Jeffco & Platte Canyon School District 1 School Board Elections

Two more enter race for Jeffco school board
By Sal Christ
Wednesday, September 13, 2017 at 4:07 pm

Two Jeffco school board members seeking re-election this fall will face competition after two last-minute candidates filed the required signature petitions just before the Sept. 1 deadline.

According to Helen Neal, Jeffco Public Schools’ election coordinator, Matt Van Gieson of Arvada and Erica Shields of Littleton each filed several pages of petition signatures after picking up the petitions Aug. 28. The school district certified Sept. 4 that each candidate met the required 50 verified signatures in order to get on the ballot.

Van Gieson is challenging incumbent Brad Rupert in District 1 and Shields is challenging incumbent Susan Harmon in District 2. Current board President Ron Mitchell will run unopposed for his seat.

Jeffco school board candidates square off in first public forum
Author: Marianne Goodland - September 14, 2017

The first forum for the five candidates vying for three seats on the Jefferson County Board of Education took place Wednesday night. Everyone was polite and civil and agreed more than they disagreed. But the lines were clearly drawn on several issues, most notably transparency around the district’s budget, school choice and accountability for charter schools.

There was much to agree on, according to the candidates, including the importance of arts and humanities education in the public schools and the need for as much community engagement as possible.

Where they were most divided is on the issue of school choice.

Candidate Forum Recordings
September 15, 2017 by jeffkids

Without further ado, here are two recordings of the Jeffco Schools Board Candidate forum from Wednesday, September 13th and hosted by Support Jeffco Kids/Arvadans for Progressive Action. There are some technical issues in each due to dropped WiFi. You’ll have to get past the first few minutes as adjustments are made to improve quality. Hopefully, by looking at both of these, you will be able to view all content from the forum.

Matt Van Gieson
Website
Facebook Page
Twitter
Election 2017: 5 questions with Jeffco school board candidate Matt Van Gieson

Erica Shields
Website
Facebook
Twitter
Election 2017: 5 questions with Jeffco school board candidate Erica Shields

Brad Rupert
Website
Facebook
Twitter

Susan Harmon
Website
Facebook

Ron Mitchell
Website
Facebook

OCT 10: Meet the School Board Candidates for the Platte Canyon School District

This year we will have a school board election for the first time in over eight years. Six candidates will be running for three open seats. Mail in-ballots will be sent out on October 15th and the Platte Canyon Chamber of Commerce will host a meet the School Board candidates event on Tuesday, October 10th, from 6:00PM to 7:30PM in the Canyon Room.

Jeffco Public Schools Election 2017
Other Meet the Candidates/Candidate Forums for your calendar:

• Jeffco Charter Schools Consortium and the Colorado League of Charter Schools is hosting a school board candidate forum Wednesday, October 11, 6-8pm at Woodrow Wilson Academy, 8300 W. 94th Ave., Westminster.
  Contact: Jeffco Charter Schools Consortium, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


• Lakewood AAUW is sponsoring a school board candidate forum on Thursday, October 12, 6:30pm at Holy Shepherd Church, 920 Kipling St. in Lakewood.
  Contact: Robin Durgin, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Mary Wylie, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


• Jeffco League of Women Voters Candidate Forum , Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at Jefferson Unitarian Church, 14350 W. 32nd Ave., Golden, 80401 from 7 to 9 p.m.
  For more information visit www.lwvjeffco.org , email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 303-238-0032.


• Arvada Chamber of Commerce on Friday, October 20, 7:15-9am is hosting a school board candidate forum at 6901 Wadsworth Blvd. $15/person incl breakfast.
  Contact: Arvada Chamber, (303) 424-0313


• Candidates for Jeffco School Board are invited to speak and respond to questions at the Golden Votes-March to the Ballot Box, Saturday, October 21, 1-3pm at the Golden Public Library, 1019 10th St., Golden
  Contact: Judy Denison, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.


• Edgewater Collective and Jefferson County Association for Gifted Children (JAGC) are co-sponsoring a diverse learners candidate forum on Wednesday, October 25, 6:30-8:30pm in the library at Jefferson Jr./Sr. High School, 2305 Pierce St. in Edgewater.
  Contact: Joel Newton, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Susan Miller, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Candidates for Platte Canyon School District 1 - 6 candidates, 3 available positions
Frank VanDeHey
- Committee to elect Frank VanDeHey filing
Cyndie Sherriff
Rockie Lozensky
Katie Spodyak
Joe Burgett
Heather Prewitt

Election 2017: 5 questions with PCSB candidate Katie Spodyak
Election 2017: 5 questions with PCSB candidate Cyndie Sherriff
Election 2017: 3 questions with Platte Canyon school board candidate Frank VanDeHey
Longtime Bailey resident Burgett wants to address divide among PCSB, community

PACE 4 PCSD Election Page
Platte Canyon Education Association - 5 Questions for Candidates


Candidates for Park County RE-2 School Board (2 positions available):
Larry Foster
Welles Tonjes
Bobbi Gore
Kim Bundgaard
Gary Jurgemeyer

(no individual websites or Facebook candidate pages found for any of the above)
Park County RE-2

Jeffco school board incumbents raise big money, challengers falling behind
By Yesenia Robles
October 18, 2017

School board incumbents in Jefferson County have raised more money collectively than they had at this point two years ago, when the district was in the midst of a heated recall campaign.

The election this year has garnered far less attention, and only two of the three incumbents who replaced the recalled members face opponents in the November election.

