The results for the Shawnee Mission School Board primary are in— and the unofficial final results show that parents wanting “change in the district" made their voices heard.
Challengers Heather Ousley and Laura Gray topped the vote counts for two open school board of education seats, with incumbent Craig Denny (recently selected as the board president) and challenger Mandi Hunter trailing behind.
Incumbent Cindy Neighbor, who has held a board position for many years, appears to have lost her seat by 7 votes, according to the unofficial final votes— which could change with provisional ballots.
School Board, Position 4
- Laura Guy - 34.38%
- Craig K. Kenny - 27.90%
- Christopher White - 23.08%
- Lee E. Biard - 10.54%
School Board, Position 6 At-Large
- Heather Ousley - 42.42%
- Mandi Serrone Hunter - 20.71%
- Cindy Neighbor - 20.67%
- Fabian Shepard - 13.73%
- Robert Roberge - 2.48%
"The best way to make change in our community is to get engaged, get involved and pay attention,” said Liz Banditt, a mother of two and founding member of Education First Shawnee Mission.
Tuesday night Banditt and other members of Education First Shawnee Mission gathered at a restaurant in Overland Park to watch the primary results come in.
VIEW FULL JOHNSON AND WYANDOTTE COUNTIES ELECTION RESULTS
The entire group is made up of mothers, many of whom have never engaged in politics before. Their main goal is to elect new members in hopes that the school board will "become more transparent with its decisions."
"I wanted to do something. I saw the things that were happening in my kid's schools, I saw the things that were happening at the state level and national level and I knew this is something I could get my teeth into,” said Megan Peters, who also helped found Education First Shawnee Mission.
According to the Johnson County Election Office, Tuesday’s primary resulted in a record number of advanced voting for a municipal primary.
Johnson County Advance Voting Numbers:
Total: 8,259
Mail-ins: 4,206
In-person: 4,053
"It’s one of those think global, act local. The best way to make change in our community is to get engaged, get involved and pay attention,” said Bendett.
The winners of Tuesday’s primary will face off in November’s general election
