Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections (2016)

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2017 →
Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Elections
Primary election date:
February 16, 2016
General election date:
April 5, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
6,447 students

Four of the seven seats on the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education were up for at-large general election on April 5, 2016. A primary election was held on February 16, 2016, to narrow the field of candidates from 13 down to eight. Incumbent Frank Carini and challengers Veronica Baricevic, Joshua Borzick, Jeffrey Gassenhuber, Darin Grabowski, Elizabeth Sparks, Amy Mlot, and Beth Waschow won the primary election. They faced off again in the general election, where Carini, Sparks, Grabowski, and Mlot were elected to the board.

Two of the four seats on the ballot were up for election to regular three-year terms. The other two seats were on the ballot in order to increase the size of the board from five members to seven. Carini and Sparks, the top two vote-getters, won three-year terms. Grabowski, who came in third place, won a two-year term, and fourth-place finisher Mlot won a one-year term on the board.

Incumbent Jonathan Jossart and challengers Rosemarie Annonson, Sean Kingston, Thomas Kroon, and Gregory Loreck were defeated in the primary election.

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District Board of Education formerly consisted of five seats. The 2016 election, however, increased the size of the board to seven seats. Board members are elected at large on a staggered basis with elections held every year in April. Because 13 candidates filed to run in this election, which was more than double the number of seats on the ballot, a primary election was held on February 16, 2016. The eight candidates who received the most votes in the primary election advanced to the general election on April 5, 2016.

In order to be eligible to run in this election, candidates had to reside in the boundaries of the school district for 28 days before they filed their "Declaration of Candidacy" form. Candidates also had to be 18 years old and citizens of the United States. Unless pardoned, those who had been convicted of a felony were not eligible for election to office in Wisconsin. At the time they took office, the winners of this election had to be residents of the apportioned area they were seeking to represent.

Candidates had until January 5, 2016, to collect between 20 and 100 signatures for their nomination papers. The signatures had to come from residents of the school district, but the petition circulators were not required to reside in the district or municipality. Circulators were required to be U.S. citizens and 18 years of age or older.

At-large general election

Results

Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large General and Special Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Frank Carini Incumbent	17.20%	5,131
Elizabeth Sparks	13.16%	3,926
Darin Grabowski	12.42%	3,705
Amy Mlot	11.78%	3,514
Jeffrey Gassenhuber	11.44%	3,412
Joshua Borzick	11.34%	3,382
Beth Waschow	11.30%	3,371
Veronica Baricevic	10.86%	3,241
Write-in votes	0.51%	153
Total Votes		29,835
Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official Results of the General Election," April 11, 2016

Candidates

Frank Carini		Veronica Baricevic		Joshua Borzick		Jeffrey Gassenhuber
	Incumbent Member from 2007-2016 Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Vice president wealth specialist, BMO Harris Private Banking		Graduate, Alverno College and Cardinal Stritch University Vice president of total rewards, Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare		Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and Cardinal Stritch University Librarian and technology coach, Franklin Public School District Adjunct instructor, Cardinal Stritch University		Small business owner
Darin Grabowski		Amy Mlot		Elizabeth Sparks		Beth Waschow
	Small business owner Veteran, U.S. Army		Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Stout Human resource manager and education manager, Society's Assets Co-founder, YES for Oak Creek Schools		Graduate, Alverno College Senior relationship manager, PNC’s Private Client Group		Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Curriculum chair, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee

At-large primary election

Results

Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large Primary Elections, 3-, 2- and 1-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Frank Carini Incumbent	14.74%	1,629
Joshua Borzick	9.20%	1,017
Veronica Baricevic	9.14%	1,010
Beth Waschow	9.08%	1,003
Amy Mlot	8.10%	895
Darin Grabowski	7.98%	882
Jeffrey Gassenhuber	7.85%	868
Elizabeth Sparks	7.19%	795
Gregory Loreck	7.10%	785
Jonathan Jossart Incumbent	6.70%	741
Rosemarie Annonson	5.94%	656
Sean Kingston	3.56%	394
Thomas Kroon	3.41%	377
Total Votes		11,052
Source: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, "Official results for spring primary," February 22, 2016

