Chase Ragen and Jason Kool Win School Board Election
 | Author:
Nancy Marks, Reporter
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Chase Ragen and Jason Kool Win School Board Election
Nancy Marks, Reporter
Business owner and National Guard officer Chase Ragen received the highest number of votes in the May 2nd school board trustee election. Montana State government supervisor Jason Kool came in second. The men will replace Kevin McDonnell, a five-term trustee, who ran unsuccessfully for a sixth term. Trustee Todd Olson did not file for re-election.
Ragen garnered 606 votes, Kool – 528; Daniel Truesdell – 495; Andrea Rice – 433; Kevin McDonnell – 425 and Heather Anderson-406. The number of qualified voters who live in the district who voted was 2,893 following the canvas. The voter turnout came in at 39%, according to the Broadwater Clerk and Recorder’s results.
Trustee candidates in their biographies talked about themselves and their qualifications. However, they were careful to skirt the main subject before the county: whether to pass the 4-Day school week. The decision ultimately came down to the previous board who voted 3 to 2 to accept the policy held at an early April Strategic Planning meeting. It will be up to the newly formed board to deal with the implementation of the policy.
Incumbent McDonnell had said in a board candidate forum he was not in favor of the 4-Day week, while Kool said he favored the change. Ragen did not commit one way or the other to the change. McDonnell, who would have won a sixth term, said he felt it necessary to be clear about not being in favor of the 4-Day week, he was not disappointed about the loss of his seat on the board. “I saw that we had six very qualified candidates running for this important position, so I was good with that. More people ran in this election than any other I have been involved with since 2008. That shows a great deal of interest in the school,” he said.
New board trustees Ragen and Kool were sworn in at the regular school board meeting Tuesday night.
