One incumbent and three challengers won seats Tuesday to serve four-year terms on the Southmoreland School Board.
Incumbent Stephanie Geyer was reelected while newcomers Nathan Alexander, Mellisa Moore and David Thomas appeared to win seats on the board, defeating incumbent Brian Shipley and challenger Bud Santimyer.
With all precincts reporting, Thomas received 2,197 votes; Alexander, 2,150; Moore, 2,059; and Geyer, 1,767. Shipley and Santimyer finished fifth and sixth, with 1,569 and 1,269 votes, respectively. All results are unofficial until certified by elections boards in Westmoreland and Fayette counties.
Thomas, Moore and Alexander campaigned that new members were needed to serve on a school board where personal conflicts among members took away the focus of educating students. Geyer claimed she and her family were targets of attacks that led to the censure of Catherine Fike, a current member of the nine-person school board. Fike has two years remaining on her current term and was not on this year’s ballot.
The Southmoreland School District includes East Huntingdon and Scottdale in Westmoreland County and Upper Tyrone and Everson in Fayette County.
