By By JAMES COLLINS / Niles Daily Star
NILES -- Brandywine voters have decided to keep the current Brandywine Board of Education intact as all three incumbents were re-elected in Monday's election.
Michael Shelton and Cynthia Benson defeated Elsa Hemphill and Josef Martinu for the two four year terms and Rick Zache defeated Sandra West for the partial two-year term.
In the Niles Community Schools district, incumbents Mary Crayton and Michael Dreher were both re-elected to four-year terms to the Niles Board of Education on Monday.
Crayton received 414 votes and Dreher recieved 361 voted. Challenger Dan Gillis finished with a total of 194 votes.
The Headlee override millage proposal passed with a vote of 428 to 121.
Brandywine officials said there are between 5,500 and 6,000 voters in the Brandywine district and that 920 people participated in the election. This was said to be the highest amount of voter participation for a regular school board election in recent history.
The results are as follows: Benson received 554 votes, Shelton received 530 votes, Zache received 546 votes, Hemphill received 350 votes, Martinu received 369 votes and West received 357 votes.
The millage proposal passed with overwhelming support by a vote of 630 to 173.
The three challengers were all part of an opposition group called Save Our Schools, which was behind a recent attempt to recall Brandywine board members.
According to Hemphill, this election will mark the end of her efforts with the watchdog group.
Martinu, who began a door to door campaign a few weeks ago, said he wishes he would have had more time to cover more territory in the community.
He is unsure if he will run for the board again in the future, but said he will continue to keep an eye on the financial decisions of the board, mainly how they spend the bond money.
Martinu did congratulate the winners and thinks the bond issue is an important step for the district.
Benson is excited about receiving the opportunity to continue with another term on the board.
Benson is also excited to move the district forward with a new superintendent on board and with improvements in curriculum and facilities.
Niles Community Schools Board of Education superintendent Doug Law was extremely pleased and grateful to the community for supporting the school district by passing this millage.
Current board president Mary Crayton was elated to have the opportunity to continue to serve the Niles Community Schools district for another four-year term.
She said she will continue to work to represent the best interests of the community with her strongest focus on the students of Niles.
Crayton thanked her family, the voters, the community and the district as a whole for their continued support.