DeKalb schools will have runoff

The race to remake the DeKalb County school board will continue for another month as winners in all four contested seats will be decided Dec. 2 in a runoff.

With only provisional ballots remaining to be counted, it’s not even clear who all the contestants will be. In one race, only handfuls of votes separate the second- and third-place finishers.

A fifth seat, for District 6, was retained by incumbent Tom Bowen.

Regardless, more than half of the nine-member school board next year will have two or fewer years of experience.

Georgia law requires candidates to reach 50 percent plus one vote to win. According to the latest unofficial results:

In District 2, special education teacher Ella Smith’s run-off opponent appears to be retired U.S. history teacher Don McChesney — although it’s a squeaker. McChesney tallied just 128 votes ahead of attorney and media/public relations consultant Marshall Orson. In District 4, former DeKalb school board member Paul Womack, who served 12 years from 1981 to 1992, will face bankruptcy lawyer Shayna Steinfeld. In District 8, retired teacher and administrator Pamela Speaks will face accountant Pamela M. Buncum.

In District 9, a race that featured eight candidates, the top two vote-getters were DeKalb County development authority chairman Gene Walker and Ernest Brown, a software sales support director who is married to a DeKalb teacher.