GCPS District III Incumbent Increases Campaign Contributions

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy now has almost $14,000 in cash contributions. She is being challenged by Jen Falk of Berkeley Lake.

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, the Gwinnett school board District III member who is seeking re-election, has pulled in more campaign contributions. As of the September 30 reporting period, Murphy, a Peachtree Corners resident, has about $13,900 in cash contributions, according to state records. The latest reports show some major contributions to Murphy's campaign: $2,500 by GCAE Fund for Public Education of Snellville; and $1,000 by Ty and Stephanie Hanna of Duluth. Their business is listed as Galaxy Capital. Loretta Christoper, a Peachtree Corners City Council member, contributed $300 to Murphy. District III includes Norcross, Duluth, North Gwinnett and Peachtree Ridge high schools. Murphy, a Republican, is being challenged by Democrat Jen Falk of …

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GCPS Board Challenger Jen Falk's Contributions Exceed $6,000

Falk is seeking the District III seat, which includes schools in Peachtree Corners and Berkeley Lake.

Jen Falk, who is seeking election to the Gwinnett District III school board seat, has surpassed $6,000 in cash and in-kind campaign contributions, according to the latest data filed with state officials. Falk, a Berkeley Lake resident, lists several itemized cash contributions from Gwinnett and from Duluth, which has several schools in that district. Among the latest contributors: In-kind contributions are those made in such things as goods and services. Falk's cash contributions exceed $5,500. Falk, a founding board member of Ivy Prep charter school, is running as a Democrat. She is seeking the seat currently held by Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, a Republican. Murphy's contribution totals through June are about $6,300. District III includes …

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Murphy Raises More Funds in GCPS Re-Election Bid

The District III incumbent faces a challenge from Democrat Jen Falk in November.

Gwinnett school board member Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, whose district includes seven Peachtree Corners schools, has raised additional funds in her bid for re-election. In her latest campaign finance filing with state officials, Murphy lists cash contributions from former Gwinnett BOC Chairman Wayne Hill ($250), and the re-election campaign of state Sen. Fran Millar ($250). -- Do you think Murphy will win re-election to the Gwinnett school board? Murphy, a Peachtree Corners resident, represents District III on the GCPS school board. The district includes Norcross and Duluth high schools, Pinckneyville and Duluth middle schools and Peachtree, Simpson and Berkeley Lake elementary schools. Murphy faces a re-election challenge in November from …

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News Nearby

Hannah Rinehart, Wife of South Gwinnett Teacher Mark Rinehart, Passes Away

After a months-long battle, Hannah Rinehart died this morning at 4:15.

Hannah Rinehart, wife of South Gwinnett math teacher Mark Rinehart, passed away this morning at 4:15 a.m. "She is celebrating," Mark wrote on a Facebook page in her honor, "and I am thankful for God allowing me to have the privilege of being her husband while she was here on this Earth. Family was present, and when Hannah was ready to go, she left quickly." Hannah, 32, was a patient care technician in DeKalb County. She and Mark lived in Decatur.  She contracted a bacterial infection the last weekend of June which resulted in blood poisoning. Complications led to the amputations of both hands and feet, but the biggest challenge was fluid in her lungs. Yesterday, doctors told the family that she was very, very tired. "Thank you for loving …

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Murphy Accepting Funds for GCPS Board Re-Election Bid

The District III rep faces a re-election challenge in 2012.

Gwinnett school board member Dr. Mary Kay Murphy, whose district includes several Peachtree Corners schools, has begun accepting campaign contributions for her re-election bid. Murphy's District III, like the other GCPS districts, was redrawn recently by the Georgia General Assembly after the 2010 Census. The district now includes North Gwinnett High and Peachtree Ridge High. She retains Duluth High and Norcross High in the new district. According to state records, Deborah Mason, wife of incoming Peachtree Corners Mayor Mike Mason, contributed $250 to Murphy in February. Jan Lupuloff, a Norcross High backer, contributed $1,000 in February. Lupuloff and her husband Aaron hosted a reception in March for new Norcross High principal Will …

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Ivy Prep Gets Tour From GOP Lawmakers

Peachtree Corners charter school among those that would benefit from the proposed state constitutional amendment.

