All of the incumbent Boyertown Area School Board incumbents will head onto the general election this fall. Only one challenger is moving forward.
All candidates for the school board cross-filed in both the Republican and Democratic primaries.
In Region 1, incumbent Christine Neiman will likely keep her seat, besting challenger Wendy Moyer Drabick in both the Democratic and Republican races. In the Democratic primary, Neiman took 265 votes, over Moyer Drabick’s 228. In the Republican primary, Neiman received 311 votes over her opponent’s 279.
Neiman is a Democrat from Colebrookdale Township. She has lived in the Boyertown Area School District her entire life. She has served two years on the school board.
In Region 2, the incumbents took the Democratic primary. Board President Steve Elsier garnered 83 votes in Berks County and 135 in Montgomery County for a total of 218 votes in that race. Incumbent Barbara Hartford received 246 votes total, with 106 cast in Berks and 140 in Montgomery.
Hartford has been on the board for 16 years and has served as vice president and the chairwoman of the finance committee.
Elsier has been on the board for four years and brings more than 40 years of business experience as a consultant for McDonald’s.
Challengers Clay Breece and Stephanie Dippolito did not fare well on the Democratic ticket. Breece received 87 votes in Berks and 70 in Montgomery for a total of 157. Of Dippolito’s 127 total votes, 78 were cast in Berks County, and 49 in Montgomery.
Breece won over voters in the Republican primary, however. The challenger came out on top with 407 total votes-211 in Berks County and 196 in Montgomery. Elsier gets the second Republican nomination, with 370 total votes-108 in Berks County and 262 in Montgomery.
Breece ran largely on his repugnance that the current board considered tearing down the high school building. He works in the marketing department for U-Haul.
Hartford’s total of 336 total votes (96 in Berks and 240 in Montgomery) fell short of getting her the Republican nomination. Dippolito came in last with 282 total votes, 173 from Berks County and 109 in Montgomery.
There was no contest for the two available seats in Region 3 of Boyertown Area School District. Donna Usavage and David Lewis will go on to the general election. Usavage is a six-year incumbent of the board and has served as school board president in 2013, vice president in 2011, and chairman of the personnel, policy and suggestion committees.
Newcomer Lewis, a business project leader for Global Advanced Metals in Boyertown, ran on providing the best possible education and strong extracurriculars while keeping the district fiscally responsible.
Overall, six of the eight candidates for the five open seats will move on to the general election, with the only contested race in the general election so far being in Region 2.
