By Liz Holland

Wicomico County Board of Education balloting on Tuesday was unlike the other contests, as the election was nonpartisan and designed to narrow the field for November’s election.

This is just the second time that county voters have selected school board members. The posts were previously appointed by the sitting governor.

Instituted in 2018, the board’s seven seats are structured in the manner of the County Council, with two at-large seats and five seats elected from districts.

 At-Large candidates

 At-large council members represent the entire county. Eight people have filed as candidates; the top four vote-getters will advance to the November election.

The top four as of Tuesday are Bonnie H. Ennis with 3,743, Kristin N. Hazel with 3,097, Darren J. Lombardo with 2,679 and George M. Demko with 2,209 votes.

Ennis retired this year after 44 years as a classroom teacher and administrator with Wicomico County Public Schools. Hazel is a small-business owner who lives in Salisbury. She is the mother of a child on the Autism Spectrum, and seeks to serve as an advocate for students with special needs. Lombardo of Salisbury has more than 30 years of Information Technology and business administration experience, while Demko is the former Director of Microbiology at TidalHealth, who now teaches English as a Second Language at Wor-Wic Community College.

The other at-large candidates are Donald Lee Fitzgerald with 2,106 votes, Aaron Guy with 1,192, Michael G. Murray with 1,207 and Lavonzella “Von” Siggers with 1,516 votes.

 District 1

 District 1 is Wicomico’s minority-majority district. Two candidates are competing in the district that includes north and west Salisbury. The district’s incumbent school board member is Allen C. Brown; the challenger is Luc Angelo. Each man automatically advances to the November general election. 

 District 2

 The school board’s District 2 encompasses a huge swath of the county’s west side and crosses the Wicomico river to take in neighborhoods down Riverside Drive into Fruitland. Sharptown, Mardela Springs, Nanticoke and Whitehave are all part of the district.

Four candidates filed for the seat; the top-two vote-getters advance to the November election.

Eugene "Gene" Malone Jr., who currently serves as Board Chairman, was leading substantially with 1,084 votes, followed by Karin Miller with 625.

Malone was appointed to the Wicomico County Board of Education in 2016 and elected to serve a four-year term in December 2018. He is a Vice President with First Shore Federal Savings and Loan Association and serves as board president of Habitat for Humanity of Wicomico County.

Miller is the parent of three Wicomico County Public School graduates. She has volunteered in the schools and served as PTA officer. She has 19 years experience teaching in Wicomico County at the elementary and middle school level.

Other District 2 candidates are Fred Connolly with 381 votes and Kimberley Annette Groves with 556.

​District 3

 District 3 encompasses east-southeast Wicomico County below Route 50, and includes Powellville, Wango, portions of Fruitland and Salisbury, and neighborhoods including Deer Harbor. Three candidates have filed for the seat; the top-two vote-getters will advance to the November election.

Susan W. Beauchamp was leading with 1,322 votes, followed by Leonard Arvi with 599 and incumbent Tonya Laird Lewis with 382.

Beauchamp has been a business owner and practicing accountant for 35 years. Arvi is the chair of the Department of Economics & Finance and Professor of Finance at Salisbury University.

Lewis of Willards is a current school board member, appointed in 2019.

 District 4

 District 4 is made up of the neighborhoods of central and south Salisbury, off Riverside Drive and around Salisbury University, and south of Snow Hill Road.

Three candidates have filed for the seat; the top-two vote-getters will advance to the November election.

David Plotts was leading with 633 votes, followed by Ann Brittingham Suthkoski with 348 and Rob Figliozzi with 145 votes.

Plotts works for the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore, currently as Controller. He recently served on the Wicomico Charter Review Commission. He is a 2017 graduate of Shore Leadership. In 2019, he was appointed as the parent liaison to the school board's Parent Advisory Committee, from Pinehurst Elementary School.

Suthowski was elected to the school board in 2018. For 31 years, she worked for the Laurel School District, including 10 years as a reading, English and journalism teacher and 21 years as a secondary reading specialist.

Figliozzi of Fruitland is Director of Research & Development at IES Life Sciences in Cambridge. He holds a bachelor’s in Chemistry from Salisbury University and a doctorate in Toxicology from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

 District 5

 District 5 includes east-northeast Wicomico County above Route 50, and includes Delmar, Powellville, Willards. The district dips south of Route 50 to take in Wor-Wic Community College.

Just two candidates are competing in the district. The district’s incumbent school board member is John Palmer of Delmar; the challenger is Jake Blank of Salisbury. Each man automatically advances to the November general election.