BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — In Kern County there are 47 school districts and more than 190,000 students are enrolled in Kindergarten through 12th grade. This election there are multiple school board seats across the county that are up for grabs.
Four school board races drew voters out on Election Day. Here's a look and where those races stand as of Wednesday.
Kern High School District:
Two seats were up for grabs on the Kern High School District board. As of Wednesday, incumbent Jeff Flores held a lead the race for Trustee Area 2 with 7741 votes, or 66.95%, against challenger Dayle Record with 3818 votes, or 33.02%.
For Trustee Area 3, challenger David Manriquez took the lead with 7,115 votes, or 52.77%, against incumbent Joey O'Connell, who received 6,358, or 47.16%.
The Kern High School District is the largest high school district in California. KHSD serves over 40,000 students and has an annual budget that tops over 400 million.
Bakersfield City School District:
The Bakersfield City School District is California’s largest elementary school district, with 44 schools and serving more than 30,000 students. Here's a look at who took the lead in the races for open board seats.
For Area 5, Shannon Zimmerman took a lead sealing in 38% of the vote out of five candidates.
For Area 4, Laura Guerrero-Salgado took a lead over two other candidates, with 54% of the vote.
For Area 3, Chris Cruz-Boone led with 55% of the vote and Lilliam Tafoya took the lead for Area 1 with 59% of the vote.
Panama-Buena Vista School District:
The Panama-Buena Vista School District board member race was fought over by eight candidates.
Currently in the lead is Bryan Easter with 7,111 votes, making up 19% of the vote. Behind Easter are J.P Lake and Paula Van Auken with 17% each, Kelly Youngstrom with 15%, Zack Bashirtash with 14%, Tom Webster with 9%, Michael Tann with 5% and Muosadak Abbas with 3%.
Rosedale Union School District:
Six challengers faced-off in the Rosedale Union School District board race.
Candidate Laurel Sheffield leads the race with 30% of the vote as of Wednesday. Next is Joshua Porter with 25%, Gary Kraucyk with 16%, David Eggers with 13%, Gabe Garcia with 9% and Rosa Lara with 7%.
The candidates in the race are vying for what officials said will represent Trustee Area 3.
