St. Joseph School District elections (2016)

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2018 → ← 2014
St. Joseph School District Elections
General election date:
April 5, 2016
Enrollment (13–14):
11,882 students

Two seats were up for at-large general election on the St. Joseph School District school board. Candidates Bryan Green and Tami Pasley defeated April 2015 board appointee Eric Bruder and seven other challengers to win seats on April 5, 2016. First-term incumbent Brad Haggard did not run for re-election. The remaining candidates were Michael Dulcan, Maggie Elder, Bryan Green, Sarah Hochschwender, Kathy Northup, Tami Pasley, Teresa Simmons, John Paul Leo Stehr, and Art Van Meter.

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Eric Bruder was appointed to the board following the resignation of Dan Colgan. Bruder's appointment ran until the 2016 election, when Colgan's term was set to expire.

An investigation into Colgan, begun in 2014, revealed that upwards of $40 million in district funds were misused in a stipend system stretching over 14 years. Investigations by the Missouri State Auditor, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Department of Education, and the Internal Revenue Service were concluded in June 2016, and Colgan was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison after pleading guilty to a wire fraud charge. The charge stemmed from Colgan's fraudulent collection of income from the Missouri Public School Retirement System.

Ballotpedia played a role in the investigation of Dan Colgan and the St. Joseph School District. For more information on this, and other, issues in the St. Joseph School District see: What was at stake in the 2016 St. Joseph School District election?

Elections

Voter and candidate information

The St. Joseph school board consists of seven members elected at large to six-year terms. Two seats were up for general election on April 5, 2016; there was no primary election.

Qualified individuals who wanted to run in this election were required to file between December 15, 2015, and January 19, 2016. Candidate filings were certified on January 26, 2016.

At-large

St. Joseph School District, At-Large General Election, 3-year terms, 2016
Candidate	Vote %	Votes
Bryan Green	22.74%	3,145
Tami Pasley	17.23%	2,382
Eric Bruder Incumbent	16.06%	2,221
Kathy Northup	14.22%	1,967
Art Van Meter	11.43%	1,581
Maggie Elder	6.34%	877
Teresa Simmons	6.20%	857
Sarah Hochschwender	3.00%	415
Michael Dulcan	1.61%	222
John Paul Leo Stehr	0.99%	137
Write-in votes	0.17%	24
Total Votes (100)		13,828
Source: Buchanan County Clerk, "Election Summary Report OFFICIAL," accessed May 3, 2016

Eric Bruder	Michael Dulcan	Maggie Elder	Bryan Green	Sarah Hochschwender
*Incumbent President of Van AM Tool & Engineering LLC	Retired Postmaster U.S. Navy Veteran	Retired librarian	Physician, family medicine	Business owner
Kathy Northup	Tami Pasley	Teresa Simmons	John Paul Leo Stehr	Art Van Meter
Retired teacher	Teacher	Loan officer, Farmers State Bank	Akal contractor, Homeland Security	Sr. vice president of finance and risk management

Additional elections on the ballot

See also: Missouri elections, 2016

The St. Joseph school board elections did not share the ballot with any other elections.

Key deadlines

The following were key deadlines for the 2016 St. Joseph School District Board of Education election:

Deadline	Event
December 15, 2015– January 19, 2016	Candidate filing period
January 26, 2016	Candidate filings certified
March 9, 2016	Voter registration deadline
April 5, 2016	Election Day

Endorsements

Eric Bruder and Art Van Meter were endorsed in the race by the News Press Now editorial board.

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

Candidates received a total of $40,206.12 and spent a total of $36,573.96 in the election, according to the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Candidate	Contributions	Expenditures
At-large
Tami Pasley	$3,995.00	$3,995.00
Bryan Green	$7,177.12	$5,821.21
Maggie Elder	$1,950.00	$1,039.61
Sarah Hochschwender	$1,209.00	$492.30
Art Van Meter	$25,875.00	$25,225.84
Michael Dulcan	No finances reported.
Eric Bruder	No finances reported.
Kathy Northup	No finances reported.
Teresa Simmons	No finances reported.
John Paul Leo Stehr	No finances reported.

Past elections

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

2014 See also: St. Joseph School District elections (2014) St. Joseph School District, At-Large General Election, 6-year term, 2014 Party Candidate Vote % Votes      Nonpartisan Kappy Hodges 33.9% 8,453      Nonpartisan Lori Prussman 33.8% 8,414      Nonpartisan Jeff Bird 32.3% 8,055 Total Votes 24,922 Source: Buchanan County, Missouri, "General Municipal Elections Official Results," June 20, 2014

What was at stake?

Candidate survey

Ballotpedia invites school board candidates to participate in its annual survey.
Click here to view or fill out the survey.

No candidates in the St. Joseph School District elections in 2016 participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey.

St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce survey

Candidates in the race completed a survey given by the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce. Below are candidate responses to the survey questions. Use the scroll bar on the right-hand side of the box to view candidate responses to each question.

