Gary Brown won re-election while Alisha Elliott secured the other open spot for the Platte County R-3 Board of Education.
Gary Brown and Alisha Elliott
There were two spots open as current board vice president Adam McGinness didn’t run for re-election.
Brown, 51, has been on the board the past six years and resides in Platte City and will extend that tenure to at least nine years after securing another three-year term.
Brown had the most votes with 795, while Elliott garnered 717. Dr. Gena Ross had 661 and Derek Espeer finished with 423. There were 16 write-in votes.
Brown is the father of two teenagers, Elizabeth (18) and Ben (15) and works for KCP&L as the fuels superintendent at the Iatan power plant, where he has worked for the past 29 years. Brown has held a variety of positions
Brown is on the long-range facility planning task force, the audit committee, drug and substance abuse task force and the advisory board of the Northland Career Center.
“I have a vested interest in the continued success of PCR-3,” Brown said. “Both of my parents, a grandad and grandmother from different sides of the family and I graduated from Platte City/County. My two children, Ben and Elizabeth, are currently PC high school students. I have benefitted from the education and opportunities provided by a strong PCR3 school system and want to help ensure the same for the current and future generations.”
Brown states the district has a strong foundation but needs to continue to build with planned growth in terms of numbers and the fiscal responsibility that comes with that without cutting programs.
Already active in the school district, Elliott took the next step and earned a spot on the board of education.
The married mother of two — Amiya is 11 and Alexa is 6 — is a native of Winchester, Kan.
She owns a Farmers Insurance agency in Gladstone, which opened a decade ago.
“I am educated and open-minded,” Elliott said. “I can examine data and make educated decisions based on statistics and costs rather than personal agendas.”
Elliott, 40, is a proponent of getting a new high school in the southern portion of the district near N. Platte Purchase Road and Highway 152.
“We need to find a way for that to happen so we can grow,” she said. “I think the growth in our area has been stunted due to the 20 minute drive to the high school causing families to move from our district before children get to high school.
“My priority is to get a high school closer to the south end of the district so our children don’t have such a long bus ride and we can avoid new drivers traveling so far on such a busy highway.”