Voters elect old, new school leaders

November 9, 2011 at 12:10a.m.

Youngstown

Voters elected a mix of incumbents and challengers to school boards in Mahoning County.

In Youngstown, two of the three incumbents, Michael Murphy and Richard “Dickie” Atkinson, won re-election, each with about 18 percent. There were four to elect.

“I want to continue to move our kids forward and keep improving,” Atkinson said.

A focus on math and reading skills is important in achieving that, he said.

Murphy said the district is moving in the right direction and he wants to continue to monitor finances and to see academics improve.

But challenger Marcia Haire-Ellis, a retired school teacher and counselor, garnered the most votes with 19 percent.

Brenda Kimble, also a newcomer, got about 17 percent of the vote to win the fourth seat, beating Jackie Adair, a challenger, and incumbent June Drennen, with 14 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

“I want to focus first on winning our parents back and trying to bridge the communication gap,” Kimble said.

Boardman voters elected challenger Niklaus Amstutz with about 34 percent and incumbent Fred Davis with about 28 percent.

They bested incumbent Kenneth J. Beraduce with 24 percent and challenger Jim Hruska with 14 percent in the school board race.

“I want to keep Boardman schools excellent,” said Amstutz, who previously served on the board.

Davis, who previously served three terms and was then appointed to an unexpired term, said he wants to continue working together as a board.

In Poland, two incumbents and a challenger were elected. Board veteran Elinor S. Zedaker got 26 percent and Robert Shovlin, also an incumbent, received about 25 percent.

They will be joined on the board by James P. Lavorini who garnered about 26 percent.

Challenger Agatha Van Brocklin got about 23 percent.

“I believe the [voters] have spoken,” Zedaker said. “They’ve asked us to be good stewards for our schools and we intend to do so. I’m very honored to be re-elected.”

Shovlin said he plans to continue to focus on transparency, the children and the taxpayers.