By Dan Karpiel

The Surveyor

There were to be four elections for seats on the Thompson School District (TSD) Board of Education this November, but the election has been cancelled, the TSD announced on Tuesday.

The four seats up for election, one of which was District G that encompasses all of Berthoud, were all uncontested and thus the district decided to cancel the election and appoint the four candidates to each seat. The official swearing in for the candidates will take place at the Nov. 6 board meeting in Loveland.

State law affords the district the opportunity to make the decision to cancel the election and appoint the candidates if the seats are uncontested. The decision to forego the official election will save the district an estimated $100,000, TSD said.

Berthoud’s District G has been represented by Dave Levy in the most recent four-year term, and Levy announced over the summer he decided against seeking reelection and will instead spend time traveling and enjoying the company of his grandchildren.

Long-time Berthoud resident and retired Berthoud High School (BHS) English, speech and language-arts teacher, Stu Boyd, announced his decision to seek Levy’s open seat in August. No other candidates stepped up to challenge Boyd and thus he will now be appointed to the board representing District G on Nov. 6.

The other candidates who will be appointed to the board include Dawn Kirk, who will be serving her first term, and current board members Pam Howard and Marc Seter, who were seeking reelection.

In discussing his decision to seek a seat on the TSD board, Boyd told the Surveyor in August, “I hope that through the 50 years I’ve been part of the Berthoud schools and the involvement I’ve had both as a teacher and since in community affairs, in supporting community endeavors that people in the community look upon me favorably and believe that I am somebody who is going to walk the walk in addition to talk the talk.”

Boyd attended Berthoud schools, as did his children, and served as a full-time teacher for 36 years. Following his retirement as a full-time teacher, Boyd continued to work with the Berthoud schools, the high school most notably, as a substitute teacher and a mentor for new teachers. Boyd also served as director of the BHS drama club and was the language arts curriculum specialist for TSD.

“Education has been my life, and to have an opportunity right now and to be in a place in my life where I can give back, I hope I have the opportunity to do that,” Boyd said in August when he announced his decision to run. “I had a very rewarding, wonderful career as a Berthoud educator (and) I wanted to make sure that Berthoud was represented by someone with a knowledge of the schools and a commitment to the schools.”