Candidates defeated in primary

Jonathan Jossart		Rosemarie Annonson		Sean Kingston
	Incumbent Member from 2015-2016 Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Whitewater General manager, Hampton Inn & Suites Milwaukee West & State Fair Park Conference Center		Retired substitute teacher		Graduate, University of Wisconsin at Madison and University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh Program director, SC Johnson and Son

Thomas Kroon		Gregory Loreck
			Graduate, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Thomas Edison State College and the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee Forensic investigator, Milwaukee County Medical Examiner U.S. Coast Guard Reserve Force, Sector Lake Michigan

Additional elections

See also: Wisconsin elections, 2016

The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District election shared the ballot with the state's presidential preference vote as well as elections for one seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, the District I seat on the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, seats on the Milwaukee County Circuit Court, an Oak Creek municipal judge seat and the District 2, 4 and 6 aldermanic seats.

Key deadlines

The following dates are key deadlines for Wisconsin school board elections in 2016:

Deadline	Event
January 5, 2016	Candidate filing deadline
January 26, 2016	Referendum submission deadline
February 8, 2016	Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline
February 16, 2016	Primary Election
March 28, 2016	Pre-general election campaign finance deadline
April 5, 2016	Election Day
April 25, 2016	Board members take office
July 15, 2016	Post-election campaign finance deadline

Endorsements

Beth Waschow, Joshua Borzick, and Veronica Baricevic were endorsed by the Wisconsin AFL-CIO.

Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at [email protected].

Campaign finance

See also: List of school board campaign finance deadlines in 2016

All 13 candidates in the primary election filed exemption statements detailing they would not spend or receive more than $2,000 toward their campaigns. Because of this, they did not have to file additional campaign finance reports.

Past elections

Information about earlier elections can be found by clicking [show] at the right.

2015 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sheryl Cerniglia Incumbent 30.9% 2,258      Nonpartisan Kathleen Borchardt Incumbent 25.7% 1,875      Nonpartisan Pamela Stiglitz 23.4% 1,710      Nonpartisan Chad J. Richter 20% 1,458      Nonpartisan Write-in votes 0% 0 Total Votes 7,301 Source: Oak Creek, WI, "City of Oak Creek-4/7/2015 General Election Results," accessed July 30, 2015 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large Primary Election, 3-year term, 2015 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Sheryl Cerniglia Incumbent 29.5% 552      Nonpartisan Pamela Stiglitz 16.8% 315      Nonpartisan Kathleen Borchardt Incumbent 16.6% 310      Nonpartisan Chad Richter 11.3% 211      Nonpartisan Amy Mlot 11.1% 207      Nonpartisan Jonathan Jossart 8.9% 166      Nonpartisan Rosemarie Annonson 5.8% 109 Total Votes 1,870 Source: Franklin Now, "Voters in Oak Creek-Franklin and Greendale decide candidates for April 7 election," February 17, 2015 2013 Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year term, 2013 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Frank Carini Incumbent 37.6% 2,261      Nonpartisan Paul Mason Incumbent 23.1% 1,388      Nonpartisan William McIntosh 19.7% 1,187      Nonpartisan Rosemarie Annonson 19.7% 1,184 Total Votes 6,020 Source: Milwaukee, Wisconsin Journal Sentinel, "Wisconsin April 2 Election Results," April 2, 2013

What was at stake?

2016

Issues in the election

Board increased to seven members

Board member Kathleen Borchardt

The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District added two more members to its school board at the 2016 spring election. The decision to boost the board from five to seven members was put to the community at the school district's annual meeting on August 24, 2015. Board members Mark Verhalen and Kathleen Borchardt voted against adding more members, along with some members of the audience, but the majority voted to expand the board. In addition to increasing the size of the board, the proposal also extended the district's existing stipend to the new board members.

