Familiar faces, newcomers round out school board races

Nov. 9—ELKHART — A mix of familiar and some new faces will fill seats in school boards across Elkhart County after Tuesday's election.

Elkhart Community Schools Board of Trustees will welcome two newcomers and one incumbent to its ranks in January.

Incumbent Kellie Mullins and newcomer Mark Burnett won the two open at-large seats defeating four other competitors Shelby Croquette, Emily Ann Toledo, Bessie Wall and Charles Taylor for the posts.

According to the unofficial results, Mullins led with 5,960 votes and Burnett followed with 4,898.

The other at-large incumbent, Babette Boling, did not seek re-election.

Mullins has served on the board for four years, serving as vice president her first year and president the second. In a statement Wednesday, she said she plans to continue to be a strong voice for those in need within the school system and she feels her work has just begun.

"I am ready to do my part in making our school system the best that it can be," she said. "My heart will always be dedicated to making sure that our children's education is the very best, that their environment is a safe and nourishing environment in which they can grow and that all our staff feels valued and appreciated always."

Burnett said he was shocked by Tuesday's victory, and expressed his gratitude to those who voted for him.

He said his two daughters were his push to run for school board. His oldest daughter is a student at Northridge High School in Middlebury but is enrolled in the Elkhart Area Career Center and his youngest is enrolled in the district's PACE program.

"I'm looking forward to securing a better future not only for my kids but any of the kids at Elkhart Community Schools," he said. "It's important to make sure they have everything they need to prepare them for success in life."

In District B, Jeffrey Bliler defeated Rodney Hohman to succeed outgoing board member Rocky Enfield. Bliler had 2,077 votes and Hohman had 1,621.

Bliler said his granddaughter, Rio Allred, was the catalyst behind his decision to run for school board. Allred died by suicide in March after her family said she was the victim of bullying at North Side Middle School.

"We did this for our girl Rio. We're going to make the system better for all of our kids and it's going to be an amazing journey," he said in a Facebook live video after he was declared the winner. "It's going to take all of us to effect change and make the system better for everyone and I'm 100% committed to being the bridge."

Concord

At Concord Community Schools, three of five seats were up for election this year.

For District 1, incumbents Jennifer Davis and Tara Towner retained their seats, defeating challenger Mike Malooney.

The unofficial results show that Davis led with 2,641 votes and Towner with 1,870.

Re-elected to serve her third term, Davis said she was happy about Tuesday's win and looks forward to having a role in improving the quality of education for students while also being fiscally responsible for taxpayers.

"I work with hands down the best school board in Indiana," she said. "We have a lot of things we're working on and I'm just excited to be able to keep moving forward and working with my fellow board members."

Fairly new to the board, Towner was appointed in August to fill a vacant seat created by the resignation of a former board member. Now earning a full term, she said she's thankful for the support she received from the community.

"I feel very blessed to continue to serve on the school board," she said. "I'm really excited to see what these next few years bring about for Concord Community Schools and the good we can do for our kids and our teachers."

In District 2, Stacy McDowell defeated four candidates for the seat, including incumbent Jared Sponseller. McDowell won with 1,854 and Sponseller trailed at 1,380.

McDowell said she was surprised with the win and believes that's an indication that the community is ready for a change.

"I'm looking forward mostly to addressing our academic proficiency scores which have been on the decline over the last couple of years and I haven't seen a solid plan on how that's going to be addressed, so I'm hoping to be influential on that."

Baugo

A total of three candidates were elected to the Baugo Community Schools Board of Trustees.

In District 1, Julie Phillips, who previously served on the board from 2012 to 2021, was the winner with 1,342 votes.

She said she's thankful for the opportunity to serve on the board again and continue some of the initiatives she had been working on before the pandemic.

"I'm looking forward to picking up where I left off with some of the initiatives we have going on, including restoring the Baugo Township High School Gymnasium and turning it into a community center. The goal is to put a boys and girls club in there, so that's one of the things I'm really looking forward to being a part of again."

In District 3, Jamie Lee Wenger and Bill Gletty were the two winners.

Goshen

Goshen Community Schools Board had four seats up for election this year — two for at-large, one for District 1 and one for District 3.

For at-large, incumbents Mario Garber and Roger Nafziger retained their seats with Nafziger receiving 3,828 votes and Garber receiving 3,513.

In District 1, Ryan Glick defeated his two competitors, Angie McKee and Andrea Johnson, receiving 609 votes.

For District 3, incumbent Jose Elizalde retained his seat receiving 1,739 votes over challenger Rob Roeder, who received 1,009 votes.