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CITY, ND – (NewsDakota.com) The Valley City Public School Board election is over and challenger Rich Schueneman defeated incumbent Rick Ross for an At-Large position on the school board during the June 9 election.

Unofficial results show that Schueneman got 305 votes while Ross received 170 votes for the 3 year term.

Schueneman works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the Bald Hill Dam Resource Manager. He talked about the first two goals he will focus on once he takes the oath of office next month.

Schueneman previously served as a Valley City commissioner from 1996 to 2002. He currently serves on the Valley City Fast Pitch Association. It’s a parent run board supporting girls fast pitch. It’s one of a few sports that the Valley City school district does not fully fund but supports.

School district business manager Linda Heit said 475 ballots were cast of those 51 were absentee. She said there were no write-in votes cast in the 2015 election.

Heit said a record 475 votes were cast is this election. She said school board elections that are countywide bring in more voters. For example in the 2012 school board election Rick Ross received 1,415 votes compared to incumbent Sharon Buhr who got 997 when there was a countywide election.

Heit said in the 2013 election a total of 71 ballots were cast that year when Val Mortiz and Joyce Braunagel both ran unopposed.

Rick Ross served on the Valley City  school board for 3 years. He is an assistant professor at Valley City State University in the Division of Business & Information Technology Department.