Leppin wins Amity board race

AMITY - Jennifer Leppin led Steve Vanderzanden for Position 3 on the Amity School Board in Tuesday’s special district election balloting.

Leppin received 294 votes, 53.3 percent, to 258, 46.7 percent, for Vanderzanden in early Polk and Yamhill County returns.

Barbara Rowe did not seek a new term after serving from 1993-2005 and again the last eight years.

Leppin received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from Oregon State University and is a senior product analyst with Oregon Mutual Insurance.

She and her husband operate a farm. They have one child in the district and a second soon to follow suit.

She previously said she hopes to “help foster communication between the community and district administration,” adding that collaboration between parents and the schools is most important to ensure that every child is served.

Leppin will seek to improve the performance of students and their schools districtwide. She said change is necessary in the district.

“Clear guidelines and expectations are required to set the stage for successfully increasing our district’s state grade,” Leppin said. “There is a communication breakdown between the parents and staff. I plan to improve that.”

Leppin wants to implement new lines of communication to ensure everyone on both sides receives the same information related to any issue.