School board remains unaltered

MAT-SU -- School board members Sarah Welton and Robert Wells will continue to serve the Matanuska-Susitna Borough in the same capacity as before Tuesday: Both were elected to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School Board by voters, meaning each will serve on the board for a three-year term.

Welton was appointed to the board in January when then-member Carl Gatto was elected to serve as representative for the newly created Greater Palmer area House District 13. Welton said she was pleased that voters chose her to continue representing them. She beat Konnie Shuey for seat B with 7,532 votes to Shuey's 3,273 votes, according to unofficial results released by the borough late Tuesday evening. Shuey had been one of the six applicants who had applied for Gatto's seat.

"I feel really good about the election," Welton said. "I didn't really know how well I was doing until the results came out."

The official race results will be released Tuesday, once all of the absentee ballots are counted. The borough estimated 2,100 absentee ballots have been turned in, not enough to change Welton's victory

on Tuesday.

Wells, who has sat on the board for six years and has been in public service for 12, was unchallenged for his position for seat A, and received 7,532 of the polled votes. There were 832 write-in votes for his seat. Though his continued service to the board may not have come as too big a surprise, Wells said he is pleased about another aspect of Tuesday's election.

"I'm pleased with the higher than average [voter] turnout," Wells said. "I think that's a real healthy sign."

Both Welton and Wells have expressed interest in continuing to work toward the goals set forth by the school board: Focusing on teacher contracts, adequate yearly progress, high school qualifying exams, curriculum alignment and budget issues.

"I really believe that we've cut and cut and cut and we've cut too far," Wells said. "It's time to move in the other direction."

Both board members said they look forward to the next three years of service, and that they will do their best to bring their gifts and insight to the board to better serve the Valley.

"My children went through the school district and I'd like to give back to the community," Welton said. "I do sincerely care about children."