SHELBY — The Shelby board of education will welcome two new faces next year.
Heather Braun and Brad Ream came out on top in Tuesday’s election according to final, unofficial results from the Richland County Board of Elections.
Braun earned the majority of the vote with 2,322 votes (28 percent), and Ream came in second with 1,957 votes (24 percent).
Rick Lewis was third with 1,896 votes (23.61 percent), and incumbent Carl Ridenour came in fourth with 1,856 votes (23.1 percent).
Both Braun and Ream will commence their terms on the board starting Jan. 1, 2024, and conclude on Dec. 31, 2027.
Braun, 47, expressed her appreciation for everyone who voted on Tuesday.
“I look forward to serving them in this role,” she said.
Her first priority will be building a team with the rest of the board, which includes current members Randy Broderick, Scott Rose, and Kim Nadolsky.
Current board president Lorie White chose not to seek another term after 16 years on the board.
“We’re going to need to build some bridges and make sure that in every situation, we put the interest of the kids first,” Braun said. “I’m excited to do that; I’m a bridge-builder.”
Braun is a 1994 graduate of Shelby High School. She said previously that student safety and preventing bullying were issues she is passionate about.
Ream, 69, said he was looking forward to getting started as a member of the board of education.
“I’m retired now and have more time to myself, but I’ve always been a person who likes to give of myself,” he said. “I have the time to do it, and I thought I could be useful since I do have over 35 years of educational experience.”
Ream graduated from Plymouth High School in 1972, and served as a career assessment specialist at Pioneer Career and Technology Center in Shelby from 1980 to 2009.
Ream said he didn’t have an agenda in running for the board seat, but did name one priority he hopes to look into.
“I’m interested in looking at block scheduling and seeing if we need to go back to a more traditional type of schedule, but that’s just something I’d like to explore,” he said.