Columbus City Schools elections (2013)

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2013 Columbus City Schools Elections
General Election date:
November 5, 2013
Table of Contents
About the district Method of election Elections What was at stake? Key deadlines Additional elections External links References
See also
Ohio Columbus City Schools

Three seats were up for election on the Columbus Board of Education. Michael D. Cole, Ramona R. Reyes and Dominic Paretti defeated Mike Wiles, Beverly J. Corner and Hanifah Kambon to win three at-large seats on November 5, 2013. The district experienced public discussion over a proposed increase in property taxes and a state investigation into attendance practices, which was linked to potential reductions in state funding.

About the district

See also: Columbus City Schools, Ohio

Columbus City Schools is located in Franklin County, Ohio

Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County and located in central Ohio. The city's population was 787,033 according to the 2010 U.S. Census.

Demographics

Columbus underperformed compared to the rest of Ohio in terms of median income and poverty rate while overperforming the state in higher education attainment. The 2010 U.S. Census found that 32.3% of Columbus residents aged 25 years or older held undergraduate degrees compared to a 24.5% rate for the state of Ohio. Columbus had a median income of $43,348 in 2010 compared to $48,071 for Ohio. The poverty rate for Columbus was 21.8% in 2010 compared to an 14.8% rate for the rest of the state.

Racial Demographics, 2012
Race	Columbus (%)	Ohio (%)
White	61.5	82.7
Black or African American	28	12.2
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.3	0.2
Asian	4.1	1.7
Two or More Races	3.3	2.1
Hispanic or Latino	5.6	3.1

Presidential Voting Pattern
Year	Democratic Vote (%)	Republican Vote (%)
2012	60.5	37.8
2008	59.6	38.9
2004	54.3	45
2000	48.8	47.8

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.

Method of board member selection

The Columbus Board of Education consists of seven members who are elected at-large to four-year terms. There was no primary election on September 10, 2013 and the general election was held on November 5, 2013. Three seats on the board were up for election in 2013 and four seats were on the ballot on November 3, 2015.

Candidates for the Columbus Board of Education must be 18 years old, a resident of the district and not hold city office concurrent to board service. The Franklin County Board of Elections required a $30 filing fee as well as at least 300 signatures by the filing deadline on August 7, 2013.

Elections

2013

Candidates

• Michael D. Cole
  • Graduate, Ohio State University and Seton Hall University
  • Co-founder, Thoth Communications, Inc.
• Beverly J. Corner
  • Graduate, Cornell College and Ohio State University
  • Attorney
• Hanifah Kambon
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate Ohio State University and University of Dayton
  • Educational trainer
• Dominic Paretti
  • Graduate, University of Cincinnati
  • Legislative aide, Ohio State Legislature
• Ramona R. Reyes
  • Incumbent
  • Graduate, Ohio State University
  • Human resources specialist, Nationwide Insurance
• Mike Wiles
  • Incumbent
  • Driver, On Demand Storage LLC
  • Veteran, U.S. Navy

Election results

Columbus Board of Education, At-large, 2013
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Michael D. Cole	23.5%	32,756
	Nonpartisan	Ramona R. Reyes Incumbent	18.6%	26,016
	Nonpartisan	Dominic Paretti	16%	22,380
	Nonpartisan	Mike Wiles Incumbent	14.9%	20,791
	Nonpartisan	Beverly J. Corner	14%	19,586
	Nonpartisan	Hanifah Kambon Incumbent	12.9%	17,986
Total Votes				139,515
Source: Franklin County Board of Elections, "November 2013 General Election Official Results," accessed December 13, 2013

Campaign finance

Candidates received a total of $19,520.49 during the election, according to the Ohio Secretary of State. Dominic Paretti and Ramona R. Reyes were the only candidates to file financial reports and received $12,520.49 and $7,000 for their campaigns, respectively.

Endorsements

The Franklin County Democratic Party endorsed Michael D. Cole, Hanifah Kambon, Dominic Paretti and Ramona R. Reyes in September 2013. The Columbus Dispatch endorsed Michael D. Cole, Dominic Paretti and Ramona R. Reyes on October 30, 2013.

