The Neelyville and Twin Rivers school districts each decided contested races on Tuesday.
NEELYVILLE
Marco Gavino and Jack Stull are the winners of the Neelyville R-IV School Board race. Stull led with 170 votes, followed by Gavino with 102. The third candidate, Tracee Stotts, garnered 82 votes.
“I’m sure proud everyone got out and voted, and reelected me. I appreciate it,” Stull said. He already held a seat since he was appointed following the resignation of previous board members. He is also the owner of Stull’s Sawmill.
Stull’s campaign focused on fiscal responsibility, drawing on his business experience for an edge in making Neelyville’s tight budget go the extra mile. His first priority returning to the board is “trying to get the school running back on top,” Stull said.
“The budget’s the biggest thing — just try to keep the school running forward,” he explained.
He added that the four-day week will be a “good incentive” for senior teachers to stay on. During the campaign he noted the difficulty of attracting and retaining educators.
“It’s for the kids,” he summarized. “The main thing’s trying to keep a good school district for the kids.”
Gavino said, “I feel great. I definitely appreciate the community giving me the opportunity.”
Gavino is a retired Navy veteran and a father, foster father and grandfather. He ran for the Neelyville School Board’s two-year position because of his perception of the state of America’s public schools. His platform focused on preserving Neelyville’s quality through educational priorities. He also hoped to cultivate increased parent engagement in the school’s decisions and out of the classroom.
Learning the processes of the board is his first order of business, he said. He promised to prioritize facts over feelings in his choices.
“I definitely want to take the facts and do the personal research before making a decision,” he said.
There were also two uncontested races for board seats in Neelyville. Two seats with three-year terms went to Gene Russom and Ronald Hover, and a single seat with a one-year term to Matthew Marshall.
TWIN RIVERS
The Twin Rivers R-X Board of Education also saw three candidates seek two board seats. Monica Woolem and incumbent Keith Parker won this race, Woolem leading with 291 votes, followed by Parker with 265. The third candidate, Jerry Whitlow, came in third with 226 votes.
“I’m really excited and I want to thank the community for supporting me and trusting me,” said Woolem. “I’m excited to serve the school district.”
Woolem is a store manager for Home Depot. She ran for the school board as a way to serve the district and further unite its disparate campuses. In a prior interview, she stated budget and staffing were the biggest obstacles to the district, and believed the blending of the junior high classes would be a necessity moving forward.
Woolem said her first priority going forward was “blending us all to one family, ensuring all three campuses are functioning as one united family.”
Parker, the incumbent, is a local insurance agent and business owner. He just finished his second term on the board. During the race, he pointed to the board’s success in overcoming an $800,000 deficit several years ago and establishing a healthy account balance. Budget constraints topped his list of concerns and advocated for conservative financial decisions even as the school addresses starting pay for teachers. He supported moving all junior high students to the Broseley campus.
He was unable to be reached for comment before press time.