The six area school districts had several board members on the ballot in the April 2 Wisconsin Spring Election, along with million dollar maintenance and improvement referendums that were turned down in Prentice and approved in Rib Lake.
The Phillips Public School District had one contested seat with incumbent Jon Pesko narrowly defeating a challenge from former Phillips High School music teacher Justin Lindgren by a vote of 782 to 775.
Incumbent Phillips School Board members Marty Krog and Hailey Halmstad were both unopposed in their reelections.
Chequamegon Public School District board members Karen Thorp and Michelle Schmidt retained their seat after running uncontested. There were no candidates on the ballot to replace board member Brentt Michalek who filed for non-candidacy. However, there were two write-in candidates, with Brianna Garrison receiving 13 votes and Davide Schmidt receiving 11 votes.
The Prentice Public School District had one contested election with challenger Mallory Hueckman defeating incumbent board member Dianne Gierman by a vote of 453 to 392.
Incumbent board members Emily Blomberg and Nicholas Adams were both unchallenged in their reelections.
Prentice School District voters also turned down a ballot question to authorize the school district budget to exceed the revenue limit by $1.8 million for recurring operational and maintenance expenses, including for student programming, facility maintenance and staff salaries and benefits. The vote was 407 for and 480 against.
Butternut Public School District had two open seats and one candidate. George Faltinosky was elected to one school board seat with 200 votes from Ashland County voters. Glen Wegner received 3 Price County votes as a write-in for a second seat. There were no candidates or write-in votes for the third seat in Price County. Ashland County reported 50 unnamed write-in votes for various people as a smattering.
In the Rib Lake School District election, challenger Peter Meyer defeated incumbent Jackie Mohr by a vote of 580 to 495. Taylor County voters gave Meyer 533 votes against 444 votes for Mohr. Price County voters supported Mohr with 51 votes against the 47 votes for Meyer.
Incumbent school board members Nicole Glenzer and Stacy Tlusty were uncontested in their reelections. Taylor County voters gave Glenzer 896 votes and Tlusty 855. Price County voters gave Tlusty 83 votes for a total of 938, and Glenzer received 86 for a total of 982.
Rib Lake School District voters approved a referendum for a $19.5 million facility improvement project by a 56.5% vote. Taylor County voters were 612 for and 474 against, and Price County voters were 65 for and 48 against.
The approval will provide for district-wide building maintenance, building infrastructure, systems and site improvements and construction of an addition to connect the middle and high schools. The work will also include a safe and secure entrance and replacement gymnasium, renovations at the middle and high schools, including for academics, band and choir spaces, a technical education area, kitchen and cafeteria, office and a fitness center, and acquisition of furnishings, fixtures and equipment.
According to the school district, an increase in property value across the Rib Lake School District puts the estimated tax impact for the referendum at an additional $146 per $100,000 of assessed property value.
In the Flambeau Public School District, Lana Nelson and Brian Beardsley, two registered write-in candidates, emerged from a field of 52 write-in names for two open seats to replace board members Zachary Lund and Joel Taylor, who did not run and there were no candidates on the ballot. Most of the names received four or fewer votes but Nelson received 230 votes and Beardsley received 175.
The Flambeau School District includes portions of the towns of Kennan and Georgetown in Price County.
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