Susan Harmon reported raising more than $45,000 and Brad Rupert reported almost $49,000 in contributions through Oct. 12. Ron Mitchell, the sole incumbent without an opponent, raised almost $33,000 during that period. The three incumbent school board members have considerable contributions from the teacher’s union.

The next reports will be due Nov. 3.

Click the link above to see a detailed list of who has donated to each candidate. There are 1,156 entries to date for the reporting period ending Oct. 12.

We asked the 2017 Jeffco school board candidates seven questions. Here are their responses.
By Chalkbeat Staff - October 5, 2017

This fall, thousands of Coloradans will vote in dozens of local school board races across the state.

In many cases, their votes will determine the philosophical direction of their school districts. Should there be more charter schools? How much should the district pay teachers? How should the district boost learning for its most vulnerable students? These are just some of the policy questions school boards consider. And with majority control up for grabs on many boards, the stakes are especially high in 2017.

In order to help voters decide who to vote for, Chalkbeat surveyed candidates in some of the most hotly contested races. Below are their responses, which have been lightly edited for clarity.

To use our survey, readers can select specific races, then click on a candidate’s name to show or hide their responses.

For more information about this year’s election, click here for our previous coverage and click here for our campaign diary that’s filled with tidbits from the trail.

Q&A's with candidates for the Jefferson County School Board
Lakewood Sentinel
Posted Thursday, October 12, 2017 12:53 pm

There are three seats up for election this year for the Jefferson County School District's Board of Education. Candidates will be elected to a four-year term. Mail ballots in Jeffco will be sent out starting Oct. 16. Election Day is Nov. 7 this year.

All candidates are listed below, grouped by seat and alphabetic order. Click on their names to read each profile.

Shields and Van Gieson challenge incumbents for school board
Mitchell runs for re-election unopposed in Jeffco
By Shanna Fortier, Arvada Press
Posted Tuesday, September 12, 2017 9:24 am

Platte Canyon school board candidates stump for seats at candidate forum
By Sal Christ, Canyon Courier
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 3:28 pm

With less than a month until the November elections, campaign season is in full swing in the Platte Canyon community as six people vie for one of three open seats on the school board. On Oct. 9, all six candidates faced off at a candidate forum hosted by the Platte Canyon Chamber of Commerce at Platte Canyon High School.

Speaking before an audience of 30 to 40 people, Katie Spodyak, Heather Prewitt, Cyndie Sherriff, Rockie Lozensky, Frank VanDeHey and Joe Burgett all delivered stump speeches describing their backgrounds, why they are seeking school board seats, and what they felt are key issues challenging the district.

• Student achievement, enrollment
• Community relations, transparency

A little more info on the candidates for Park County School District RE-2 School Board Candidates

Park County School District Re 2 School Board Candidates for 2017 Election - Candidate Information

• Background
• Why I have an interest in being on the school board
• Special Skills and Experience Relative to Education
• How Can I Make A Difference

Per Indivisible Front Range Resistance Wiki Page:
Larry Foster is registered as a Democrat
Welles Tonjes, Republican
Bobbi Gore, Republican
Kim Bundgaard, Unaffiliated and the only incumbent on the board
www.parkcountyre2.org/pages/Park_County_...ducation_appoints_ne
Gary Jurgemeyer is Unaffiliated
Gary Jurgemeyer's website: jurgemeyer.org/

Former deputy Welles Tonjes files lawsuit regarding Wirth eviction events
Shakeup at Park County Sheriff's Office after fatal shooting of deputy

Bobbi Gore is the Executive Director of the Park County Senior Coalition, 1st Vice Chair of the Park County Republican Central Committee and the wife of Monte Gore, former Undersheriff of the Park County Sheriff's Office who recently declared his candidacy for 2018 election for Park County Sheriff.

Matt Van Gieson and Erica Shields at the Republican Mens Club and the Woodrow Wilson Academy.

Park County commissioner’s wife under fire
PCSB candidates excluded from Republican club meeting
By Sal Christ
Tuesday, October 31, 2017 at 5:47 pm

Deb Elsner, president of the club and wife of Commissioner Dick Elsner, intentionally excluded Cyndie Sherriff and Heather Prewitt from speaking at the group’s monthly meeting at the Bailey Public Library Oct. 24 despite having invited their fellow challengers — Katie Spodyak, Frank VanDeHey, Joe Burgett and Rockie Lozensky — to speak about their bids for school board.

However, the move sparked outrage — both at the meeting and on several social media platforms afterward — with many calling Elsner’s exclusion of Sherriff and Prewitt divisive. Furthermore, confusion over whether the meeting was private or open to the public contributed to additional upset.

While Elsner maintains that the meeting was private, the meeting details were originally posted publicly to the Park County Republican Women’s open Facebook group, to Elsner’s personal Facebook page and on MyMountainTown.com with no specifications that it was members-only. Furthermore, Elsner confirmed that several non-members were admitted after they expressed interest in joining the group.

Possible conflicts of interest
Park County Republican Women is a county-level political club under the Colorado Federation of Republican Women, which is a state charter of the National Federation of Republican Women.

While not a public body and therefore not subject to Colorado sunshine laws, Park County Republican Women has frequently allowed the public to attend its meetings and has in the past held public forums, town halls and meet-the-candidate events ahead of elections.

Though Elsner did nothing wrong in closing the Oct. 24 meeting to the public, her exclusion of Sherriff and Prewitt — and open support of VanDeHey — appear to conflict with the CFRW’s objectives, which state that CFRW elected officers and club presidents are to remain neutral “by not supporting or opposing any candidate in a Republican Party primary or infra-party race.”