BOISE, Idaho — The Boise School District will welcome a new board member next week as a result of Tuesday night's election.
There were three races. The district website lays out each race.
- "Race #1 is for three trustee positions on the Boise School Board, each with a six-year term. Those positions are currently occupied by Maria Greeley, Elizabeth Langley and Shiva Rajbhandari.
- Race #2 is for one trustee position on the Boise School Board with a four-year term. That position is currently occupied by Debbie Donovan.
- Race #3 is for one trustee position on the Boise School Board with a two-year term. That position is currently occupied by Dr. Paul Bennion."
The four seats were uncontested, so they automatically got in.
Greely, Langley, and Bennion will remain on the board, entering six-year terms.
In 2023, Bennion was appointed to fill Adam Hawes's seat when he left mid-term. Bennion will now enter a six-year term for the seat formally held by former Boise student Shiva Rajbhandari.
Donovan will also remain on the board, in a four-year term.
Krista Hasler and Matthew Shapiro ran for the seat Bennion is leaving empty. Both ran unsuccessfully in 2022.
Hasler pulled out the win by 265 votes over Shapiro.
- Total votes - 3,245
- Hasler - 1,755
- Shapiro - 1,490
The election saw less than 3% of eligible voters participate.
Get to know Krista Hasler
"My passion is with kids and teens, and they've just really driven my decisions in my life," Hasler said.
Hasler is a social worker bringing a mental health perspective to the board.
"Right now, it's something that is really relevant and something the school district has focused on," she said.
Hasler told KTVB she looks forward to joining and adding to those efforts.
"Resources that will help with prevention for our students, how to cope, how to deal, how to build character skills into their foundation that will help them be successful throughout the rest of their lives," Hasler said.
She's coming in with a list of ideas from her own experience as a mother of four kids in the district, including literary and reading performance and reading for certain age groups and a desire for more a-p class options for students.
"When you've got a diverse population like we do in our district, you need more resources to meet those needs. And so, I want to help try to bring those resources to our teachers and to our students," Hasler said.
Although the results didn't turn out in her favor two years ago, she's prepped for the position.
"I've learned a lot about our district. I've taken opportunities to learn about our district, be involved, and build relationships, and that's made a huge difference with where I am sitting here today," she said.
Hasler is originally from Rexburg, Idaho, but moved here with her family almost a decade ago, learning and growing with the community.
"We love Boise, it is an incredible place, love the diversity we get to experience here in Boise," she said. "Even though it's growing there's so much room for growth here in our area,"
Hasler will be sworn in on Monday, Sept. 9, at the upcoming school board meeting.