Tuesday’s elections in Oxford Hills will give Maine School Administrative District 17’s school board four new directors, including one who has also volunteered to explore withdrawal of his town from the district.

Of five expiring terms, only one director sought reelection. In Oxford, Gay De Hart was reelected to her seat in an uncontested race with 786 votes. She currently chairs SAD 17’s curriculum committee.

Otisfield had two contenders vying for outgoing Director Mike Newsom’s position: Ellen Burnham and Kelly Crockett. Crockett slid into victory with a 274-212 tally.

One of SAD’s longest-serving directors, Curtis Cole of Norway, had declined to run for another term. No residents filed nomination papers by the April 10 deadline, but in late May two volunteered as write-in candidates. 

Former educator Jeff Teixeira collected 83 votes Tuesday to Maydson Mitchell’s five. But Mitchell will be involved in school district service going forward, having recently proposed a life skills-based curriculum track to support nontraditional students like she had been.

In Paris, two seats opened when directors Christie Wessels and Doreen Simmons both opted out of running again.

As was the case with Norway, no citizens filed nomination papers to run. But in a last-minute flurry, Robert Warrington, Michael Lance and Juanita Morgan stepped up as write-in candidates. And Scott Buffington, a former school board director and current selectman who is stepping down from that board, also collected votes on the ballot.

Warrington and Lance were the top vote-getters, with 100 and 96 respectively. Buffington pulled a total of 88 and Morgan received 39.

Lance is already chair of Paris’ ad hoc committee tasked with exploring withdrawal from SAD 17. He is also running for reelection to the Maine House of Representatives District 79 seat.

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