Friday, May 15, 2009

Three incumbents ousted in Lancaster ISD school board elections

By Bill Conrad of Lancaster TODAY

It was a rough day for incumbents in the Lancaster School Board election as all three lost their bids for reelection. Marie Elliott, Ed Kirkland and Debi Miller all were voted out of office May 9.

All three winning candidates ran on a platform of improving the board's reputation and improving trust in the community.

In District 1, challenger Marion Hamilton received 70 percent of the votes to defeat Elliott. Hamilton received 104 votes and Elliott received 44. Hamilton said in a pre-election candidate's forum that the board needed to improve its integrity and that she would help to do that if elected.

“Lancaster is being challenged academically and financially and struggling with integrity,” Hamilton said. “My goals are to work with the board and to bring a higher level of trust to the community. I will work to resolve our financial and academic issues.”

Cynthia Corbin defeated Kirkland by receiving 61 percent of the vote. She received 63 votes while Kirkland received 41. Corbin said before the election that she thought the district should work to better inform the public so that they could regain the community's trust.

“I believe we must never sweep our problems under the rug, hide our dirty laundry or blame subordinates for failing to accomplish their goals,” Corbin said. “I want to clearly define the goals and policies we will follow. I want to bring the public full and complete records of our investigations.”

The final spot up for election was Miller's District 7 seat. The board appointed Miller last August after the resignation of Cheryl Wright, who ran unopposed in last May's election. Miller received 49 percent (155 votes) of the vote while challenger Ellen Clark received 51 percent (164 votes).

Prior to being elected, Clark said that the district's reputation is dependent on the board cleaning up its image.

“I want us to have recognized schools and have the image of the school district improved,” Clark said. “I feel that much of the poor image of the district is because of the school board. I think our teachers and students have had many achievements that have not been recognized because they have been overshadowed by the board.”

District 1 and 2 will be up for reelection in 2012 while District 7 will be up for reelection in 2011.

The new boardmembers will be sworn in at a called meeting May 19. Meetings are held at the LISD Administration Building, located at 422 South Centre Ave.

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