The winners in Marion County’s 10 school board elections

This story was updated.

Final election results are in for 10 Marion County school boards with open seats in the Nov. 8 midterm election. The certified election results on Nov. 17 made clear who won in some races that were too close to call in the hours and days after the the polls closed.

A single vote gave Steven Chase Lyday the win against another candidate for one of three At Large seats on the MSD of Decatur Township board. 

Dawn Downer won with just 20 votes over Tim McVey for the At Large seat on the board of the Franklin Township Community School Corp.

Vote recounts were not requested for these or any other Marion County races. 

In all, 47 candidates were on ballots for 29 seats on the school boards. Candidates mostly ran on similar platforms to improve achievement gaps among student groups and mitigate pandemic-related learning loss.

Others stressed the need to focus on wide-ranging issues of equity and how school policies impact and can better benefit all students.

The winning candidates will be sworn in for four-year terms in January. School board members do not oversee the day-to-day operations of a school corporation, but rather provide oversight. They are also responsible for hiring the superintendent, approving the budget, and creating policies for staff and students.

Here are the certified Marion County school board election results: