Weekend review confirms results of Grand Island school board race

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (KSNB) - A weekend review of the Nov. 8 election in Hall County appears to confirm that two write-in candidates beat two incumbents for two seats on the Grand Island School Board.

Hall County Election Commissioner Tracy Overstreet Monday released the final unofficial results of last week’s election. The election commissioner’s office worked on Veterans Day as well as Saturday and Sunday to count provisional ballots and review the more than 4,000 write-in ballots cast for the Ward A seat on the GIPS board.

The count becomes official after the Hall County canvassing board meets this week, but the updated results appear to confirm that write-in candidates Josh Sykes and Amanda Wilson defeated incumbents Terry Brown and Dan Brosz.

In a press release Overstreet said there were 110 “not assigned” write-in votes in the GIPS Ward A race. “Not assigned write-ins are those names written in that were not for a person who filed a write-in affidavit, which is a requirement to have your name counted,” Overstreet said. “All the ‘not assigned’ write-ins have been reviewed, but were not for either Josh Sikes or Amanda Wilson.”

The Hall County Canvassing Board is scheduled to meet Tuesday at 9 a.m. The meeting is expected to continue over two to four days and will include a state-mandated hand-recount of select races in two Hall County precincts. The state-mandated recount is a customary procedure after every election in Nebraska as a method of testing election equipment.

After the results came down from the election commissioner, Chaperone held a press conference on Monday afternoon, for all three of their winning candidates. The newest winner, Amanda Wilson, said all three candidates are there to build not tear down.

“We are going to bring a fresh perscetive, we are going to ask question that may have not been asked,” Wilson said. “We bring different experiences to the board that the board has not had before, and the full purpose, we are not going in to try to overtake the board.”

As for Sikes he says he’s ready to listen to his constituents’ concerns.

“I’m humbled that you would consider me, I used the phrase ‘your voice was heard and it will be heard’, it what I would say to those people that took the effort to do that, I will take the role as serious as you did the voting process,” Sikes said.

Monday afternoon, Grand Island Public Schools issued this statement from school board president Lisa Albers:

“On behalf of the Grand Island Public Schools Board of Education, I would like to thank the Grand Island community for sharing their voice in this year’s election. The work in front of us is lofty, as it always has been, and we remain grateful for civic leaders who generously volunteer their time to serve on the board.

We look forward to welcoming our new members, Mr. Eric Garcia-Mendez, Ms. Katherine Mauldin, Mr. Josh Sikes, Mrs. Amanda Wilson, and Mr. Hank McFarland, to the group here at GIPS.

The new Board-Elect Members are welcome to attend December’s board meetings as attendees. The official onboarding and issuing committee assignments will begin in December as well.

At GIPS we believe in, “Every Student, Every Day, A Success!”. That is our mission throughout our collective, volunteer efforts. We will remain committed to continuing that charge alongside the new voices joining the boardroom.

Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t take the opportunity to publicly thank Mrs. Bonnie Hinkle, Miss Erika Wolfe (both of whom did not seek reelection), Mr. Carlos Barcenas, Mr. Terry Brown, and Dr. Dan Brosz for their years of service to the GIPS Board, our students and staff, and our community. They have been examples of bold, empathetic leadership throughout their dedicated service.”

- Mrs. Lisa Albers

President, GIPS Board of Education

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