Dr. Mary Kay Murphy Announces Re-election Plans

Dr. Murphy has served on the Gwinnett County Board of Education since January 1997 and as board chair in 2000, 2004 and 2010.

  District III Gwinnett County Board of Education member Mary Kay Murphy, Ph.D., announced Thursday (Feb. 16) that she will seek re-election in November 2012. Her reapportioned school board district includes Duluth, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Berkeley Lake, Suwanee, North Gwinnett and Sugar Hill. “I am running for another term to continue my work as a builder of Gwinnett County k-12 public schools and communities,” Dr. Murphy said. “I have a strong record of curriculum reform, fiscal responsibility, and student safety in our 133 local public schools.” Murphy has been a member of the Gwinnett school board since January 1997. She served as school board chairman in 2000, 2004 and 2010. “In 2010 when I was board chair, we received the Eli …

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Judy Putnam

5:11 pm on Friday, February 17, 2012

Duluth Mom: Let me explain why Ms. Murphy's announcement ran in the Duluth Patch and the Peachtree Corners Patch on separate days. Each Patch site is run independently, the editor of each Patch decides what stories are run and when. The Duluth Patch editor chose to run Ms. Murphy's announcement on Thursday, while I decided to run it today. I chose today simply because it fit in better with the …   more ›

GCPS To Name Board Officers for 2012

A new chairman is possible after a year of leadership under McClure of Lilburn.

  The Gwinnett school board will hold its first meeting of 2012 on Thursday at its Suwanee headquarters, and there may be a new chairman. Election of board officers is on the agenda; the meeting begins at 7 p.m. The past year, Dr. Robert McClure of Lilburn was the board chairman, and it is customary to elect a new leader each year. "It was a pleasure and a privilege to see public education work the way it is supposed to," McClure said at the December board meeting after being congratulated by fellow board members. However, 2011 also was a stressful year for the state's largest school system. Controversies broke out over a redistricting involving the Peachtree Ridge and Duluth school clusters, news reports over questionable land deals, and …

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David Manley

9:12 am on Friday, January 20, 2012

Since Jen Falk is running for the District III School Board post and is a founding board member of Ivy Preparatory Academy Charter School, it is interesting that on Thursday Ivy Prep was denied a charter by the School Board for the second time on the Peachtree Corners school’s petition for a five-year operating contract and its application to open a companion school for boys. An AJC article on …   more ›

Berkeley Lake Resident Seeks School Board Post

Jen Falk announced she will run against incumbent Mary Kay Murphy in the November 2012 Gwinnett Board of Education election.

UPDATED: JAN. 17, 2012 (see italicized text for updated information) Berkeley Lake resident Jen Falk, a long-time advocate for children, announced Friday that she is seeking the Gwinnett County School Board District III seat currently held by Dr. Mary Kay Murphy. District III currently includes all or part of the Duluth, Norcross and Peachtree Ridge clusters as well as the GIVE Center West, Gwinnett Online Campus, Ivy Preparatory Academy Charter School, Monarch School, and New Life Academy of Excellence. After the census, District III (which currently includes 21 schools), will have six additional schools. The Norcross and Duluth cluster schools will remain in District III. A map showing the current borders and the proposed borders is …

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Gwinnett School Insights

Gwinnett School Representatives to Meet with U.S. Elected Officials

No Child Left Behind will be one of the topics discussed at Federal Relations Network Conference next month.

  Washington, D.C. will be the site of the February 2012 Federal Relations Network Conference drawing school board members from the 50 states to the nation’s capital. I will be among the elected school board members who will participate in our Georgia delegation.  After attending a two-day conference where education issues will be highlighted, our assignments will be to meet with our elected House members and then as a group with our two elected U.S. Senators. The Federal Relations Network is part of the National School Boards Association’s annual advocacy meetings in the nation’s capital.  My representation will be two-fold.  First, I have been elected as representative to the Conferences from the Gwinnett County Board of Education.  Also…

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