Board member Mark Verhalen

The community group YES for Oak Creek Schools, which takes a stance on a range of education issues in the district, pushed for expanding the membership of the board. The group was founded in 2014 as a referendum advocacy group and continued to advocate for other district issues after the referendum passed, including expanding the size of the school board. The group had to gather at least 500 signatures and submit them to the board 30 days before the annual meeting in order to add an agenda item. On July 23, 2015, the group announced it had submitted 553 signatures to place the matter on the district's annual meeting agenda. Annual school board meetings in Wisconsin differ from regular school board meetings as all residents attending the annual meeting are allowed to vote on the issues discussed. The Wisconsin Association of School Boards explains the process:

“	The annual school district meeting plays a special role in the governance of 377 of Wisconsin's 424 school districts. Electors in these districts — which are classified as either common school districts or union high school districts — have special powers reserved to them as a body at the annual meeting. State statutes (see Appendix A) set forth the basic requirements for holding the annual meeting and outline the powers of the electors at the annual meeting. Electors are individuals who are eligible to vote in school district elections. As school officials are well aware, however, there is more to the annual meeting than the statutory requirements. Often described as grassroots democracy in action, the annual meeting provides district residents with an opportunity to critique the operation of the school district. It is also a good time for the school board and administrative staff to help the community focus on the achievements, needs and future of the district.	”
—Wisconsin Association of School Boards (May 2015)

YES for Oak Creek Schools argued the board size should be increased in order to allow for more parent and community voices to be heard. The group also said that only one other district in Wisconsin's 50 largest districts by enrollment—the McFarland School District—had fewer than seven board members. The rest had seven or nine.

Verhalen did not agree that the board should be expanded. He said he thought board business had been managed "fairly well." He also said: "I don't see any advantage to adding more people to the board at this time."

Before the vote, YES for Oak Creek Schools described how the board would transition from five to seven members on its website:

“	If we are successful, the new positions would be added in April 2016, however, the terms of the new positions would be staggered. There would be four people elected in April 2016. The top two vote-getters would have the 3-year terms (those seats currently occupied by Frank Carini and Jon Jossart). The next top vote-getter would have a 2-year term (making him or her up for election with Kathleen Borchert's and Sheryl Cerniglia's positions in 2018), and the fourth highest vote-getter would have a 1-year term (making him or her up for election with Mark Verhalen's position in 2017). After that, all elections would be for three-year terms. Currently we have 2 - 1 - 2 up for election over a three-year period. By staggering the terms of the two additional positions, we would have 2 - 2 - 3. That way there is never a majority of the board up for election in any one year. This staggering of the new positions is required by the law.	”
—YES for Oak Creek Schools (2015)

Want to see how this election related to state and national trends on this topic? Ballotpedia tracked this issue in the 2016 election cycle so you can see the connections and impact on this race in context.

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About the district

See also: Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District, Wisconsin

The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District is located in Milwaukee County, Wis.

The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District is located in Milwaukee County in southeastern Wisconsin. The county seat is Milwaukee. Milwaukee County was home to 956,406 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 23rd-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 6,447 students.

Demographics

Higher education achievement

Milwaukee County outperformed Wisconsin as a whole in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.1 percent of Milwaukee County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.8 percent for state residents.

Median household income

From 2009 through 2013, the median household income for Milwaukee County was $43,193. During that same time period, the median household income for Wisconsin was $52,413. For the United States, it was $53,046.

Poverty rate

The poverty rate in Milwaukee County was 21.6 percent from 2009 through 2013. During that same time period, the poverty rate was 13.0 percent for the state of Wisconsin and 15.4 percent for the entire country.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	Milwaukee County (%)	Wisconsin (%)
White	65.3	87.8
Black or African American	27.2	6.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.9	1.1
Asian	3.9	2.6
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander	0.0	0.0
Two or more races	2.6	1.8
Hispanic or Latino	14.2	6.5

Presidential Voting Pattern, Milwaukee County
Year	Democratic Vote	Green Party Vote	Libertarian Vote	Republican Vote
2012	332,438	1,042	2,623	154,924
2008	319,819	589	1,105	149,445
2004	297,653	319	963	180,287

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

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District' 'Wisconsin'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District elections (2016) - Google News

See also

Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District	Wisconsin	School Boards
List of school districts in Wisconsin	Wisconsin school board elections, 2016 Public education in Wisconsin Local ballot measures, Wisconsin	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015

External links

• Oak Creek Franklin Joint School District
• Milwaukee County Election Commission
• Yes for Oak Creek Schools