Raynard Ross
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Raynard Ross is an at-large member of the Grand Rapids Public Schools school board in Michigan. He was first appointed to the board in 2011.[1] Ross won re-election in the at-large general election on November 8, 2016.
Biography
Ross earned his B.A. from Western Michigan University and his M.A. from Clark-Atlanta University. He is an associate dean for Grand Rapids Community College.[1]
Elections
2016
Four of the nine seats on the Grand Rapids Public Schools school board were up for general election on November 8, 2016. Incumbents Raynard Ross and Jen Schottke filed for re-election, while fellow board members Monica Randles and Nathaniel Moody opted against seeking new terms. Ross and Schottke were joined on the ballot by challengers Walter Burt, Ryan Davis, Michael Farage, Alex Fernandez, Kristian Grant, Matthew Helak, and Katherine Downes Lewis. Ross, Schottke, Grant, and Lewis won in the general election.[2]
Results
| Grand Rapids Public Schools, At-Large General Election, 4-year terms, 2016 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Kristian Grant |
16.43% | 25,780 |
| Katherine Downes Lewis |
15.28% | 23,975 |
| Jen Schottke Incumbent |
15.07% | 23,650 |
| Raynard Ross Incumbent |
11.57% | 18,159 |
| Alex Fernandez | 10.42% | 16,344 |
| Walter Burt | 9.81% | 15,397 |
| Ryan Davis | 8.51% | 13,348 |
| Michael Farage | 7.26% | 11,399 |
| Matthew Helak | 5.65% | 8,867 |
| Total Votes | 156,919 | |
| Source: Election Magic, "Kent County Election Returns," accessed December 14, 2016 | ||
Funding
School board candidates in Michigan were required to file pre-election campaign finance reports with their county election offices by October 28, 2016. Post-election reports were due by December 8, 2016.[3]
In Michigan, candidates are prohibited from receiving contributions from corporations or labor organizations. Within 10 days of becoming a candidate, candidates must form a candidate committee. Following the creation of the committee, candidates have an additional 10 days to register the committee with the school district filing official by filing a statement of organization. A candidate committee that does not expect to receive or spend more than $1,000 during the election cycle is eligible to receive a reporting waiver, which allows that committee not to file pre-election, post-election, and annual campaign statements.[4]
October 28 filing
Candidates received a total of $17,155.54 and spent a total of $11,167.36 as of October 30, 2016, according to the Kent County Clerk.[5]
| Candidate | Contributions | Expenditures | Cash on hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Raynard Ross (incumbent) | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Jen Schottke (incumbent) | $11,525.54 | $8,215.37 | $3,310.17 |
| Walter Burt | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Ryan Davis | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Michael Farage | $4,500.00 | $1,968.98 | $2,534.02 |
| Alex Fernandez | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Kristian Grant | $1,130.00 | $983.01 | $146.99 |
| Matthew Helak | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
| Katherine Downes Lewis | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Campaign themes
2016
Ross provided the following responses for the voter guide compiled by MLive.com:
| “ |
Why are you running for office? What are your top three priorities? Increase district efficiency in order to identify potential waste in processes and practices. This is important in order to appropriately steward budgetary dollars as we need to continue to increase classroom resources and strengthen our ability to attract and retain high quality faculty and staff. Further the implementation and effectiveness of Restorative Practices as a means to positively impact school climate and culture. Continued growth in climate and culture equates to continued growth in individual student achievement as well as the collective success of the District and, by extension, our larger community. What is the most pressing issue for this office? |
” |
| —Raynard Ross (2016) | ||
About the district
- See also: Grand Rapids Public Schools, Michigan
Grand Rapids Public Schools is located in Kent County in western Michigan. The county seat is Grand Rapids. Kent County was home to 636,369 residents in 2015, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] The district was the seventh-largest school district in the state in the 2013–2014 school year and served 16,452 students.[8]
Demographics
Kent County outperformed Michigan as a whole in terms of higher education achievement from 2010 to 2014. The United States Census Bureau found that 32.6 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 26.4 percent of state residents. The median household income for Kent County was $52,716, compared to $49,087 for the entire state. The percentage of people below poverty level in the county was 15.3 percent, while it was 16.2 percent statewide.[7]
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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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Raynard Ross Grand Rapids Public Schools. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 MLive, "Voter Guide," accessed October 27, 2016
- ↑ Kent County, Michigan, "Official Candidates and Proposals," accessed August 31, 2016
- ↑ Michigan Bureau of Elections, "2016 and 2017 Campaign Finance Filing Schedule," January 12, 2016
- ↑ Genesee County, "Filing Requirements under Michigan's Campaign Finance Act," February 7, 2014
- ↑ Kent County Clerk, "Campaign Finance Reporting Public Search," accessed October 30, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Kent County, Michigan," accessed September 24, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed November 16, 2015
- ↑ Secretary of State - Department of State, "Previous Election Information," accessed August 1, 2014
| 2016 Grand Rapids Public Schools Elections | |
| Macomb County, Michigan | |
| Election date: | November 8, 2016 |
| Candidates: | At-large: Incumbent, Raynard Ross • Incumbent, Jen Schottke • Walter Burt • Ryan Davis • Michael Farage • Alex Fernandez • Kristian Grant • Matthew Helak • Katherine Downes Lewis |
| Important information: | What was at stake? |
