photo by: Matt Resnick | Journal World

Incumbent candidate Shannon Kimball (right) surveils unofficial results from the Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, primary election for the Lawrence school board. At left, fellow Lawrence school board member "G.R." Gordon-Ross joins Kimball at the Election Office Tuesday evening. The field of four primary candidates was whittled to two, with Kimball and newcomer Ariel Miner advancing to the November general election.

Current Lawrence school board member Shannon Kimball and newcomer Ariel Miner will be vying for a two-year term on the Lawrence school board in November after they advanced out of Tuesday’s four-person primary.

Kimball was the top vote-getter with 3,014 votes, or 46.4%, and Miner was second with 2,456 votes, or 37.8%. The two candidates who were eliminated were Justine Burton (795 votes, 12.2%) and Tierra Teske (229 votes, 3.5%). Teske, who previously said she would be moving away from the Lawrence area, did not actively campaign for the seat.

The seat the candidates are vying for was originally vacated by former school board member Andrew Nussbaum, who was elected in 2021 but resigned less than seven months into his term. Voters in the Nov. 7 general election will decide between Kimball and Miner for this seat, and nine candidates who weren’t on the primary ballot will be competing in the general election for four four-year terms on the board.

Kimball has served three terms on the board and was elected three times as board president. She told the Journal-World Tuesday that she thought the district had made strides in a number of vital areas over the past several years, including improving student achievement, closing opportunity gaps and increasing wages.

“The conversation that the voting results tell me the community wants to have is that we need consistent and experienced leadership,” Kimball said Tuesday night.

Kimball said that while campaigning she had heard positive feedback from constituents about staff pay. She said areas such as pay raises were the “result of a lot of hard work” by the board and allowed the district to keep its “excellent teachers” around.

The Journal-World attempted to reach Miner for comment on Tuesday night but was unable to contact her. She is a native of Tonganoxie and a member of a grassroots movement advocating for fully funding public education. She studied music at the University of Kansas and has worked in the restaurant, retail and financial services industries.