Two candidates endorsed by the local teachers’ union ran away with the Summit School Board election, while the only returning candidate narrowly edged past two newcomers.
Retired school counselor Kim Dyer easily won a seat on the school board with nearly 27% of the vote. She is joined by public health nurse and mother of two Whitney Horner with 25%.
Joining them is Jenniffer Gonzalez, a county human services pro from Panama who lost the board election in 2023. She beat Jackie Zheleznyak by 130 votes and Tom Day by 222 votes.
“I’m inspired (to run again) because I care for my community and for all the students in Summit,” Gonzalez told Krystal 93 in the days before the election. “Academics is a top priority, and parental rights and transparency. I’m all about communication and transparency. There is always an opportunity to make things better.”
Turnout at the polls was strong for an off-year election with roughly two in five Summit voters casting a ballot.
Taxes, new and old
Summit County’s road and bridge department is getting new funding through an old tax. Voters approved Measure 1A by nearly 90%, which lets the county use the existing 2% lodging tax for road work like the multi-million dollar Swan Mountain rebuild.
Free lunches at public schools statewide are fully funded through new, higher taxes on Colorado’s wealthiest. Residents earning over $300,000 will pay more and claim less in coming years, pumping an additional $95 million annually into the school lunch program. Summit and state voters easily passed two measures to make this happen.
Summit and neighboring counties also supported a cleverly worded mil levy question for Colorado Mountain College. The college network, with 11 campuses across the region, said it would not raise property taxes today, but it wanted your permission to raise taxes in the future to pay for campus housing, fire and nursing programs, and expanded vocational training.
