Bowling Green’s only local election decided that Cierra Waller will remain on the Bowling Green Independent Schools Board of Education.

Waller, who initially joined the board in January to fill a vacant seat, won Tuesday’s election with roughly 59% of 3,790 votes.

Following the results, Waller told the Daily News she looked forward to continuing her service and being “a voice for our students, our teachers in our schools and our administrators.”

“I’m so thankful, so blessed, so fortunate to have the opportunity to remain on the board,” Waller said.

“I want to say thank you for everyone getting out there to vote — I think that is one of the most important things we can do as citizens in our community, just thank you,” Waller said. “I think Warren County showed up today, I think Bowling Green Independent showed up today, and we made our voice heard.”

Waller is the assistant director for the Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning at Western Kentucky University and the mentor coordinator for Jonesville Academy.

She served as a parent representative on the Bowling Green Junior High School Decision Making Council and the BGJHS Youth Services Advisory Council.

Waller said it “still feels surreal” after an election campaign featuring weeks of knocking doors and thousands of mailers. She thanked her campaign team, including her son, a student at Bowling Green Junior High, who joined her on the trail.

“We would knock for two or three hours and get to see some beautiful parts of town, meet some amazing neighbors and voters, and it was just a beautiful process,” Waller said. “We got a lot of steps in, but it was just great connecting with out community and talking to people.”

Waller recalled meeting “a lovely little girl” on one of her walks who implored they “do something about the milk.” She laughed remembering the scene.

“It was great for her to feel that she could say that,” Waller said. “She felt very confident and comfortable to speak up and voice her opinion. I think that’s beautiful, and I want our community to feel empowered to do the same.”

BGISD Superintendent Gary Fields congratulated Waller on X, formerly Twitter, adding he is “looking forward to continuing the work we are doing to provide incredible opportunities for our children.”

Waller’s challenger, Janet Burks, received 1,541 votes, roughly 40% of the overall vote. Burks previously ran for the position in 2022 and placed third with 1,403 votes, though she withdrew one week before election day.

Burks said while she was disappointed with the results, she’s confident that Waller will continue to do well on the board.

“I’m happy for her and I know she’ll do an excellent job,” Burks said. “I know it takes a lot of guts to run, and it did for me. It wasn’t easy and it was a lot of work.”

Burks said the experience was still worth it.

“I don’t regret running for a minute because of all the nice people I met along the way,” Burks said. 

Burks said she’ll likely consider another run for school board in the near future.