Past elections

2011

Columbus Board of Education, At-large, November 8, 2011
Party		Candidate	Vote %	Votes
	Nonpartisan	Carol Perkins Incumbent	29.3%	64,332
	Nonpartisan	W. Shawna Gibbs Incumbent	29%	63,589
	Nonpartisan	Bryan O. Steward	26.8%	58,778
	Nonpartisan	Write-in votes	15%	32,946
Total Votes				219,645
Source: Franklin County Board of Elections (dead link)

Note: Incumbent Gary Baker won the fourth seat as a write-in candidate by garnering 17,400 votes against seven other write-in candidates.

What was at stake?

Incumbents Hanifah Kambon, Ramona R. Reyes and Mike Wiles ran for re-election to the board in 2013. They competed with challengers Michael D. Cole, Beverly J. Corner and Dominic Paretti in the November 5, 2013 general election.

Ethics violations

On October 25th, 2013, Kambon was reprimanded by the Ohio Ethics Commission on charges of conflict-of-interest. The commission found that she unintentionally violated the law because her husband's firm, Visionary Leaders Institute, was contracted by the district to provide it with staff training materials. The company had done business with the district for over 10-years, beginning before Kambon was on the board. Because they were limited in scope, the four contracts in question were not voted on by the board and did not go through a bidding process. Although she was not actively involved in her husband's company, Kambon was found to have received $1,085 in payments from Visionary Leaders Institute during her time on the board. She was reprimanded but not criminally prosecuted and agreed to repay the district $11,750.

Issue 50

Issue 50 was a proposed tax levy to add $0.90 per $100 of assessed property value to district taxes. These funds would have been used to support renovations and maintenance in the district, and approximately $8.5 million per year would be earmarked for charter schools with high performance indicators. No board members spoke at a September 9, 2013 rally held by Mayor Michael B. Coleman and other community leaders. Voters rejected the tax levy with a 69% majority.

Scrubbing investigation

In September 2013, The Columbus Dispatch reported that approximately 300 of the school district's student records were subpoenaed by Ohio state auditors during two investigations. One looked into allegations that district employees changed student attendance records for the first week of October in the 2010-2011 school year. This October count was used by the state to determine how much funding the district should receive during the 2011-2012 school year. The second inquiry was opened to investigate possible instances of scrubbing—the process of withdrawing students with frequent absences from school before re-enrolling them—which could affect reported test scores. The findings of the investigations would determine whether the district's state funding would be affected.

On October 22, the board unanimously voted to create new attendance policies that would require court hearings and district investigations into student whereabouts before removal from attendance records.

Key deadlines

The following dates were key deadlines for the Columbus Board of Education elections in 2013:

Deadline	Event
August 7, 2013	Last day to file nominating petitions for local nonpartisan races
October 24, 2013	Filing deadline for pre-election expense reports
November 5, 2013	Election day
November 26, 2013	Certification of election results by county officials
December 13, 2013	Filing deadline for post-election expense reports

Additional elections on the ballot

The Columbus Board of Education elections shared the ballot with other local measures. Residents of Columbus voted on three City Council seats as well as candidates for City Attorney and City Auditor. Four seats on the Franklin County Municipal Court were up for election on November 5, 2013. The ballot featured Issue 50, which would add a $0.90 tax per $100 of property value over 36 years: $0.10 per $100 would be allocated towards new construction and $0.80 per $100 of property value would go towards ongoing maintenance costs. Issue 51 asked voters to determine if the school district should create the position of Independent Auditor. Municipal issues on the ballot included four bond issues for city services and 21 issues dealing with alcohol sales at local businesses. Voters rejected both proposals on November 5, 2013.

See also

• Ohio
• Columbus City Schools, Ohio
• List of school board elections in 2013
• Franklin County, Ohio ballot measures
• Financial policies, education standards at stake in November school board elections
• School board election wrap-up: Incumbents re-elected overwhelmingly in November 5 elections
• School board elections review: Voters opt for experience over new blood in nation's largest school districts

External links

Suggest a link

• District page
• Franklin County Board of Elections