Nolan and Kirkeby Win Board Seats

Suzan Nolan and Sheryl Kirkeby were elected to the Rapid City Area Schools Board of Education tonight. In Area 1, Nolan, a retired school counselor, soundly defeated three other rivals. With 935 votes, she captured 49 percent of all votes cast, leading three other candidates: Heather Gosch (684), Arnie Laubach (162), and Candice Estes (138).

In Area 2, incumbent and board president, Sheryl Kirkeby, was re-elected. Kirkeby received 821 votes, or nearly 57 percent. Curt Pochardt received 349 votes, 24 percent. Adam Sanders, despite withdrawing from the campaign, got 274 votes, or nearly 19 percent.

June 4 — A computer glitch during the vote count led to inaccurate reporting of the vote totals on Tuesday night.  The revised count did not change the outcome of the election.  The new totals, however, reflect a much lower turnout than initially reported:

Area 1

• Suzan Nolan – 595   (50.3%)
• Heather Gosch – 399   (33.8%)
• Arnie Laubach – 104   (8.8%)
• Candice Estes – 84   (7.1%)

Area 2

• Sheryl Kirkeby – 297   (57.6%)
• Curt Pochardt – 123   (23.8%)
• Adam Sanders – 96   (18.6%)

Nolan will be seated and Kirkeby will begin a new three-year term when the Board holds its annual meeting in July. In the meantime, Arnie Laubach will continue to represent Area 1 on the Board through the rest of June.