School vote roundup

The Daily Inter Lake

Whitefish voters approved elementary and high school general fund tax levies in Tuesday's school election.

Five hundred eighty-eight voters approved the $64,919 elementary levy request; 288 people voted against it. The numbers were similar for the $46,214 high school levy request: 582 votes in favor of it and 296 votes against it.

Columbia Falls voters gave a split decision on levy requests: The elementary levy of $69,607 passed by 51 votes; the high school levy request of $142,000 failed by 40 votes.

The vote was 679 to 628 for the elementary levy. On the high school levy, 737 people voted against the levy with 697 voting in favor.

Levy requests failed in Helena Flats, Olney-Bissell and Smith Valley school districts.

Helena Flats' $60,000 general fund tax levy failed by an 89-to-68 margin.

Olney-Bissell voters denied a $16,467 general fund levy request. There were 57 votes against it and 46 votes in favor.

Smith Valley voters shot down the district's $8,348 technology levy request, 103 to 67.

There were no school elections in the Bigfork, Cayuse Prairie, Deer Park or Swan River school districts. Evergreen, Pleasant Valley and West Valley schools had no elections of their own but were polling sites for Kalispell Public Schools' trustee elections.

School trustees

Following is a summary of unofficial trustee election information:

In Creston, Shannon Kimball and incumbent Peggy Hinkle were elected to the school board's two open, three-year terms.

. Kimball: 73 votes

. Hinkle: 51 votes

. Jamie Lynn Eliason: 29 votes

Two new trustees were elected to the Fair-Mont-Egan school board.

. Jeff Wilson: 85 votes

. Dennis Burton: 67 votes

. Mark Phillips: 51 votes

Bette Albright and Alice Ritzman were elected to the Kalispell school board's two open elementary seats. John Osweiler was elected to the District Two high school board position, which covers Evergreen and Helena Flats.

Thomas Clark won the District One high school position, which covers Marion, Olney-Bissell, Pleasant Valley, Smith Valley and West Valley.

. Albright: 876 votes

. Ritzman: 805 votes

. Eve Dixon (elementary): 510 votes

. Osweiler: 142 votes

. Jack Fallon (District Two): 124 votes

. Clark: 202 votes

. Keith Regier (District One): 167 votes

Royal Osterday and Cynthia Frech-Kennedy were elected in a tight trustee election in Kila.

. Osterday: 48 votes

. Cynthia Frech-Kennedy: 44 votes

. Ann Bourassa: 42 votes

. Angela Gustine-Giles: 23 votes

In Marion, Sarah Robinson was elected to a two-year term and Mark Bacialli to a three-year term on the school board. Robinson ran against Tresa DeLaughder; Bacialli ran unopposed.

. Bacialli: 53 votes

. Robinson: 50 votes

. DeLaughder: 23 votes

Smith Valley voters elected incumbent Christy Berry to a three-year school board term.

. Berry: 83 votes

. William Burback: 66 votes

In the Somers-Lakeside district, Alice Blasdel was elected over incumbent trustee Cathy Nash to a three-year seat on the school board.

. Blasdell: 248 votes

. Nash: 150 votes

Incumbents Dave Fern and Eric Hosek and newcomer Brian McDowell were elected to the Whitefish board of trustees.

. Fern: 528 votes

. McDowell: 496 votes

. Hosek: 433 votes

. Stephanie Kenkel: 382 votes

. Mary Vail: 335 votes

In West Glacier, Gerry Nolan received 57 votes to Casey Heupel's 54 votes for a school board seat. Carla Martin, running unopposed, received 89 votes for the other school board seat.