Pam LeSesne and Mary Ann Elbert took initial leads Tuesday evening over four other candidates in a race for a seat on the Everett School Board.
LeSesne led with 45 percent of the vote to Elbert’s 16 percent.
Cris Larson was just a few percentage points behind, however, with 13 percent
of the vote.
LeSesne received backing from wide-ranging groups and individuals including the Everett Education Association, the Snohomish County Labor Council, Snohomish County Sheriff John Lovick and auto dealer Dwayne Lane.
This is the second time LeSesne, 55, has run for the school
board. She narrowly lost a close race in 2009 to Jeff Russell.
Elbert, 43, a stay-at-home mom and former Boeing engineer, said she thinks the elected school board members should have final authority over policy and its implementation within the district.
Larson, 44, is a retired middle and high school teacher in Everett. He said he would like a better system to track and advocate on behalf of youth at risk of becoming dropouts.
Candidates debated the $4 million in cuts in the upcoming school year’s budget, triggering increases in lunch prices and possible larger class sizes, the school board’s recent decision to approve a new $23 million administration building and how to improve education in the school district.
The opening for one seat on the school board occurred when Kristie Dutton, a 12-year veteran, decided against seeking re-election.
Tuesday night’s vote totals will be updated in the coming days as the Snohomish County Auditor tallies ballots from the all-mail election. The top two vote-getters will be on the general election ballot in November.
Meanwhile, voters also were deciding who would go on to general election races for school board seats in Edmonds, Marysville and Monroe:
Edmonds School District
In Edmonds, seven people were competing for two school board seats.
In the first race, incumbent and school board vice president Gary Noble had nearly 73 percent of the vote with Boe Lindgren second with nearly 16 percent. They are vying for District 3.
In the second race, Mark Dillan was leading with 31 percent of the vote and Diana White had 27 percent. They are vying to replace Patrick Shields in District 5, who decided not to run for re-election.
Monroe School District
In Monroe, three candidates were challenging incumbent Debra Kolrud.
But initial results showed Kolrud with nearly 40 percent of the votes and Nancy Truitt Pierce with nearly 27 percent.
Marysville School District
In the Marysville School Board race, challenger Pete Lundberg, 33 percent of the vote, had a thin lead over incumbent Darci Becker, with nearly 32 percent of the vote.
Becker was first appointed to the position in July 2006 and won the seat in the November 2007 general election.
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
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