The Leechburg Area School Board will be a mix of new and familiar faces this coming year.

According to unofficial results from the election bureaus in Armstrong and Westmoreland counties, Darius Lovelace, 73, Candi Stewart, 68, Danielle Reinke, 44, and Janie Borsh Symons, 66, will be sworn in for four years in December.

Newcomer Rebecca Blas earned 854 votes to win a two-year seat.

Lovelace was the top vote-getter in the race for the four-year seat with 1,096 votes across Leechburg, West Leechburg and Gilpin.

Reinke received 1,025 votes in her bid to return to the board. She previously served from 2010 until 2014.

Newcomer Janie Borsh Symons won a seat after receiving 864 votes.

Stewart got 986 votes.

Neill Brady, 76, was unable secure a position with 854 votes. He previously served from 2003 to 2023.

West Leechburg’s property taxes remained a popular topic among candidates during the campaign season, with a couple of them mentioning continuing to work toward the goal of equal taxation for all of the district’s municipalities.

As Leechburg Area is a school district that crosses county lines, administrators are required to use a formula provided by the State Tax Equalization Board (STEB) that tries to equalize the tax burden for all property owners.

But rather than producing an equal tax bill among Gilpin, Leechburg and West Leechburg residents, Westmoreland County residents have been hit with consistent increases in their property tax.

During an October school board meeting, the district announced the business manager found a calculation method to even out the bill between Westmoreland and Armstrong County residents.

It’s news that has left some residents hopeful and some uneasy.

“I give a ton of credit to the current board for the work they’ve done to try to find a solution,” said Reinke told TribLive before the election. “I feel we need to make it fair for everyone.”

She said she has heard concern from Gilpin and Leechburg residents about how the solution will affect their tax bills.

Borsh Symons of West Leechburg was on the Republican ticket. She wants to make sure everyone in the community understands the solution to STEB that has been presented, adding the biggest problem residents in all communities face is STEB.

She previously told TribLive she’ll be on the board to “listen, to work and to learn.”

Incumbent Stewart intends to help the board regain trust from the public and work to make students and their education the top priority.

Lovelace, another lifelong resident, said his goals for the district include equitable taxes for all communities, maintaining expense management to keep taxes in line, continuing to introduce new programs to students, and emphasizing parents and teachers involvement in the district.

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