Upper Darby School District elections (2015)
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Upper Darby School District Delaware County, Pennsylvania ballot measures Local ballot measures, Pennsylvania |
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Five seats on the Upper Darby School District Board of Directors were up for general election on November 3, 2015. A primary election was held on May 19, 2015. The board is made up of nine members who represent the district at-large.
Incumbents Judith Gentile (D/R) and Kenneth P. Rucci (R) won re-election, while challengers Brian M. Dietzler (R), Heather Boyd (D) and Lee A. Jordan (R) joined the board. They defeated incumbent Ronald Berry (R) and challengers Edward Brown (D), Saheed Sims (D) and Alfred Achtert Jr. (D). Incumbents William Gaul and Francis Zarilli did not run for re-election.[1]
All candidates with the exception of Achtert, who ran solely for the Democratic nomination, filed to run in the Republican and Democratic primaries. Neil Desnoyers was defeated in the primary election. No independent candidates filed to run in the general election.
One of the ten candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 school board candidate survey. Check out the "Ballotpedia survey responses" section to see Brian M. Dietzler's answers.
About the district
The Upper Darby School District is located in southeastern Pennsylvania in Delaware County. The county seat is Media. In 2013, the population of Delaware County was 561,973, according to the United States Census Bureau.[2] In the 2012-2013 school year, the Upper Darby School District was the eighth-largest school district in Pennsylvania and served 12,449 students.[3]
Demographics
In 2013, Delaware County outperformed the rest of the state in terms of higher education achievement. The United States Census Bureau found that the percentage of residents age 25 or older with a bachelor's degree in Delaware County was 35 percent, compared to the state of Pennsylvania at 27.5 percent. The median household income in the county was $64,041 compared to the state median income of $52,548. The county had a poverty rate of 10.3 percent while the state of Pennsylvania had a poverty rate of 13.3 percent.[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 Upper Darby Board of Directors consists of nine members who are elected to four-year terms from the district at-large. There was a primary election on May 19, 2015, and the general election was held on November 3, 2015. Five seats were on the ballot in 2015.[4]
School board candidates had to file for this election with Delaware County by March 10, 2015. Those wishing to run as an independent candidate had until August 3, 2015, to file. To vote in the primary election, residents had to register by April 20, 2015, and to vote in the general election, residents had to register by October 5, 2015.[4]
Elections
2015
Candidates
General election candidates
 Judith Gentile 
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 Kenneth P. Rucci
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 Alfred Achtert Jr.
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| Ronald Berry
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Heather Boyd
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Edward Brown
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| Brian M. Dietzler
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Lee A. Jordan
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Saheed Sims
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Candidate defeated in primary election
| Neil Desnoyers
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Election results
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large, General Election, 2015 | ||||
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic/Republican |  Judith Gentile Incumbent |
19.4% | 12,950 | |
| Republican | Brian M. Dietzler |
11.8% | 7,901 | |
| Republican | Kenneth P. Rucci Incumbent |
11.1% | 7,375 | |
| Democratic | Heather Boyd |
10.4% | 6,915 | |
| Republican | Lee A. Jordan |
10.4% | 6,904 | |
| Republican | Ronald Berry Incumbent | 10.3% | 6,856 | |
| Democratic | Edward Brown | 9.7% | 6,461 | |
| Democratic | Saheed Sims | 9.2% | 6,164 | |
| Democratic | Alfred Achtert Jr. | 7.8% | 5,172 | |
| Write-in votes | 0% | 3 | ||
| Total Votes | 66,701 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Unofficial Municipal Election Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed November 4, 2015 | ||||
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Democratic Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic | Heather Boyd |
18.1% | 2,174 | |
| Democratic | Edward Brown |
12.6% | 1,509 | |
| Democratic | Saheed Sims |
11.8% | 1,424 | |
| Democratic | Alfred Achtert Jr. |
10.4% | 1,250 | |
| Democratic | Judith Gentile Incumbent |
10% | 1,207 | |
| Democratic | Neil Desnoyers | 9.5% | 1,147 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth P. Rucci Incumbent | 7.3% | 872 | |
| Democratic | Lee A. Jordan | 7.1% | 859 | |
| Democratic | Ronald Berry Incumbent | 6.7% | 804 | |
| Democratic | Brian M. Dietzler | 6.4% | 772 | |
| Democratic | Write-in votes | 0% | 5 | |
| Total Votes | 12,023 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2015 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 16, 2015 | ||||
| Upper Darby School District, At-Large Republican Primary Election, 4-year term, 2015 |
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| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Republican | Judith Gentile Incumbent |
19.1% | 2,932 | |
| Republican | Kenneth P. Rucci Incumbent |
17.9% | 2,750 | |
| Republican | Brian M. Dietzler |
17.8% | 2,739 | |
| Republican | Ronald Berry Incumbent |
12.4% | 1,897 | |
| Republican | Lee A. Jordan |
11.6% | 1,778 | |
| Republican | Saheed Sims | 5.9% | 899 | |
| Republican | Neil Desnoyers | 5.5% | 849 | |
| Republican | Heather Boyd | 5.5% | 842 | |
| Republican | Edward Brown | 4.3% | 664 | |
| Total Votes | 15,353 | |||
| Source: Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Official Municipal Primary 2015 Results for Upper Darby Township," accessed June 16, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
Achtert Jr., Brown, Boyd, Desnoyers and Sims received official endorsements in the primary election from Friends of the Upper Darby Democratic Committee.[5]
Campaign Finance
The Delaware County Bureau of Elections does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at [email protected].
