Hot-button issues sparked costly school board races: 'Scary to see us spend that kind of money'

This year, he and his two running mates spent $23,000 for seats on the Hamburg Central School Board.

“To see us spend almost $24,000 on this, it’s obscene,” he said.

The cost of school board races escalated in other suburbs as well.

In East Aurora, Terri Ohlweiler and her two running mates spent $2,900, while their opponents spent $9,500.

Ohlweiler said she never spent the kind of money in her previous campaigns as she did this year.

“But then again, we’ve never had an election like this,” she said.

In Orchard Park, four candidates vying for two seats – each pair running as a slate – spent $16,000.

Most candidates for suburban school boards spend little or no money on their campaigns to be elected to the non-paying positions. 

But contentious races emerged in several districts this year as issues such as mask mandates and curriculum concerns overshadowed traditional ones like taxes. Races in those districts attracted a lot of attention, a lot of voters and a lot of money. 

Overall spending in the East Aurora race, featuring six candidates running for three seats, reached $12,000. And in Hamburg, the campaigns for six people running for three seats spent $45,000, an amount unheard of in suburban races.

“Wow,” said David Lowery, executive director of the Erie County Association of School Boards. “I never would have guessed that amount.”

Candidates for suburban school board elections are required to submit to their district clerks and to the state education commissioner financial reports listing contributions, expenses and in-kind services.

Most candidates don’t spend a lot of money on their campaigns. More than half don't spend any money, while less than 5% spend more than $1,000, according to the New York State School Boards Association.

Ohlweiler said the first time she ran for a seat on the East Aurora School Board, she was one of three candidates for two seats, and she bought campaign signs with her name on them. The second time she ran she was unopposed. The third time there were three candidates for two seats, and she used her signs but spent no money.

Yoviene said for his first run for the Hamburg board, he and his running mate probably spent about $5,000, and two other times he was unopposed.

“It’s a different time," he said. "Covid changes everything and it changed this. It was scary to see us spend that kind of money."

He said he isn’t sure the campaign needed to spend that much money, but he felt it was important to keep the district on its current path.

“It took us this long to be one of the top school districts. Nobody wanted to see it broken,” Yoviene said.

Yoviene, Laura J. Heeter and Richard G. Schneider ran and won as a slate. They spent money on lawn signs, advertising, digital advertising, direct mail and an appreciation event for the Hamburg Teachers Association, which donated to their campaigns.

Their opponents, Tammy DeLong, Jacqueline Best and Kelly Hunter, spent $23,000 on yard signs, T-shirts, postage and marketing.

In Orchard Park, running mates Ryan Anderson and Tom Provost, who both won, had $8,900 to spend on signs, mailers, fundraiser, website and ads. Steven M. Barlette and Katherine Ibarra ran against them on a slate, spending $7,000 on many of the same items: signs, website, flyers, postage and a meet and greet event.

In East Aurora, Dawn Vona, Dawn Raczka and Teresa Reile campaigned as a slate until Reile withdrew several days before the election. They spent $9,500 on signs, mailings and advertisements.

“We were not expecting to spend that kind of money, nor were we expecting to raise that kind of money as well,” Vona said.

She said because they had not run for office before, the trio made some mistakes, such as overestimating how many fliers they needed to send to households. She also said the group probably should have started campaigning earlier.

But there were some things they could not control.

“We ordered 300 signs and had 70 of them stolen within a 24-hour period,” she said.

Ohlweiler ran on a winning slate with Paul Blowers and Maria Improta. They spent $2,900 on signs, door hangers and ads.

An online fundraiser on GoFundMe to benefit them contributed $2,200. Ohlweiler said the group did not need all of the money, and the nearly $800 left over was donated to the East Aurora Education Foundation.

Teachers unions were a major contributor to the winning candidates in the three districts. An analysis of candidates around the state by the state school boards association showed that 88% of candidates identified as being endorsed by teachers unions were successful.

The East Aurora Faculty Association contributed nearly $1,000 to Blowers, Ohlweiler and Improta.

The Orchard Park Teachers Association held a fundraiser and paid for signs for Anderson and Provost, amounting to a $7,000 contribution.

The Hamburg Teachers Association paid $9,500 for direct mail and digital advertising for Yoviene, Schneider and Heeter.

East Aurora Students First started a GiveSendGo online fundraiser for Vona, Raczka and Reile, contributing about $7,500 to them.

Fight For Your Family, an initiative started by Orchard Park gym operators Hunter and Robby Dinero, contributed $18,000 to the campaign of Hunter, DeLong and Best.

There has been a greater interest in school boards in recent years, particularly with the interrupted learning from the Covid-19 pandemic and disagreement over masks and other mandates, as well as concern about curriculum, said David Albert, spokesman for the state school boards association.

“I think all these things have contributed to a greater interest, and with that greater interest you could see more dollars being spent on candidates,” Albert said. “Most of the candidates who won did not base their campaign on those hot-button issues."

There was more turnover in board members than in previous years. In 2020, about 70% of the incumbents running statewide were re-elected. This year, 54% of incumbents were re-elected.

Usually about a quarter of incumbents do not seek re-election, but 30%, decided not to run for re-election this year, he said.