Two new faces are expected to join the Hempfield Area School Board next year, and two incumbents will return for another term, according to primary election write-in results posted Tuesday.
Newcomers Lindsay Stevens and Daniel Graft and incumbents Scott E. Learn and Jerry Radebaugh won both the Republican and Democratic nominations for four available four-year terms.
The four knocked from the race Cory Thoma, who also ran for a spot on the board in 2021 and 2023. Thoma also was running for reelection to New Stanton Council, where he received the Democratic nomination, according to the write-in results.
The state will certify the May 20 primary election results sometime next week, according to the Westmoreland County Elections office. The municipal election is slated for Nov. 4.
Stevens, a district parent who owns Tiny Town Early Learning child care center in Hempfield, secured the most votes, with 2,871 Republican votes and 2,253 in Democratic votes. She gathered 23% of votes in both Republican and Democratic races.
Learn gathered 2,776 Republican votes and 2,048 Democratic votes. He is seeking a third term on the board.
Graft earned 2,688 Republican votes and 1,881 Democratic votes.
Radebaugh received 2,645 Republican votes and 1,864 Democratic votes. He is finishing out his first term.
Thoma received 1,438 Republican votes and 1,638 Democratic votes.
Forty-three Republican and 89 Democratic write-in votes were reported.
Nearly all of the candidates cited the district’s high school renovation project as one of the board’s primary responsibilities in the next four years.
The district halted the renovation in August 2023 when bids for some of the work came in over budget. Core Architects, the original architect for the project, resigned in February.
Hempfield later hired Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates, which laid out visions for the project in October, touching on improvement priorities and potential schematic designs. The board voted May 19 to advance a schematic design.
Superintendent Mark Holtzman estimated the project will cost $150 million. He said district planners aim to have a design ready for bid by next January.
Candidates also highlighted the importance of supporting the district as it anticipates future teacher retirements. Between 100 and 120 teachers are expected to retire in the next few years, Holtzman said during a March school board meeting.
Student academics, communication with the community and supporting teachers and taxpayers also were priorities that candidates discussed.
There was a 24% voter turnout, with 52,521 ballots cast out of the 218,266 registered voters in the district.
