Two new school board members elected in Red Oak

RED OAK — A school board election turned construction project referendum forced the county auditor to print additional ballots and resulted in two new board members.   

Current Board President Lee Fellers and fellow incumbent Bill Drey were soundly defeated by challengers Bryce and Mark Johnson. The challengers had both taken public stances criticizing the current board’s 3-2 vote to approve Phase One of the Tigervision project which would result in construction of a $13.5 million high school. 

Both Drey and Fellers voted for the proposal at that December meeting and remained steadfast in support of it, despite criticisms for not allowing the public to vote on the entire construction project. 

“When it came to Tigervision, the public didn’t have a vote and when it came down to it, this was their vote,” Mark Johnson said. “With Tigervision, they think they have been deceived some and aren’t happy about it.”

Both candidates were surprised and impressed witht he 930 ballots cast. In the previous five elections combined, only 742 ballots were cast. 

“I’m glad people came out and voted,” Bryce Johnson said. “That’s what’s fun in a democracy. You get different choices, and people can make a difference with their vote. That’s what happened tonight with the future of our school board.”

County Auditor Stephanie Burke said she had originally printed 300 ballots. However, she was notified about 3 p.m. those were about gone and had to print the rest in her office. As a result, some of the ballots could not be read by scanning equipment and had to be hand counted.