Oran will build a new school, Advance will remodel one, and Cape Girardeau will have one new school board member as a result of Tuesday's elections.
Cape Girardeau voters elected pharmaceutical salesman and parent Kyle McDonald and incumbent Charles Bertrand to three-year terms. Twila Brown, an assistant professor of nursing at Southeast Missouri State University, finished third.
McDonald was the top vote-getter with 1,133 votes. Bertrand garnered 1,123 votes. Brown had 846 votes.
Bertrand, a downtown merchant, won election to a one-year term last April.
McDonald never expected to get the most votes. "I was definitely surprised about it," he said.
Voters in Oran School District approved a $2.5 million bond issue that will fund construction of a new elementary and junior high school and other improvements to the school campus.
Fewer than 400 students, kindergarten through high school, are enrolled in the district.
The measure passed by a vote of 591 for, 171 against.
"That is pretty good," superintendent Mitchell Wood said after watching Scott County election officials tabulate the votes at the county courthouse in Benton, Mo.
While voters in the district traditionally have supported school measures, he said, "I just really think we did a good job of getting the word out."
The fact that voters were extending a school tax rather than raising it also helped, he said.
The district may to start construction in July or August.
Advance voters approved a $1.5 million bond issue to renovate the elementary school. The vote was 352 for, 133 against.
Voters re-elected Mark Richmond and Brad Moore to the Advance school board. Richmond received 342 votes; Moore, 337; and David Payne, 163.
Voters in the Scott City School District elected Keith Simpson and Gary Miller to the board of education. Incumbent Nancy Caldwell, who was seeking her fifth term, finished third in the four-candidate race.
Simpson received 439 votes. Miller had 232 votes, followed by Caldwell with 226 and Buckner with 141.
Chaffee voters elected Jamie Wesell Nix and Mark Perkins to the school board. Incumbent Donna Cannon finished third. Nix garnered 259 votes; Perkins, 240; and Cannon, 116.
In Oran, voters re-elected Carla Graviett and elected Marty Priggel to the school board. Priggel garnered the most votes with 484. Graviett had 406 votes, followed by 315 for Eric Michelsen and 173 for Patrick Young.
In the Meadow Heights School District, voters re-elected Bob Wilson. But incumbent Terry Wagner and candidate Stephen Garland tied for second.
The winner of the second seat could be decided by a special election or a drawing between the two candidates, according to a state election statute.
Wilson received 124 votes. Wagner and Garland each received 103 votes. Dalton Denman had 100 votes, and Marca Starkey-Overbey had 38.
In the Nell Holcomb School District, voters re-elected Jackie Foeste Payne and elected Shannon Sinn. Payne received 161 votes to 139 for Sinn and 56 for Lauren Reece.
In the Delta district, voters re-elected Herbert Blattel Jr. and elected Aaron Helderman Jr. Blattel had 208 votes; Helderman, 153; Diana Horn, 83; Jeff Trovillion, 79; and Carl Landewee, 50.
In the Woodland School District, voters re-elected Doug Faulkner and Mark McCormick. McCormick had 243 votes; Faulkner, 219; and Dale Long, 148.
In the Zalma district, voters re-elected Steve Dickinson and Dale Fish. Dickinson had 85 votes; Fish, 70; Aaron Lemons, 31; and Donnie Sitz, 24.
In the Leopold district, voters re-elected Sheila Irvin and Jean Clubb. Irvin had 90 votes; Clubb, 81; Cori Stoverink, 44; and Danny James, 15.
mbliss@semissourian.com
335-6611, extension 123
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