Snow, Geesaman win school board seats

Two Jay School Board members up for reelection this year were unseated by their challengers as voters made their voices heard on Election Day.

Beth Krieg, an incumbent candidate, came in last in a three-person race for the District 3 seat. And Cory Gundrum, who has served one term as District 1’s representative, was unseated by first-time candidate Chris Snow.

Donna Geesaman, who retired in June after 43 years as a Jay Schools teacher, won the District 3 seat with 50 percent of the vote. P.J. Corwin, human resources director for Youth Service Bureau, took 29 percent of the vote. Krieg, who has served two terms on the board and is chief probation officer for Randolph County, came in last with 21 percent of the votes.

In an interview Tuesday evening after the final vote tallies were released, Geesaman said she felt honored to be elected and is excited to take her new position on the board.

“I’ve taught school for years and I’ve always had a passion with education,” Geesaman said. “It excites me to know that, I think, a lot of people know the passion I’ve felt.”

She said she will work hard for Jay County’s residents and wants to give every child the opportunity to succeed.

Gundrum, a correctional officer for Jay County Sheriff’s Office, received 30.9 percent of the vote and was defeated by Chris Snow, who garnered 69.1 percent.

Snow, a computer consultant, said Tuesday the results showed that the voters have been unhappy with how the school board has operated in the past.

“Just based on the results there was a lot of people who felt Jay Schools needs a change,” Snow said. “It was countywide, people are not happy with the way Jay Schools are going.”

He said he was looking forward to working with Geesaman and the rest of the school board. Snow also expressed gratitude for the high voter turnout — countywide participation was 53.3 percent, with Greene Township coming in highest at 64 percent.

“I just want to thank everyone for coming out and doing their civic duty,” Snow said. “I look forward to listening to everybody, the ideas they have, the changes they feel they need to be made.”

Geesaman and Snow will begin their four-year terms on Jan. 1.

Two other school board members were also up for reelection this year but ran unopposed: Ronald Laux, who represents District 5, and Michael Shannon, the representative from District 2.