Results in for West Fork Board of Education

The unofficial results of the 2017 school elections are in, and the three open seats that were up for election on the board of education for the West Fork School DIstrict have been filled.

Grant Petersen, of Sheffield, was selected to fill the Director At-Large seat with 256 votes cast in his favor. He won with 43 percent of the vote. Toni Lauffer, of Sheffield, earned 195 votes, equivalent to 32.7 percent of the votes cast for the position. Stacy Tompkins, of Rockwell, and Kevin Zeitler, of Rockwell, also ran for the Director At-Large seat. 

Roger Witte, of Rockwell, won the Director District 1 seat with 483 votes. Witte ran unopposed, and racked up 91.65 percent of the vote. There were 44 write-in votes cast. Witte has been on the board of education for the last four years.

Mary Schlichting, of Thornton, was elected to the Director District 2 seat with 234 votes, or 38.68 percent. Only eight votes separated Schlichting from Amber Marzen, who earned 226 votes, equivalent to 37.36 percent. Eric Reicherts also ran for the Director District 2 seat, and additionally, two write-in votes were cast. Schlichting has been on the board of education since 2009.

Voters also approved the measure for a renewal of the district's Physical Plant and Equipment Levy (PPEL) that was on the ballot. Upon voter approval, school districts may levy for a PPEL up to the rate of $1.34 per $1,000 of taxable valuation. The West Fork School District levy consideration is at $0.67 per $1,000, which has been in place since the district was formed in 2012. 

The PPEL measure passed with 300 votes, and 223 votes against it.

Be sure to pick up a copy of the September 21 edition of The Sheffield Press or The Pioneer Enterprise, where further coverage of the school election will be published.