Question 1: The School Board decided to let the .63 tax levy expire in 2015. What is your position on a future levy and the funding necessary to support quality education? “ Before the BOE or district goes back to the public for a levy request the district’s management, administration, and structure must be optimized for cost effectiveness to set a foundation on which to move the district and city forward. A portion of that restructuring includes correcting under market compensation rates for many teachers and para professionals. Only once expenses are rationalized can that expense load be compared to revenues to see if any tax levy is needed going forward. ” —Eric Bruder “ I agree that the School Board should not have proposed the 63-cent levy during 2015. I feel that a local survey should be proposed to see what the voting public would think about a modest levy increase for 1-2 years to make sure voters are comfortable with the situation. ” —Michael Dulcan “ There will eventually have to be a levy put before the voters. At this time I’m not sure of the amount. I would want to look at the budget line by line and look at all expenditures, especially those that don’t affect the education of the students. We must realize the only stream of funding that can be counted on is the levy. State funding never comes close to meeting the district needs. ” —Maggie Elder “ It is imperative that the district work toward restoring trust to earn back the .63 tax levy. For districts greater than 10K students, our tax rate was near the bottom before we lost the levy. Now it’s significantly lower than any other district in the state of similar or greater size. We are spending much less per student than other like-sized districts. Continuing this rate for much longer will be devastating for our district and the future of our community. ” —Bryan Green “ Any effort which causes students to be more prepared for the workforce is great, and it would seem so logical at an economic level that this question might be moot. There is a societal benefit here that affects the city at large. We always tell our children to “dream big.” In providing links, in exposing students to an array of possibilities and life experience, we give that dream wider horizons. ” —Sarah Hochschwender “ I believe in this community and trust that our citizens want to support our schools. Unfortunately, $45 million in malfeasance has definitely given the community pause. If the pending FBI report is as candid and thorough as the State Auditor’s Report and the School District responds immediately with common sense remediation, I am confident that taxpayers will renew the levy. Hopefully, public trust will be so restored in our district that we can make the levy permanent – no sunset clause! ” —Kathy Northup “ The School Board will be coming back to the taxpayers asking for a new tax levy. It is a must if we, as a community, are going to support quality education. It may not be a .63 tax levy … it may be a .25 tax levy or $1.30 tax levy … whatever is needed to properly fund our schools. ” —Tami Pasley “ The goal of a partnership with local businesses and the SJSD should be to get students invested in our community so they will raise their families here. SJSD currently has high quality programs through Hillyard with direct ties to local businesses. ” —Teresa Simmons “ I think there is $4 million in fat in the current budget. Spending $4 million to air condition Spring Garden and Robidoux is a good deal. Maybe we can’t afford to provide school breakfast but we cannot afford not to provide a quality education for our children. ” —John Paul Leo Stehr “ The School Board has asked the administration to submit a balanced budget for the 2016-2017 fiscal year and I agree with that. We must analyze each line item of the budget to determine where cuts can be made, without sacrificing the quality of education for our students. If the budget can be balanced by cutting unnecessary costs, there would be no need for a future levy. If the budget cannot be balanced, we’d need to consider putting a levy before the voters. ” —Art Van Meter Question 2: What is your perspective on the School District working with local business to address the educational and training needs of St. Joseph’s future workforce? “ I believe it is extremely important for the SJSD to work with the Chamber and local businesses in particular to evaluate and identify the training and education required of both high school and college graduates to meet workforce needs of companies now in our area as well as businesses around the globe. ” —Eric Bruder “ This is definitely a constructive idea. The more students see how local business operates, many students will get a better understanding of what careers and job opportunities are available in our city. Hillyard Technical School is an excellent example. ” —Michael Dulcan “ The School District could set up a commission of the different types of employers to find out what type of education would need to be offered to meet employers’ needs. Hillyard Technical School is being underutilized. Society says every high school graduate will attend college but some students have no desire to attend college. The School District and local businesses should work together to make sure Hillyard has the ability to train those students. A community college should also be discussed. ” —Maggie Elder “ The SJSD should work very closely with the local business community to help shape its goals toward education. The purpose of education should be to inform, mold, and prepare individuals to be responsible, productive, and successful participants and leaders in society. Most of our graduates will stay local. My hope is that collaboration with the business community would also bolster our schools, enhancing their ability to achieve levels that would attract more businesses. ” —Bryan Green “ Any effort which causes students to be more prepared for the workforce is great, and it would seem so logical at an economic level that this question might be moot. There is a societal benefit here that affects the city at large. We always tell our children to “dream big.” In providing links, in exposing students to an array of possibilities and life experience, we give that dream wider horizons. ” —Sarah Hochschwender “ The modern business environment is changing more rapidly than ever before. Partnership between the business community and SJSD is essential in preparing our graduates for this 21st century economy, especially for the job market that currently exists in St. Joseph. The new Advanced Science Research Center at Hillyard Technical School is the perfect example of what collaboration between business and education can accomplish! I hope it serves as a paradigm for future visionary cooperation between local businesses and our schools. ” —Kathy Northup “ I think that it is imperative that the school district work together with local businesses as we prepare our students to be college and career ready. The skills needed for our students to be productive and successful upon graduating from high school are constantly changing, so there should be a continuous dialogue between the school district and local businesses. ” —Tami Pasley “ The goal of a partnership with local businesses and the SJSD should be to get students invested in our community so they will raise their families here. SJSD currently has high quality programs through Hillyard with direct ties to local businesses. ” —Teresa Simmons “ I don’t think we should rely on Girl Scouts to introduce our girls to STEM. When I was in high school our science club toured St. Joseph Light and Power lab and the lab at Methodist Hospital. Also in high school, I went to Boehringer Ingelheim to get two pure white mice and received tours of the state hospital, Carnation, Monsanto, and the St. Joseph News-Press. We need more interface between local business and the kids. ” —John Paul Leo Stehr “ I believe that a dialogue between the School District and local business needs to be developed so the district can have a better understanding of what is needed from a business perspective. For example, the construction industry is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. Through this dialogue, the district could determine what skills are needed and then work with Hillyard Technical Center to develop courses that would benefit students who want to work in that industry. ” —Art Van Meter

