XENIA — Tamara Spahr Bartley and Dr. Pam Callahan retained their seats on the Xenia Community School District Board of Education according to unofficial final results — which don’t include provisionals — from the board of elections.

Bartley received 2,304 votes, Callahan 2,297 and challenger Ethan Reynolds 1,949.

Bartley, a 1990 Xenia High School graduate, was appointed to the school board Jan. 14 to fill a vacancy created when her father, Bill Spahr, died last December. She was chosen from a group of four finalists and an initial pool of nine applicants.

“I am very honored that the community believes in me and is allowing me to be a part of the decision making process regarding our schools and its students,” Bartley said. “It is a job I take very seriously and one that I will give my full attention. I am excited to be able to continue the work I have started. I want to congratulate my fellow board member Dr. Pam Callahan on her victory and I want to wish Ethan Reynold best of luck on his future endeavours.”

Callahan, a 1987 XHS grad, ran unopposed in the November 2015 election and won the seat previously occupied by Nodie Washington, who did not seek reelection.

“I want to thank everyone who voted and believed in me,” Callahan said. “I will do my best to continue to make decisions that improve our schools. Our test scores are going up but not as fast as we would like. We are analyzing the data and working on solutions to hopefully do even better. We have some special populations that require additional dollars per student to provide equitable learning opportunities. We will continue to look at costs to see where we can reduce spending.”

Reynolds is a newcomer to Xenia, having served on the New Carlisle City Council for more than seven years, including time as mayor before resigning in May to pursue other life and career goals, according to media reports. An email to his campaign seeking contact information was not returned as of press time.