Last

Tuesday's primary election for Board of Education

posts 2 and 3 will end in a runoff Aug. 8 between

top vote-getters Terri Smith and Kim Gatlin in

Post 2, and Marion Key and Connie Hale for Post

3.

Smith,

who was attending a family reunion in Iceland,

tracked the results of the election via the

internet. "I was obviously pleased with the

results," she said upon her return. Smith

racked up 2,539 votes taking 32 percent of the

total number of votes cast. "I will continue

to get out and talk to people, and I'm planning

several mailings," the mother of two and

former teacher reported.

Her

main issue continues to be school overcrowding.

"I'm concerned about how to the raise the

money," she said, referring to the funds

needed for new construction.

Kim

Gatlin took 1,690 votes, 21 percent of the vote,

in the five-way race for Post 2. She said this

week that she will continue to make phone calls

to voters urging them to vote in the runoff.

Gatlin, a mother of three and a part-time

marketing consultant, said she and the members of

her family have "learned a lot" from

the experience of running as a school board

candidate.

self-described "quiet person," Gatlin

said she has met a lot of nice people and taken

part in many activities, such as the Peachtree

City Fourth of July parade and Fayetteville's

July Jam, that she never had before, as a result

of her candidacy.

While

Gatlin herself works in the corporate world, her

husband is a teacher in a neighboring county.

"I know about the teaching life," she

said. Her mother and sister are also teachers.

Gatlin said many voters have the impression that

school board candidates should have a background

in education. In actuality, board members set

policy, not curriculum.

Incumbent

Connie Hale took 39 percent of the vote or 3,152

votes in the race for post two. Hale said she

will continue to phone voters and remind them to

get out and vote in the runoff. Marion Key, who

took 35 percent of the total vote or 2,794 votes

was out of town and could not be contacted for

her reaction to the election results.

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