Election Day is still more than two weeks out, but the McCall-Donnelly School District approved the election of two new trustees earlier this week.
On Monday the school board voted to declare Kari Blocker and Kim Zeydel as elected to four-year terms on the school board that will start in January.
Blocker and Zeydel, both newcomers to the board, were unopposed in their bids for election. Incumbent trustees Jeremy Griffin and Laurie Erekson, who chairs the board, did not seek re-election. The three other seats on the board are not up for election this year.
Idaho law allows school boards and other special districts to declare election winners early when races are uncontested, as BoiseDev reported.
The school board’s chief responsibilities are setting district policy and goals, approving personnel changes and instructional programs, and deciding how to spend district funding.
Though the election of new school board members is settled, McCall-Donnelly voters will still be asked to approve a $950,000 supplemental levy on Nov. 4.
Trustees elects aim to shape ‘brightest future possible’
Blocker, 40, told Valley Lookout that she is a lifelong Valley County resident and worked 10 years as a pharmacy technician before becoming a stay-at-home mom in 2020. She was inspired to serve on the school board after her daughter started at Donnelly Elementary School.
“The teachers are amazing and I wanted to be able to support them as well as the rest of the teachers in the district and help move things forward,” she said. “The teachers are shaping the future of the children in their care and want my daughter and all the kids that move through the district to have the brightest future possible.”
Zeydel, 73, is a retired high school math teacher of more than 30 years, including for McCall-Donnelly and the Meadows Valley School District in New Meadows. She continues to work as an education therapist and consults with the school district to help better serve students with dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other learning disabilities.
Zeydel told Valley Lookout she believes her experience will be an asset to the school board.
“I believe an experienced educator, who has been in the classroom, needs to be on the board to support the needs of the students and the teachers,” she said.
Zeydel will take over for Laurie Erekson, a school board member since 2013 who has chaired the board for 11 years. Erekson told Valley Lookout she decided not to seek re-election out of confidence in the school district’s current administration, as well as other sitting school board members.
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“I have every confidence that our current district administrative team and school board will continue to demonstrate the same strong leadership, dedication, and commitment that have defined our work together,” she said.
Trustee Jeremy Griffin, who was elected to the board in 2021, did not respond to Valley Lookout’s request for comment on his decision not to seek re-election.
