Unofficial Garfield Re-2 school board election results show Heil barely leading in District A

The preliminary batch of unofficial results for the Garfield Re-2 School District Board of Education election show Megan Heil leading in the polls for the District A seat.

As of 8 p.m. Tuesday, Heil has earned 1,718 (51.9%) of the vote, followed by Darlane Evans with 1,589 (48%) votes.

Both Rifle residents with long ties to the district, Heil was appointed to the seat in August following the resignation of former board president Britton Fletchall in June. Evans, a Rifle High School graduate, is director of gifted education for the Colorado River and Rio Blanco Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and previously spent 19 years teaching in Garfield Re-2.

Heil is retired from a two-decade career in law enforcement, serving as a police officer in Eagle, a school resource officer and an associate chaplain with the Colorado Department of Corrections. She now co-owns Blue Creek Homebuyers in Rifle.

In the District E race representing New Castle, Steven Beaulieu, currently with 2,334 votes, will serve a four-year term after running unopposed.

The Garfield Re-2 School District, which serves roughly 4,600 students in Rifle, Silt and New Castle, announced the ballot openings earlier this year in Director Districts A and E. Each candidate was required to submit at least 50 petition signatures from registered district voters, verified by election official Sharon Donohoue.

The Post Independent will update this story as more information becomes available.