Two incumbents and one newcomer took the three available seats for the Ignacio School Board on Tuesday.
According to unofficial election results, Ignacio residents chose newcomer Allen McCaw with 769 votes, and incumbents Yvonne Chapman with 617 votes and Doug Little with 486 votes.
Challengers Toby Roderick received 475 votes and Gina Schulz received 420 votes.
A total of 2,767 people voted in the race.
“I’m excited to be representing the school again,” Chapman said. “There’s a lot of changes happening over the next few years ... and although I was elected to serve ... I want to encourage people to stay and be involved.”
Chapman is the financial coordinator for Vaughn Johnson Orthodontics in Durango. One of her children is a junior this year and another graduated from Ignacio High School.
Little, a retired industrial arts teacher, said one of his main priorities is to get the school board to function more efficiently.
“It seems like we spend an awful lot of time talking before we ever get around to deciding what we need to do,” he said. “I want to thank everyone that voted for me ... and I’ll try to do a good job.”
McCaw, who works for the U.S. Forest Service and has two children at Ignacio High School, could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.
The candidates are elected to four-year terms. The school board decides district policies and establishes school district goals. The board also oversees the district’s budget
Roderick, a former president and vice president of the Ignacio School Board, who has a sophomore and a seventh grader in Ignacio schools, said he “(supports) those elected.”
Schulz, a substitute teacher for Ignacio School District, has been a parent in the district for 19 years and currently has three children in Ignacio schools.
“I thank all of my fellow candidates and the community for giving me the opportunity to run,” she said. “I will just continue to serve the community in any way as needs arise.”
