Incumbents Barrett Glascock and Ellen Kesterson were reelected to the school board for the Southern Boone County District on Tuesday. Only two of the seven school board positions were up for election.
Glascock received the most votes with 547, and Kesterson got 477 votes. They defeated the three opponents by a steady margin: Price Nichols, Kelly Gardner and Chris Vaughan. The closest challenger was Nichols, who received 269 votes.
“I was, I guess, curious more than concerned," Glascock said. "I was a little curious as to what the outcome would be based on our experience last summer with the district."
Last summer, the school board had to deal with the controversy surrounding Charlotte Miller, former Southern Boone County School District superintendent. Her assistant, Carolyn Deffenbaugh, sent a letter in June 2012 accusing Miller of wrongful treatment in the workplace. Millerlater resigned. Her term was supposed to end in 2014.
Glascock said all this chaos has helped bring the school board and public closer together.
“Of course, the issue with the superintendent last summer was kind of eye-opening to us," Glascock said. "We made some changes there to be more transparent with patrons."
Glascock said people have called and come into the office expressing concern.
"I appreciate that very much because I think it's important to hear what the patrons have to say," Glascock said.
The school board selected Chris Flemlee, previously the superintendent of Van-Far Schools in Vandalia, in January. His term begins on July 1.
“We’re excited about what his future holds as far as his ideas and plans for the district," Glascock said. "He’s been attending most of our meetings that we have and communicating with us."
Glascock said his primary goal for the upcoming three years will be to concentrate on taking the district to the next level.
“We’re trying to raise the bar as far as our quality of education," Glasock said. "I think we’ve got a very good district here. The more we can make it better, the better it’s going to be for the kids and their future."
He said this comes at a challenge because of an increase in students within the school district.
“We’re already starting to feel some crunches as far as space goes and we’re kind of bumping the ceiling on our bonding capacity," Glascock said. "So, we’re going to have to take a very serious look on how we can arrange for classrooms for the growth that we have in the next three years. I think that’s going to be critical."
While serving on the school board, he also owns a real estate company called Glascock Agencies in Ashland.
