Newcomers win school board races

Cape Girardeau voters elected two new members to the board of education in Tuesday's election, while Ward 4 voters in Jackson returned Alderman Joe Bob Baker to his seat.

In the area's two largest races -- Cape Girardeau and Woodland school districts had seven candidates each -- newcomers were elected over incumbents by wide margins.

In Cape Girardeau, newcomers Laura Sparkman with 821 votes and Tim Arbeiter with 634 votes outpaced incumbent Dr. Martha Zlokovich's 592 votes.

"I'm just filled with elation and honor at being elected," Arbeiter said. "Even though I'm just one person, I hope to work with my fellow board members to get the district through these tough financial times."

In the Woodland district, two incumbents seeking re-election were defeated. Van Greer, one of the winners, said he wants to work toward establishing a booster club to raise money for extracurricular activities. Some activities in school districts across the state have been cut because of state funding problems.

Greer said he was surprised at his win because he didn't campaign.

"I spent $20 for an ad in the paper and that's it," he said.

He said he questioned the previous board last fall on several issues, catching the attention of some people who promised to help him get elected if he would agree to run. He pledged to help restore communication and trust among the teachers, students, parents and the board.

Lottie James said she plans to work toward fostering more communication among parents, teachers and administrators, but mostly she wants to encourage parents to get involved.

"It's a proven statistic," she said, "when parents are involved scores are better and kids are better -- everything. It's huge, key."

Only 287 of the 2,000 registered voters in Jackson's Ward 4 cast ballots in Tuesday's election, but that was enough to give incumbent Joe Bob Baker a win.

Baker received 199 votes to 88 for challenger Jim Litzelfelner.

School selections

In the other Cape Girardeau County school board race, voters in the Nell Holcomb district re-elected incumbent Karen Fornkahl. She will be joined on the board by newcomer Dean H. Reeves.

Scott County school district elections were a mix of incumbent and newcomer wins.

In the Scott City school district, newcomer Lisa Schaefer was elected with 99 votes, and incumbent Debbi Miller was returned to her seat with 115 votes.

"I wanted to run because I'm interested in our schools," Schaefer said. "Hopefully, I can make decisions with the rest of the members and keep our school system good."

Miller said she is happy about winning. "Right now my biggest concern is with all the budget cut, making sure we get every dollar the children deserve," she said. "They're the ones that suffer."

In Oran, Mo., incumbent Will Booker was elected to a second term on the school board with 144 votes and newcomer Tom Seyer was elected with 209 votes.

"It's my first time, and I'm going to try to do what's right," said Seyer. "Academics is always the number one issue. I'm excited and looking forward to it."

Incumbents Ron Eifert and Donnie Kiefer both were re-elected in the Chaffee school board's race with 122 and 178 votes, respectively.

"I'm happy to be elected to a second term. I think the challenge ahead of us is making up for lack of state funding," said Eifert.

At Kelly of Benton, Janet Lee Kline and Tony Powell were elected. Powell nosed out Wayne Rockett for the seat by two votes.

"I'm really excited to have won because it was a close race and there were a lot of people interested in being on the board," Kline said. "I hope that we can all work together and figure out where to go from here."

In the Meadow Heights district in Bollinger County, Dennis Mouser, who had previously served six years on the school board before taking a three-year hiatus, easily won election.

"I'm going to hit the ground running," Mouser said.

Mouser said the money situation across the state is what concerns him the most.

"There probably will be more cuts made if the funding is not corrected," Mouser said. "I will try to see that it's done fair and across the board."

Karla Kiefer also won a seat on the school board and is also concerned about the state funding problem.

"I'm really anxious to get in there and see how I can help," she said.

In Perryville, Tina Littge and Judilynn Wibbenmeyer won, unseating incumbent Donna Favier.

Wibbenmeyer said she is ecstatic about her win and said she wants to restore trust in the school board.

"There are a lot of problems," she said. "A lot of citizens don't feel comfortable with the board in there now. They think there are a lot of secrets."

Wibbenmeyer said she would work to improve communication and trust.

Littge said she is concerned about the state funding crisis and how it will affect Perryville schools. Mostly, she said, she is ready to learn and start working.

"It's going to be a challenge," she said, "but I'm ready to dive in and do what I can."

Southeast Missourian reporters Callie Clark, Linda Redeffer and Kathryn Alfisi contributed to this report.