After unofficial votes were tabulated on Tuesday night, voters elected Maegan Crowley, Clay Tallmadge, Dustin Goodall and Julia Wilson Anderson to serve on the Dolores RE-4A school district board.
"Schools are dynamic places that can be life changers for students, teachers and parents. I look forward to seeing all the positive things that can happen in the Dolores School District,“ Wilson Anderson said.
Out of 3,899 votes, Tallmadge received 23.95%, Crowley 22.16%, Goodall 21.01% and Wilson Anderson 18.21%.
The bond, which will help build the new school and aid in remodeling projects across Dolores’s campus should the district receive the BEST grant in 2024, was also voted in by voters.
Out of 1,613 votes, the bond received a yes from 57.10% (921) of voters and 42.90% (692) voted no.
The bond will total $11,210,000 and will go into effect once the district has been approved for the BEST grant. They will be reapplying for that grant in 2024 to build a new high school among other renovation projects.
Six candidates were vying for four board seats, with interim board member Michael Rime and Doug Elder not being elected this time around.
Rime received 14.67% of the vote with 523 votes, and Elder received 0%.
Current president Crowley and secretary Tallmadge were both reelected, and the new board members will be joining board Vice President Casey McClellan, the only former board member who was not retiring or up for reelection.
Crowley is the owner of sculpture and custom interior/exterior ironworks Iron Maegan Metalworks. Crowley said she hopes to continue “overhauling district policies and improving learning facilities for students and staff through the new building project.”
Tallmadge said he hoped to be reelected to “help provide consistent leadership to the Dolores School District.” He had also spoken of the bond and BEST grant, as well as overhauling outdated district policies and contributing to “innovative student success.”
Wilson Anderson is a former dean of faculty, dean of students, assistant principal, principal, coach and teacher, as well as being a mother of two daughters.
Wilson Anderson shared with The Journal that she wants to serve on the school board because schools are “critical to the health of a community.”
She said schools are where students can be encouraged to “ignite their passion” and she hopes as a member of the board to help the local schools be a place where student and parent voices are heard, utilizing her empathy, humility and cooperative problem-solving to help accomplish those outcomes.
Goodall’s family roots are deep in the community, as he shared that his family homesteaded in Dolores in the early 1900s.
Now, his two sons attend school in the district, and he said as part of the Board he hopes to continue bettering the schools and prepare students for life beyond the Dolores schools.
“I believe it's vital for our youths and future generations to learn and understand the curriculum that is going to best prepare them for life moving past high school and transitioning into adulthood,” Goodall said.
