The Board of Trustees and the Election of November 3, 2026

FIVE SEATS, THREE DISTRICTS AND AT-LARGE · THE BOARD AS SEATED · THE 2026 RETURNS AT THE STRENGTH REACHED

Five trustees govern the corporation, elected from districts that themselves state the corporation's geography: District 1 is Olive Township; District 2 is Hudson and Wills townships; District 3 is Kankakee and Galena townships; and at-large seats sit on the districts. The board as seated in November 2026: Phillip King, President — District 3, Kankakee/Galena; Jason DeMeyer, Vice-President — At Large, District 3, Kankakee/Galena; Jill Smith, Secretary — At Large, District 1, Olive; Rich Shail — District 1, Olive, a trustee who, by his corporation biography, previously served five terms on this board beginning in 2000 through 2020, and who already sat as its president in the 2014 bond record; and Rich Gadacz — District 2, Hudson/Wills (the corporation's site renders the township once as "Willis"; the township is Wills, and the candidate filings and the Tribune both print Hudson and Wills). Officers were set at the organizational meeting of January 5, 2026 — King president, DeMeyer vice-president, Smith secretary, with Tim Scott corporation treasurer, Ellen Borkowski deputy treasurer for 2026, King the board's ISBA legislative liaison and Smith its policy liaison, and board compensation set at $3,450 for calendar 2026.

Two seats stood for election on November 3, 2026: one at-large seat and the District 2 seat. The at-large candidates, from the Indiana Secretary of State's Election Division list as carried by the Indiana Citizen (updated August 12, 2026) and the South Bend Tribune's St. Joseph County candidate list of October 30, 2026, were Eric J. Beebe (Democratic), Jason DeMeyer (did not declare), and David Siddall (did not declare); for District 2, Richard Gadacz stood unopposed. Because the corporation votes in two counties, its returns come in two pieces, and only one piece was reached. The La Porte County Clerk's unofficial summary — Heather Stevens, Circuit Court Clerk; report run November 4, 2026, 4:36 a.m., 92 precincts — gives the La Porte County portion: at large, DeMeyer 1,675 (55.70%) to Beebe 1,332 (44.30%), on 3,007 votes; District 2, Gadacz 2,278, unopposed, 100 percent. David Siddall does not appear in the La Porte summary at all, though he appears on the St. Joseph County candidate lists — a discrepancy printed here whole. The St. Joseph County portion of the at-large vote — Olive Township's ballots — was not reached: the county's unofficial precinct summary is the input, St. Joe Current's published results omit the race, and WNDU's results page carries no New Prairie race. Accordingly no transition is declared in this section. DeMeyer leads the only portion reached and Gadacz was unopposed on every ballot list reached, but the holders print as seated above until the certified returns speak; the transition, if the certified totals confirm the La Porte portion's direction, takes effect with the new board term. The settler is named in the gaps: the certified returns of the two county clerks — St. Joseph and La Porte — and the Indiana Election Division's certified summary for a race that crosses the county line.

Sources:

1. NPUSC School Board page and Board Notes, January 5, 2026 (corporation site) — the five trustees, seats, officers, treasurer appointments, and compensation.
2. Indiana Citizen, 2026 Indiana General Election School Board Candidate List (from the Secretary of State's Election Division, updated August 12, 2026); South Bend Tribune, October 30, 2026 — the 2026 candidates.
3. La Porte County Clerk, 2026 General Election Unofficial Results (summary of November 4, 2026) — the La Porte County vote totals quoted, unofficial.
4. St. Joe Current, St. Joseph County Election Results, November 3, 2026, and WNDU election results — both read in full; neither carries the New Prairie races, which is the stated basis for the gap.