2016

Board member resignation

Bruder joins board after compensation controversy leads to resignation

School board member Dan Colgan resigned from his position on March 5, 2015. There is no law that allows St. Joseph Board of Education members to be recalled by voters.

During an April meeting, the school board voted unanimously to appoint local business executive Eric Bruder to fill the position.

Kansas City PAC endorses school board candidates

PAC based in Kansas City backs candidates in school board race

A Kansas City-based political action committee known as the Taxpayers Protection PAC funded mailers that were sent out to voters in the St. Joseph School District supporting two candidates in the 10-candidate race. The two candidates supported by the PAC, Eric Bruder and Art Van Meter, both claimed they had no knowledge of the PAC's support until they saw the mailers themselves. In the past, the PAC has supported candidates running for election to the Park Hill School District and a tax levy vote in Platte County, where it incurred a campaign violation citation in its efforts to oppose the levy.

The PAC spent roughly $18,000 on mailers for Van Meter and $17,000 for mailings for Bruder, according to a report filed with the Missouri Ethics Commission. Also, candidates are not allowed to coordinate campaign activities with PACs. Despite Bruder's and Van Meter's claims that they did not work with the PAC, similarities between their campaign materials and the mailers sent out by the PAC have raised questions. The Missouri Ethics Commission does not investigate potential campaign violations without a citizen complaint and no complaints were filed.

District administrators indicted, fined

Former superintendent ordered to repay $660,000

In April 2016, former superintendent Dan Colgan was ordered to repay $660,000 to the Missouri Public School Retirement System (PSRS) as part of a settlement. Colgan had inflated his salary in order to increase his monthly retirement benefits. On June 13, 2016, Colgan pled guilty to one count of wire fraud in U.S. district court and entered into a plea agreement with the federal government. Colgan was sentenced to one year and one day of imprisonment in federal prison.

Former administrators ordered to repay retirement funds

In May 2016, former district assistant superintendent for personnel Mark Hargens and former superintendent Melody Smith were ordered to repay PSRS a combined $113,000 for allegedly inflating their reported income to increase their retirement benefits. Hargens was unable to comment on his case.

About the district

See also: St. Joseph School District, Missouri

St. Joseph School District is located in Buchanan County, Mo.

The St. Joseph School District is located in northwest Missouri in Buchanan County. The county seat is the city of St. Joseph. Between 2010 and 2015 St. Joseph was home to 89,100 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau. The district was the 16th-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 11,882 students.

Demographics

St. Joseph underperformed in comparison to Missouri as a whole in terms of higher education attainment from 2010 through 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 19.5 percent of city residents over 25 years old held bachelor's degrees compared to 26.7 percent statewide. Between 2010 and 2014, St. Joseph had a median household income of $42,042 compared to $47,764 for Missouri as a whole. The estimated poverty rate for the city was 19.5 percent compared to a 15.5 percent rate statewide.

Racial Demographics, 2014
Race	St. Joseph (%)	Missouri (%)
White	87.8	82.8
Black or African American	6.0	11.6
American Indian and Alaska Native	0.5	0.5
Asian	0.9	1.6
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	0.2	0.1
Two or More Races	2.7	2.1
Hispanic or Latino	5.7	3.5

Presidential Voting Pattern, Buchanan County
Year	Democratic Vote	Republican Vote
2012	15,594	18,660
2008	19,164	19,110
2004	17,799	19,812
2000	17,085	16,423

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 'St. Joseph School District' 'Missouri'. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

St. Joseph School District elections (2016) - Google News

See also

St. Joseph School District	Missouri	School Boards
List of school districts in Missouri	Missouri school board elections, 2016 Public education in Missouri Local ballot measures, Missouri	School board elections, 2016 School board elections, 2015

External links

Suggest a link

• St. Joseph School District
• Buchanan County Board of Elections
• Missouri Ethics Commission