Two incumbents running for the Aurora Public Schools Board of Education will keep their seats for another four-year term after voters reelected them plus one newcomer last night.
Dan Jorgensen and Cathy Wildman will retain their seats, and Monica Colbert, a nonprofit worker in the mental health field, will take the seat vacated by Mary Lewis, who was term-limited.
Seven candidates were running for the three open, at-large seats. As of Wednesday morning, 52,796 votes had been counted. Jorgensen received 9,339 of those (17.6 percent), Wildman had 9,273 (17.5 percent) and Colbert tallied 8,505 (16.1 percent). Colbert beat the closest runner up by about 850 votes.
The board election this year had become contentious because of the performance status of the Aurora Public Schools district, which serves more than 41,000 students where almost 29,000 of those qualify for free and reduced lunch.
found that only about 50 percent of students in the district graduate high school.
Additionally, Aurora Central High School has been on the Colorado Department of Education’s . If the school does not show significant gains in test scores or graduation rates by the 2016-17 school year, the district must restructure it. Restructuring options include converting to a charter school, letting an outside company manage the school or closing it altogether.
The APS board this year released a comprehensive strategy for addressing those deficiencies, called .
, Jorgensen and Wildman both said that a turnover for their seats could impede the implementation of that plan.
After results are certified, the elected members will be sworn in at the next regular board of education meeting.
Megan Mitchell: 303-954-2650, mmitchell@denverpost.com or @Mmitchelldp
