By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
The Hays USD 489 school board race ended in a tie for the fourth and final spot on the school board.
Four spots were up for election on Tuesday. The top three vote-getters were Derek Yarmer, physician; Allen Park, retired USD 489 administrator; and Ruth Ruder, bank vice president.
Jayme Goetz, Fort Hays State University instructor, and Craig Pallister, retired Hays Middle School principal, are tied for the fourth and final spot on the board with 1,486 votes each.
That race will likely be decided during the canvas at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 14.
At that time any mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day and any provisional ballots will be considered by the canvas board.
There were about 50 provisional ballots cast on Election Day from all polling locations, Bobbi Dreiling, Ellis County Clerk, said.
Goetz would be new to the board, and Pallister has served one term on the board.
Pallister said he did not want to comment at this time.
Goetz said, "Craig Pallister is very knowledgeable. To lose to him would not be a loss at all to the district. Other than that, it’s just a waiting game."
Yarmer and Ruder will be new to the board. Park will begin his second term in January.
Yarmer said Tuesday night he thought people wanted a change, and the vote reflected that.
"I think I campaigned on fiscal responsibility and getting our schools built on time and on budget," he said.
Park said, "I'm honored and excited to serve another four years for USD 489."
"We have an awesome responsibility and an awesome opportunity to make a difference for the kids in our community," he said.
As he enters his second term he said he wanted the board to further involve the community and work to make information available to the community.
"I think we did a good job during the bond of getting information out to the public," he said. "I think we can do a better job of getting information out to people so people are not in the dark, and people can ask questions and get answers to those questions."
Ruder said on election night she was excited and shocked.
"I can't wait to work with all of the other board people that are there now and look forward to working with the administration and teachers and working for the kiddos," Ruder said. "I'm very excited to move forward."
The winning candidates will take their seats in January.
Other candidates who ran included David Clingan, James Feyerherm, Dennis Wilkie, Lori Hertel and Duff Watson.
Only 4,468 voters (22.68 percent of registered voters in Ellis County) voted in Tuesday's election.