Joe Hurla, Heather Whalen and Tony Barron have won the School Board election.
In complete but unofficial results, Hurla received 892 votes, Whalen 891 votes, and Barron 742 votes. Shawna Vetter received 573, while Travis McCormick had 529.
In Johnson County, Whalen won seven votes. McCormick won six votes. Hurla and Barron won four votes each, and Vetter received three votes.
In Leavenworth County, Travis McCormick received seven votes. Whalen received five and Barron, Hurla and Vetter each received four.
Barron, a newcomer, will join the board in January for his first term alongside the incumbents. He said he’s excited to serve the community. He said he wants to focus on making the district more efficient with its finances and other operations.
“I’m very fortunate to have worked in the school system for 10 years, just on the staff side of things, so I’m very familiar with how schools operate,” Barron said.
Barron will replace current board member Eric Votaw, who decided not to run for reelection.
Whalen said Tuesday night that she was honored to be reelected to the board.
“I’m very excited. I’m very thankful,” she said. “I’m very proud to represent Eudora. I’m very grateful for all the voters who turned out.”
Whalen has been on the School Board for four years, and this will be her second term. She said she wants to continue improving Eudora’s schools.
“I think our goals are to continue to build Eudora schools into the best they can be through providing support for our staff, our administrators,” Whalen said. “Making sure that they have what they need to support the kids in the best way they can.”
She also said she wants to continue highlighting the positive initiatives happening across the school district.
McCormick wished the winners well.
“Congratulations to the winners, and may the school district continue to operate and function as it has and, you know, everything prosper moving forward,” McCormick said.
Election results are not official until the canvass at 9 a.m. Nov. 17.
Hurla and Vetter could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.
