Boise school board election results are in. Less than 3% of voters determined the trustee
Krista Hasler will be the next Boise School District trustee, according to unofficial election results.
Hasler won the two-year term over Matthew Shapiro by 8 percentage points, or about 265 votes. The race between Hasler and Matthew Shapiro was the only contested election in the Boise school board race Tuesday. Both previously ran for election in 2022.
Four other current school board members — Elizabeth Langley, Maria Greeley, Paul Bennion and Debbie Donovan — as uncontested candidates didn’t appear on the ballot and will continue to serve as trustees.
Shiva Rajbhandari, a climate change activist who joined the school board as a senior in high school, was the only trustee up for election who didn’t run again as he attends college in another state.
The Boise School District holds elections every two years on the first Tuesday in September. Candidates are normally elected to six-year terms, but if a candidate resigns while serving on the board, that seat will appear in the next election and candidates must run for the remainder of the term.
Results will be certified, and the new trustee will be sworn in, at the Sept. 9 board meeting.
Only about 3,200 registered voters — about 2.5% — cast ballots in the race Tuesday. The Boise school board races traditionally have low voter turnout, but the turnout for this race was far lower than school board elections in recent years.
Two years ago, nearly 20,000 people cast ballots for the school board race. In 2020, the district counted 7,722 ballots.
Hasler makes mental health priority
Hasler, a clinical social worker, said she wanted to build on the mental health resources in the district, bolstering resources in early education and ensuring students graduate with specific character skills. In the past two years, she said she has attended school board meetings and workshops and volunteered in elementary classrooms.
“The whole reason that I’ve continued to try is because I’m passionate about kids, and I’m passionate about trying to help them with their mental health and with their education,” Hasler said before the election.
Shapiro ran a campaign centered around ensuring the community feels ownership over their schools. He said he wanted to engage with the community to design the future of civics in schools and hold regular forums in the district’s schools. He has a background in education with experience teaching in schools, but shifted to a career in renewable energy after his daughter was born, he said.
“My campaign is based really on my broader background of knowledge about education, educational issues and this ethic of public participation,” he told the Statesman last week.
This story was originally published September 3, 2024 at 8:53 PM with the headline "Boise school board election results are in. Less than 3% of voters determined the trustee."
