Who won Centre County school board races? Here’s a look at election results
Thousands of voters visited the polls Tuesday to cast ballots and elect new board members for each of Centre County’s public school districts.
This year’s municipal election featured competitive elections in several districts. State College and Penns Valley’s districts each had six candidates competing for four open seats on their boards, while smaller candidate pools contended for open boards seats in Bellefonte, Bald Eagle and Philipsburg-Osceola’s districts.
Below are the unofficial results as of the county’s most recent update on Nov. 18. All results are unofficial until certified by the Board of Elections. Military and overseas ballots were eligible to be received by Tuesday, Nov. 11, if they were submitted for delivery before midnight Monday.
State College Area School District (5 seats)
Candidates Deborah Anderson, Jesse Barlow, Rebecca Arnold Desmarais and Jackie Huff have won election for four-year terms on State College’s board, according to unofficial results. Anderson and Huff, both incumbents, will again serve on the board, while Barlow will continue as a board member after joining on an interim basis in July.
Jennifer Black ran unopposed for a two-year term on the district’s board. She is expected to fill a vacancy left by former board member Dan Kolbe, who resigned over the summer.
Bellefonte Area School District (4 seats)
Incumbent board members Nate Campbell, Kristin Lyons and Jon Guizar each appear to have earned reelection to four-year terms alongside Joe Yech, according to unofficial results.
Voters within Bellefonte’s district have cast at least 2,648 write-in votes. Most of them are likely for Holly Hopkins, who launched a write-in campaign while serving as an interim board member since April.
Penns Valley Area School District (4 seats)
Candidates Douglas Roth, Daniel Decker, Vincent Nicosia and Jessica Shawver are leading results as Nov. 10. The district’s slate of candidates did not feature any incumbent board members.
Roth and Decker are leading the race for four-year terms as at-large board members. Shawver would serve as the board’s new Region 3 representative, while Nicosia would represent Region 2.
Bald Eagle Area School District (4 seats)
All four incumbent candidates in this district’s race — Tina Greene, Mary Ann Hamilton, Mark Kresovich and Timothy Nilson — should receive reelection to four-year terms.
Philipsburg-Osceola Area School District (4 seats)
No candidate filed to run for this school board’s Centre County-based seats. Write-in candidates will receive election to the board’s District 3 and District 5 seats after receiving nine and 165 votes, respectively, as of Nov. 18.
Incumbents Shawnna Baney-Shaw (District 7) and Richard Wood (District 8) are on the ballot for board seats in Clearfield County.
Philipsburg’s district sued Centre County’s elections board as part of an unsuccessful attempt to have an unrelated vacant seat added to November’s ballot, but a county judge ruled having a seat placed on the ballot less than two weeks from Election Day could “undermine the integrity of the election process for the entire county.” The district argued operating with a long-term vacancy could significantly harm its ability to function.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 9:35 PM.
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect which candidates are current members of the State College Area school board.
%202.JPG)