Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the 4 p.m. May 23 election results.

A new leaf is turning in the Forest Grove School District as three fresh faces prepare to take seats on the school board following election night.

Brisa Franco, Peter Truax and Alma Lozano have secured solid leads in the latest results released Friday, May 23 — each set to fill a vacated position.

Franco, a Forest Grove High School alum and first-time candidate, surged ahead to take Position 1 with 63% of the vote, outpacing opponent Nicholas Hafez.

“I am immensely grateful to Forest Grove and Cornelius for trusting me to support our students, teachers, parents and community members,” Franco said. “As a 24-year-old Latina, a recent graduate of our schools, and a first-generation college and law student, I look forward to bringing a new perspective to the board and working with our community to fully represent our schools’ needs.”

Franco laid down an initial goal of expanding mentorship and career exploration programs, while pushing for safer, more inclusive campuses — something she said depends on equipping educators with the tools they need.

“Our community is at its best when we all work together, so my next steps are to learn from students and teachers around the district how best we can collaborate to build a better future for every student,” she said. “I invite any community member, especially our students and teachers, who would like to share their experiences, thoughts and needs to reach out. I look forward to moving forward together.”

Former Mayor and City Councilor Peter Truax will once again return to public office. He leads the race for Position 2 with 64.4% of the vote, defeating challenger Jodi Blue.

“I hope that we’re able to bring people a little closer together,” Truax said. “The last couple of elections haven’t quite done that. So we need to keep on working on bringing people into the fold and moving them in the right direction — where we can agree to disagree but not be quite so disagreeable.”

Truax said he intends to dig into the district’s challenges while keeping a close watch on federal education policy.

“I’m also going to be very concerned about getting more of a flavor of the national viewpoint of the amount of money that is spent from the Department of Education towards special education and from the Department of Agriculture for breakfast and lunches,” he said. “We still have to keep that stuff going, and I’ll be doing what I can in those regards, because if that money doesn’t come from the feds, it will come from the state, and if it comes from the state it’s going to take away from something else. And that’s not good.”

In the three-way race for Position 3, Lozano rose to the top with 57.2% of the vote over Madigan Shepherd and James Strother.

According to the Washington County Elections Division, final results will be certified by June 16. So far, ballot returns show a turnout of approximately 21.9%, though not all ballots have been tabulated. Oregon law allows ballots postmarked on Election Day to be counted if received within the following week.