OSWEGO — Julie Sale, Jyssica Lahey, Kris Graves and Rich Falkenstien advanced to the November general election ballot after getting the top votes in their races for the Labette County USD 506 Board of Education.
Three seats on the 506 board are up for election this year, and two of them had multiple candidates requiring a primary election. The primary narrowed the fields to the top two vote-getters, who will advance to November ballots. There is one candidate for the third seat, Jessica Rush, so she will advance to the November ballot as well.
The seats up for election are Greg Bogner, District 1, Position 4; Rich Falkenstien, District 3, Position 6; and Justin Bebb, District 2, Position 5.
Bebb resigned in May after the board voted 5-2 to terminate football coach and athletic director Sean Price based on allegations of sexually inappropriate comments Price made about female students. Bebb and Falkenstien voted against terminating Price’s contract. Board members Kevin Cole, Bogner, Jessie Foister, Kolette Smith and Brian Harlow voted to terminate his contract.
Falkenstien sought re-election.
Bogner did not seek re-election.
According to the unofficial election results, which will be canvassed Monday by the board of canvassers (the Labette County Commission), Sale earned 53 of the 170 ballots cast for the District 2, Position 5, election. Jyssica Lahey received 46 votes, Christina Sykes 32, Mark Raney 31 and Angela Holmes 8.
Graves earned 87 of the 179 ballots cast in the election. Falkenstien followed him with 67 votes, Shelly Phillips with 15 and Phillip Hibbs with 10.
According to the Labette County Clerk’s Office, 10% of the registered voters in the districts involved in the USD 506 election turned out to the polling locations or filled out advance ballots. Today, Friday, is the last day that advanced ballots mailed on or before Election Day can be counted. There were no provisional ballots in the election.
The November general election ballot will include seats on the Parsons City Commission, Parsons USD 503 Board of Education, the Labette Community College Board of Trustees, Oswego USD 504 Board of Education, the Chetopa- St. Paul Board of Education, school boards in Cherokee and Cherryvale and city councils in Altamont, Bartlett, Chetopa, Edna, Labette City, Mound Valley and Oswego.