Past elections
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2013
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What was at stake?
2015
There were five at-large seats up for election in 2015. The three incumbents, Ronald Berry, Judith Gentile and Kenneth P. Rucci, faced eight other candidates in the primary election. All three incumbents won in the general election. Two new members joined the board to fill the five seats.
Ballotpedia survey responses
One of the ten candidates in this election participated in Ballotpedia's 2015 survey of school board candidates as of May 6, 2015. The following sections display the responses to the survey questions from Brian M. Dietzler.
Top priorities
When asked what his top priorities would be if elected, Dietzler stated:
| “ | As a School Director, it would be my top priority to simply do my best to understand exactly what our school leaders, faculty, and staff need to best serve our students, and then work collaboratively with my fellow Directors, of ANY political party or background, to scrutinize our policy, procedures and purse to provide that support. My ten years and counting in the classroom is invaluable to this, and I will share my experiences and insight heavily.
At the same time, I will evaluate the propositions and needs with regards to honoring the financial trust of our constituents when approving or questioning items put before the Board. Lastly, it has gotten almost out of hand how much our hands are continually being tied by state and national government. I plan to work hard to work with our state and national leaders to make sure Upper Darby gets a fair shake for the sake of our students.[6] |
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| —Brian M. Dietzler (2015)[7] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the school district, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. This table displays the candidate's rankings from most to least important:
| Issue | Dietzler's Ranking | |||
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| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | ||||
| Closing the achievement gap | ||||
| Expanding arts education | ||||
| Expanding career-technical education | ||||
| Expanding school choice options | ||||
| Improving college readiness | ||||
| Improving education for special needs students | ||||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer 10 multiple choice and short answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. Links to the candidate's responses can be found below.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Upper Darby School District election in 2015:[4]
| Deadline | Event |
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| March 10, 2015 | Partisan candidate filing deadline |
| March 11, 2015 - August 3, 2015 |
Independent candidate filing period |
| March 25, 2015 | Withdrawal deadline for primary election |
| April 20, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for primary election |
| May 8, 2015 | Pre-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| May 12, 2015 | Last day to file for absentee ballot for primary election |
| May 15, 2015 | Absentee ballot deadline for primary election |
| May 19, 2015 | Primary election day |
| June 18, 2015 | Post-primary election campaign finance deadline |
| August 10, 2015 | Withdrawal deadline for general election |
| October 5, 2015 | Last day to register to vote in general election |
| October 23, 2015 | Pre-general election campaign finance deadline for general election |
| October 27, 2015 | Voter registration deadline for general election |
| October 30, 2015 | Absentee ballot deadline for general election |
| November 3, 2015 | General Election Day |
| December 3, 2015 | Post-general election campaign finance deadline for general election |
Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Pennsylvania elections, 2015
This election shared the ballot with primary and general elections for county offices such as council member, magisterial district judge and district attorney. City and borough offices on the ballot included mayor, controller, council member and constable.[1]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Upper Darby School District Pennsylvania. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Upper Darby School District | Pennsylvania | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Delaware County, Pennsylvania, "Unofficial Candidate List for November 3, 2015 General Election," accessed October 2, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 United States Census Bureau, "Quick Facts: Delaware County," accessed March 20, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Upper Darby School District," accessed March 16, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Pennsylvania Department of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed March 11, 2015
- ↑ Facebook, "Friends of the Upper Darby Democratic Committee," April 14, 2015
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2015, "Brian M. Dietzler's responses," February 23, 2015
| 2015 Scranton School District Elections | |
| Delaware County, Pennsylvania | |
| Election date: | Primary election: May 19, 2015 General election: November 3, 2015 |
| Candidates: | At-large: • Incumbent, Ronald Berry (D/R) • Incumbent, Judith Gentile (D/R) • Incumbent, Kenneth P. Rucci (D/R) • Alfred Achtert Jr. (D) • Heather Boyd (D/R) • Edward Brown (D/R) • Neil Desnoyers (D/R) • Brian M. Dietzler (D/R) • Lee A. Jordan (D/R) • Saheed Sims (D/R) |
| Important information: | Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
