USD 232 winning school board candidates from unofficial final results Tuesday, Nov. 7. Clockwise from top left: Chad Philhour, Ashley Spaulding, Anh-Nuyget Nugyen and Stephanie Makalous.
Two incumbents running for the USD 232 school board representing De Soto and parts of Shawnee, Lenexa and Olathe have secured reelection.
In the other races, two newcomers seem poised to take over, with one beating a long-serving board member and the other winning in an open race.
“I am thrilled for our district in terms of the outcome of this evening’s election,” current school board president and incumbent Ashley Spaulding, one of the victors, said Tuesday, adding that she’s excited to welcome two new members to the school board.
All election results are unofficial until the vote canvass at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 14.
Chad Philhour. Photo credit Leah Wankum.
Position 1
Architect Chad Philhour defeated long-serving incumbent Bill Fletcher by a roughly 400-vote margin Tuesday, garnering 53% of the unofficial final tally.
Fletcher has served 16 years on the USD 232 Board of Education.
Both men shared similar views on some key issues in their contest, including support for the district’s current diversity and inclusion initiatives and backing the district’s process for reviewing potentially objectionable books in libraries.
Neither Philhour or Fletcher were available for comment Tuesday evening.
Ashley Spaulding. Photo credit Leah Wankum.
Position 2
Spaulding won reelection Tuesday , holding a comfortable lead over business owner Greg Withow with 59% of the vote.
She told the Post Tuesday that she’s “really excited to continue to serve our amazing district for the next four years and to continue to grow USD 232 in incredible ways.”
Incumbent Stephanie Makalous also won by a wide margin, garnering 58% of the vote over former JCCC Trustee Henry Sandate.
Makalous currently serves as the vice president of the school board, and was first elected in 2019.
She echoed some of Spaulding’s remarks in her own statements to the Post, saying USD 232 voters opted to keep the district heading “in a great direction.”
“I’m thankful that our community voted for people that are active in our local schools, and that are involved in what’s going on locally,” Makalous said.
Anh-Nguyet Nguyen. Photo credit Leah Wankum.
At-large
As of Tuesday night, Anh-Nguyet Nguyen was leading Andrew Jacober in the race to fill the open at-large school board seat by a 51-to-49% margin, with 192 votes separating them.
Nguyen said Wednesday morning that while she is happy with the outcome of the election and is “proud” to serve the community, she wished she could work with Jacober on the school board.
“I had the best opponent, a very kind, very intelligent gentleman,” she told the Post.
Looking ahead, Nguyen said she’s focused on preparing for the growth USD 232 is expected to see in the next few years.
“With things changing as fast as they do, we need to be able to pivot as quickly as they do,” she said. “Just work as fast as we can, as quickly as we can, as efficiently as we can to do the right things for our students and our teachers.”
Rick Amos, who currently holds the at-large position on the USD 232 school board, did not seek another term.
Jacober could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.
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