He was joined on the ballot by three newcomers: Michelle Fahy, Eshe Pickett, and Michael Myrick. King won another term and was joined in his victory by Fahy and Myrick.[1][2]


Since only one incumbent filed for re-election, at least two newcomers were guaranteed to join the board. There was no primary.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

Kyrene Elementary School District logo.png

The Kyrene school board is composed of five nonpartisan members who are elected at large to four-year terms. There was no primary election, and a general election was held November 8, 2016. Unopposed elections were canceled and did not appear on the ballot. Arizona law required an automatic recount in the case of a tie. If a tie was confirmed, the winner would have been chosen by drawing lots in the presence of the candidates.[3]

Candidates were required to submit nominating petitions signed by qualified electors totaling 0.5 percent of the total voter registration in the school district to the county school superintendent by August 10, 2016. The last day to file as a write-in candidate was September 29, 2016. Voters had to register to vote by October 10, 2016, in order to vote in the general election.[4]

Candidates and results

At-large

Results

Kyrene Elementary School District,
At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.png Michelle Fahy 31.90% 31,987
Green check mark transparent.png Michael Myrick 23.63% 23,694
Green check mark transparent.png John King Incumbent 22.77% 22,833
Eshe Pickett 21.70% 21,756
Total Votes (100) 100,270
Source: Maricopa County Recorder, "Final Results," accessed December 7, 2016

Candidates

John King Green check mark transparent.png Michelle Fahy Green check mark transparent.png

JohnKing.jpg

  • Incumbent

Michelle Fahy.jpg

  • Instructional Technology Coordinator, Tempe Union High Schools
Eshe Pickett Michael Myrick Green check mark transparent.png

Eshe Pickett.jpg

  • Licensed respite provider
  • Spent time substitute teaching for Chicago Public Schools

Michael Myrick.jpg

  • Business owner

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Arizona elections, 2016


The following offices shared the general election date with this Arizona school board election:

Two state ballot measures were also scheduled to appear on the general election ballot: Proposition 205 (Arizona Marijuana Legalization and Proposition 206 (Arizona Minimum Wage and Paid Time Off.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for this Arizona school board election in 2016:[5]

Deadline Event
August 10, 2016 Last day to file nominating petitions
October 10, 2016 Voter registration deadline for the general election
October 12, 2016 Early voting begins for the general election
November 4, 2016 Pre-general campaign finance deadline
November 8, 2016 General election day
December 8, 2016 Post-general campaign finance deadline

Endorsements

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at elections@ballotpedia.org.

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016
Campaign Finance Ballotpedia.png

School board candidates in Arizona were not required to file a campaign finance report if they did not raise or spend more than $500. If they plan to stay under this threshold, they are permitted to file an exemption statement. This rendered them exempt from all other campaign finance reporting, provided they did not exceed the $500 threshold. Otherwise, candidates were not required to file any report until they raised or spent more than the threshold limit. At that point, they had to file a Statement of Organization within five business days from when the threshold was reached. The pre-general campaign finance report was due November 4, 2016. All campaign finance filing was handled by the Arizona Secretary of State.[6]

What was at stake?

Report a story for this election

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2016

Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association logo

Issues in the district

Drastic teacher shortages

A report released by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association revealed that four weeks into the 2016-2017 school year, Arizona still had over 2,000 teacher vacancies. According to 12 News, that was 25 percent of all positions in the state. Dr. Doug Wilson, superintendent of Marana Unified School District, said the issue was "that the pool of teachers is very narrow. It really is, so this is going to be a problem for school districts all over Arizona for several years."[7][8]

Adam Sharp, a principal of Espiritu Charter School, said he was not surprised by the teacher shortage. “There's a lack of respect for the teachers some people view this as a lesser profession," he explained. Although the report looked at a variety of factors to explain the shortage, Sharp thought it came down to one issue: teacher pay. 12 News reported that Arizona's average starting salary was $31,874, while the national average was $36,141. Teachers were leaving for other states whose starting pay was $8,000-$10,000 more. Meanwhile, the open spots in Arizona were being filled by long-term substitutes. However, that did not suffice when it came to special education, which required a more particular skill set. Some district superintendents, such as Kristi Sandvik of Buckeye Elementary School District and Dr. Andrew Rogers of Liberty Elementary School District, were turning to contract agencies to find special education teachers. However, Dr. Rogers added that doing so was “significantly more expensive than if we hired people directly.”[7][8]


About the district

See also: Kyrene Elementary School District, Arizona
Kyrene Elementary School District is located in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Kyrene Elementary School District is located in the city of Tempe in southwestern Arizona in Maricopa County. Phoenix is its county seat and the state capital. It is also the largest city in Arizona. Maricopa County was home to 4,167,947 residents between 2010 and 2015, according to United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the 14th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 17,401 students.[10]

Demographics

Maricopa County outperformed Arizona as a whole in terms of higher education achievement between 2010 and 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 30.0 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree or higher, compared to 27.1 percent for state residents. The median household income for the county was $53,689, compared to $49,928 statewide. County residents lived below the poverty level at a rate of 17.1 percent, while that rate was 17.4 percent for state residents.[9]

Racial Demographics, 2015[9]
Race Maricopa County (%) Arizona (%)
White 84.0 83.5
Black or African American 5.9 4.8
American Indian and Alaska Native 2.8 5.3
Asian 4.2 3.4
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander 0.3 0.3
Two or More Races 2.8 2.7
Hispanic or Latino 30.5 30.7

Presidential Voting Pattern, Maricopa County[11][12]
Year Democratic Vote Republican Vote
2012 602,288 749,885
2008 602,166 746,448
2004 504,849 679,455
2000 386,683 479,967

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.


Recent news

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See also

Kyrene Elementary School District Arizona School Boards
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External links

Footnotes