3 newcomers to join Freeport school board
In Freeport Area School District, voters chose three newcomers and two incumbents for five school board seats.
The top candidates were newcomers Sylvia R. Maxwell, Dino DiGiacobbe and Dan Ritter, as well as board treasurer Michael J. Huth and first vice president Greg Selinger, according to unofficial election results in Butler and Armstrong counties.
Maxwell received the most support with 2,186 votes. Following were DiGiacobbe with 2,123 votes, Ritter with 1,939, Huth with 1,792 and Selinger with 1,722.
Current board president Adam M. Toncini will not retain his seat as he only received 1,338 votes.
Maxwell led the way in Butler County with 1,440 votes, or 19.47% of the vote; followed by DiGiacobbe with 1,381 votes, or 18.67% of the vote; Ritter with 1,230 votes, or 16.63% of the vote; Huth with 1,160 votes, or 15.68% of the vote; and Selinger with 1,109 votes, or 14.99% of the vote.
In Butler County, Toncini only received 937 votes, or 12.67% of the vote. There also were 140 write-in votes.
In Armstrong County, Maxwell received 746 votes, DiGiacobbe received 742, Ritter received 709, Huth received 632 and Selinger received 613.
Maxwell, DiGiacobbe, Huth and Selinger all cross-filed. Ritter ran as a Republican, and Toncini ran as a Democrat.
The candidates campaigned on issues including the renovation of Freeport High School, potential overspending by the school board and the district’s problems obtaining state and federal funding in a post-pandemic world.
