Retired school administrator, incumbents win Wichita school board race

Sheril Logan, once a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent in Wichita schools, will return to the district to help chart its course for the next four years.

Logan captured the at-large seat on the Wichita school board by a moderate margin over opponents Phil Neff and Carly Miller.

Two board incumbents — Jeff Davis and Barbara Fuller — also won re-election.

“I’m extremely pleased,” Logan said as she watched election returns with friends and family members at the home of some campaign supporters Tuesday night.

“It’s rewarding when people recognize that you have the experience necessary for this job, that they believe in you. Because it’s a big job, and it’s important.”

The at-large race featured candidates with three distinct backgrounds: Logan, the educator; Neff, a retired insurance broker with support from the business community; and Miller,

a 22-year-old real estate agent pursuing a Master of Public Administration degree at Wichita State University.

“There were three clear choices that voters could make,” said Neff, who watched returns at his east Wichita home. “There wasn’t a huge difference in what any of us believed, but we came from different places and different experiences.”

Like she did in the primary, Miller checked returns during breaks in a public-decision-making class at Wichita State University on Tuesday evening.

“It’s been a really great experience knowing that people are willing to support a candidate like myself who is younger and not part of the establishment,” Miller said.

In District 4, which covers south and southwest Wichita, Davis won a second term on the board, beating Michael Ackerman Jr. and Clayton Houston, who did not actively campaign.

Fuller, a retired teacher, was unopposed in District 3, which includes south and southeast Wichita.

Unlike the primary, which was separated by districts, all voters who live in the Wichita district could vote on all three school board positions.

Davis and Fuller held a joint election-night party at Brooklyn’s Chophouse & Brew Tavern in west Wichita. As returns were read off smartphones or posted on a large television screen, supporters nodded or cheered quietly.

“It’s a tough time, for sure,” Davis said of budget challenges facing Wichita schools. “It was tough for me to consider running again because of how hard things are going to be.”

The Wichita district — the state’s largest, with about 50,000 students — faces several difficult issues in coming months. An immediate priority is cutting the district’s $632æmillion budget in light of a projected $30æmillion shortfall in state and federal aid. Leaders say the shortfall could be as much or more for the following school year.

“We’re talking about people losing their jobs,” said Davis, a Wichita police sergeant. “None of this is going to be easy.æ.æ.æ. My goal will be to keep cuts as far away from classrooms as possible.”

The board also will negotiate a new teacher contract and redraw school attendance boundaries. Leaders recently voted to re-examine a $370æmillion bond issue and put some construction projects on hold, including a new high school in southeast Wichita.

School board members serve four-year terms and receive no pay for twice-monthly meetings and other work. New members elected Tuesday will take office July 1.

Fuller, a retired teacher and former president of the teachers’ union, met with voters and participated in candidate forums even though she was unopposed.

She said Tuesday’s low turnout was discouraging, and she hopes more people vote in fall elections that decide state legislators, who set school spending levels.

“Right now we’ve got to figure out a solution with the information we have and the money we’ve been given,” Fuller said. “Hopefully, with some planning at the legislative level, we will come out from under this.”

This story was originally published April 5, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Retired school administrator, incumbents win Wichita school board race."