NEW MEMBERS ELECTED TO S.C. SCHOOL BOARD

SCOTT CITY -- Two new members were elected to the Scott City Board of Education Tuesday along with one incumbent to the three open seats on the board.

Gale Dale, president of the school board, received the most votes of any candidate with 373.

Cathy Raines and Ray Smith, both newcomers to the board, received 364 and 345 votes, respectively.

Mike Ruth, who served on the board for the past three years, received 299 votes.

Smith said Tuesday that he is ready to get started.

"I'm very happy," Smith said after the results were in. "I just returned from a meeting at the school and I heard about it as soon as I walked in."

Smith campaigned throughout the city with flyers and signboards.

"I'm sorry that Mike Ruth lost; he served three years on the council and I believe he did a good job," Smith said. "But there were four of us running, and somebody had to lose.

"I'm really looking forward to serving with the other board members," he continued. "We're having a meeting shortly to swear the new members in and to get oriented; I'm ready to go."

Raines was told by her children when she returned home from a meeting Tuesday night at the Scott City High School that she had won the election.

"I'm so excited," Raines said. "I've been sick with anticipation all day I've been a mess."

Raines said that she felt it was unfortunate that Ruth will not return to the board.

"I wish there could have been four winners," she said. "It was a real hard choice at the polls."

The new members will be sworn in today at a special school board meeting.

"I've been to enough meetings to know the basic procedure, but I'm going to have to do a lot of listening in the beginning," Raines said. "I have a whole lot to learn."

Dale was pleased to be elected to her third term on the board.

"I'm thrilled to death," Dale said. "I was sweating bullets there for a while."

Dale said that she had some reservations about being re-elected because her children have both graduated from the school system.

"Sometimes people think that if you don't currently have children in the school system, that you don't have a vested interest in its well being," Dale said. "But that's not true I'm every bit as interested now as I was when my children were there."

But as the thrill of the election died down, it was back to business as usual for the senior board member.

"We have a lot of work to get done," Dale said. "Over this summer, we're going to be doing the bulk of our renovation work on the schools.

"I'm really looking forward to working on these things with our new board, the new superintendent and the new elementary school principal," Dale said.