Two new faces - and one familiar - were elected to the Fulton School Board during Tuesday's municipal election.
Emily Omohundro, Matthew Gowin and incumbent Todd Gray received the most votes of the five candidates and will serve three-year terms. Ballots cast in the race totaled 886, or 6.7 percent of registered voters, according to a release from the Callaway County Clerk's office.
Omohundro had the highest number of votes with 643.
"I feel excited," Omohundro said. "I'm glad people came out and showed that they cared about this particular election. It was good to see a pretty good turn out today."
She said her first order of business will be listening to and learning from other members of the district's board of education.
Gowin - who received 571 votes - said he also looked forward to learning.
"I'll be sitting back and listening," he said. "I just want to be part of evaluating issues at the school board levels, and that means taking it in, listening to all parties and all sides and making an informed decision."
He said he's thankful to voters in the community for participating in the election.
"I'm looking forward to serving the public in a different way than I have," Gowin said.
Gray - with 550 votes - is happy to be re-elected.
"I'm excited; I'm ready to continue doing the good things we're doing for the Fulton School District," Gray said. "I'm excited to see this many people interested in our school district."
He said the new blood will likely be good for the board.
"The other two candidates that won are experienced people in their own right and specialties," Gray said. "The diversity of everyone that's involved now will make district better place."
Ruth Burt - with 366 votes - was not reelected. She had previously served one three-year term.
"I am a little disappointed, but it's going to be OK," Burt said. "I'm leaving it in good hands."
She advised incoming board members to listen to the public.
"I feel like I learned a lot in the three years I served on the board," she said.
Finally, Alethea Dzurick received 182 votes. She isn't sure whether she will run again, Dzurick said.
"It was kind of a last-minute decision to run again this year after the last election, so I'm not sure about next time," she added.
The next Fulton School District Board of Education meeting is April 12. Positions within the board will be assigned at that time after the new members are sworn in.
"There will be an organization of the board and members will vote for a president," Omohundro said.
