Incumbents Reelected

Voters in Central reelected three incumbent members of the Central Community School Board Tuesday, keeping the seven-member school board intact, despite a spirited challenge.
Central school board member and former board chairman Sharon Browning was the leading vote-getter.  She won 72 percent of the votes in District 7 against Felicia Braud, who received 28 percent.  Browning is a retired English teacher and counselor at Central High School.  Ms. Braud is a school bus driver.
Board member and current vice chairman Will Easley defeated Philip Ziegler in District 4 with 59 percent of the vote to Ziegler’s 41 percent.  Easley is founder and retired president of Trade Construction.  Ziegler sells insurance.
In the closest race of the night, school board member Ruby Foil defeated Nick Carmena in District 6 by 53 percent to 47 percent.  Ms. Foil is retired principal of Bellingrath Hills Elementary School.  Carmena runs his family business in Central.  All of the candidates are Republicans, except Carmena who has no party affiliation.
Four incumbent school board members were unopposed for reelection — Jim Lloyd in District 1, Roxanne Atkinson in District 2, Dr. David Walker in District 3, and Dr. Jim Gardner in District 5. Incumbents stressed the accomplishments of the Central school system during their term of office, especially Central’s rising to the No. 3 rated school system in Louisiana, according to the most recent ratings of the Louisiana Department of Education.  The board is expected to retain Supt. Mike Faulk, who has served since
the system was created in 2007.
About 100 supporters of the three incumbent board members gathered at Will Easley’s barn Tuesday to watch the returns.