Adrian Anderson was selected to fill the District 5 seat of the Oklahoma City Public Schools Board of Education after receiving 52.75 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s election — a margin of only 58 votes.
His opponent, Dr. Sharri Coleman, received 47.25 percent of the vote. A total of 1,056 ballots were cast in the election.
Anderson will replace longtime OKCPS board member Ruth Veales, who decided not to run for reelection after representing District 5 seat — which lies on the far east side of OKCPS — for more than a decade.
Anderson is a financial professional with Prudential Financial. He is an OKCPS graduate, a parent of OKCPS students, and has been a supporter and volunteer in the district for more than ten years. He previously worked for Star Spencer High School as a behavioral health and rehabilitation specialist.
During a forum hosted by the Urban League of Greater Oklahoma City last week, Anderson said he wants to help continue the work that has been been happening within the district.
Coleman, a former OKCPS science teacher who currently serves as the internship counselor for Millwood Public Schools, had faced questions about her eligibility leading up to Election Day after The Oklahoman reported that she had changed the address on her voter registration from a home about two miles outside the District 5 boundaries to a rental house within district boundaries only three days before filing to run for the board seat.
According to state law, school board candidates must live and be registered to vote in the district where they are running for at least six months prior to the first day of campaign filing.
The OKCPS election was one of dozens that took place in Oklahoma Tuesday as voters headed to the polls to vote for school board members and decide the fate of bond propositions. Results for all elections are listed online. Results are unofficial until they are certified by the Oklahoma State Election Board.
Green wins Deer Creek School Board seat
Stanlen Green will fill Seat 2 of the Deer Creek Public Schools Board after receiving 54.66 percent of Tuesday’s vote with 708 ballots cast.
Leading up to Tuesday’s election, Green’s opponent, Jennifer Applebee, refused to answer a series of questions presented to the candidates by the Deer Creek Parent Legislative Action Committee and said she was “not interested” in participating in an interview with NonDoc.
Green retired from the U.S. Marine Corps in 2011 after being wounded in Afghanistan in 2008. He currently works for a small aviation company and has children who attend school in the district.
Green has said the state’s teacher shortage and a lack of interaction between board members and parents are issues he’d like to address. Green also lists stopping political indoctrination in the classroom, limiting administrative overhead and preserving the district’s scholastic and athletic excellence as platform points on his campaign website.
After close vote, Sherrill stays on Putnam City Schools Board
Putnam City Schools Board incumbent and president Jay Sherrill will continue to serve after receiving 54.95 percent of the vote Tuesday, defeating Richenda Bates, a retired Putnam City Schools teacher who taught Sherrill in high school. A total of 364 ballots were cast.
Sherrill said that over the next five years the district needs to put policies in place that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion. He has also promised to advocate for the funding of public schools.
Rader elected to Mustang Schools Board
District parent and chief medical officer for SSM Health Midwest City and Shawnee Dr. Robert Rader will fill Office 2 of the Mustang Public Schools Board of Education after receiving 79.13 percent of the vote.
His opponent was licensed clinical social worker Audra Tucker. A total of 992 ballots were cast.
Rader said he’s concerned about the mental wellbeing of students and teachers and worries about the additional stress faculty have had to deal with in recent years. He has identified the growth of the local student population as a major challenge for the district as it tries to ensure it has the resources to accommodate the growth.
Wells to continue serving on Yukon Schools Board
Yukon Public Schools Board incumbent Leonard Wells will continue to represent District 2 on the board after receiving 60.53 percent of the vote Tuesday over challenger Paul Gerber. A total of 1,125 ballots were cast.
Wells has served on the school board for the past decade and has three grandchildren who currently attend school in the district. He serves on the WEOKIE Federal Credit Union board of directors.
Wells said he wants to provide students with an education that makes them ready for college and/or employment when they graduate. He has also said he wants to ensure that students have a safe and healthy environment to learn in following the coronavirus pandemic.
Other election results of note
School districts all over the state had elections Tuesday.
In Kingfisher Public Schools, incumbent Dana Golbek was barely reelected to the Board of Education after receiving only 51.1 percent of 726 votes cast — just 16 more votes than her opponent, Mitch Massey.
The district is currently facing an anonymous lawsuit alleging “hazing that rose to a level of torture” within the Kingfisher High School football program.
Voters in Laverne Public Schools rejected two bond propositions that would have been worth about $7.5 million.
Proposition 1, for about $6.9 million, would have gone toward replacing or improving a number of district facilities and infrastructure projects. The proposition received only 37.5 percent of the vote.
Proposition 2, for about $600,000, also failed and would have gone toward district transportation. The bond issue received 45.67 percent of the vote.
The bond issues were expected to raise taxes by about 17.82 percent.
In November, a $14.2 million bond issue that would have raised taxes by 38.57 percent, also failed by a large margin, receiving only about 28.83 percent of the vote with a total of 711 ballots cast.
