South Point School Board too close to call
Published 2:52am Wednesday, November 4, 2009SOUTH POINT — As first-time campaigners they teamed up to go door-to-door throughout their home school district.
And as the results for South Point Board of Education were coming in Rita Vance and Rose Christian waited and watched together.
Unofficial results have Vance the winner with her friend losing the election by a single vote to one-time educator Les York.
But with the election split by only hundreds of a percent, neither woman wanted to give a comment Tuesday night.
“We are still mesmerized by the vote so close,” Vance said.
Vance pulled in 26.37 percent of the vote or 1,057; York got 26.39 percent or 1,055 and Christian received 26.44 percent or 1,054.
Because of the narrow margin there will almost certainly be a recount.
Vance, a science teacher at South Point before she retired, campaigned on her experience and a desire to move the district “in a positive direction for the students and the schools,” she said at the time.
While not a teacher, Christian has strong ties to South Point Schools.
Her son, Mark Christian, is an assistant superintendent in the schools and her son-in-law, Tom Roberts, is on the school board. Among the issues she campaigned on were reducing the number of executive sessions the school board conducts and addressing the concerns of special needs children.
York, an educator with three decades in the district, also campaigned on his experience as a one-time teacher and principal at Sheridan, Burlington and South Point elementaries and South Point Middle School.
Attempts made to contact York by The Tribune were unsuccessful.
Whether she wins or loses, Christian said she was glad she sought public office.
“I am just going to wait (for the official results),” she said. “If it is not meant to be, it is not meant to be. I did the best I could.”
