Nine Mile Falls School Board
Election Results
| Candidate | Votes | Pct |
|---|---|---|
| Eric Olsen | 374 | 47.16% |
| Kirsten Foose | 253 | 31.90% |
| Mary McAdam | 166 | 20.93% |
* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.
The Candidates
Eric Olsen
- Age:
- 56
- City:
- Nine Mile Falls, WA
Education: North Central High School class of 1986. Earned an associate degree from Spokane Community College in 1989 and completed one year of undergraduate work in chemical engineering at Eastern Washington University. He is working to finish his bachelor’s degree.
Political experience: None.
Work experience: Major with the Spokane Police Department. He has 29 years of experience in the department. He started as a patrol officer and has been a part of the tactical team, bomb squad and K-9 unit.
Family: He is married and has two daughters who attend schools in the district.
His pitch: Olsen has many years of police experience and said he would prioritize school safety as a part of the school board. He is trained in active shooter response and wants to increase the amount of preparedness at Nine Mile Falls schools. He also wants to increase the safety of the high school through crime prevention through environmental design principles without adding measures like metal detectors and access cards. Olsen would look to form a school safety committee comprised of staff, first responders and parents to study the safety of each school and make recommendations to leadership.
In his words: “I want to create that safe, secure environment, so our students aren’t concerned about school shootings, or other types of school violence, and are able to focus on learning and growing up like kids should.”
Kirsten Foose
- Age:
- 47
- City:
- Nine Mile Falls, Washington
Education: Graduated from Bellevue Christian School in 1996. Earned her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Washington in 2000. Earned a Master of Health Policy and Administration degree from Washington State University Spokane in 2017.
Political experience: Has served in position 3 on the Nine Mile Falls School Board since she was appointed in March 2022. Unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the school board in 2019, finishing third in the primary.
Work experience: Worked as a pharmaceutical sales representative for most of her career before going to graduate school at Washington State University Spokane to study health administration. Currently works as director of operations at CHAS Health.
Family: Married to Dan Foose. They have four children who all attend schools in the Nine Mile Falls district.
Mary McAdam
- Age:
- 69
- City:
- Nine Mile Falls, WA
Education: East Valley High School class of 1973. She earned a bachelor’s degree in education from Eastern Washington University in 1977. She earned a Master’s of Education in administration and curriculum development from Washington State University in 1986.
Political Experience: None.
Work experience: Worked in the Nine Mile Falls School District for 39 years until retiring after the 2016-17 school year. She started teaching science and girls physical education at the junior high school. She moved to the high school in 1991 to teach several subjects and coach multiple girls sports teams.
Family: Divorced. She has one adult son.
Her pitch: McAdam said she would bring decades of teaching experience to the school board and call out the Legislature for not properly funding schools. She said she feels teacher raises have been blamed for budget crises. She said she wants to see more money go into education and advocate for construction on Lakeside High School.
In her words: “Since I was in the district before there was a high school and after there was a high school, I’d like to take the district and see what else we can do.”
Complete Coverage
Nine Mile Falls School Board race pits police major versus retired teacher
Eric Olsen, 50, a major for the Spokane Police Department, is running on a school safety platform. Mary McAdam, 64, who taught in the district for nearly 40 years before retiring two years ago, said her focus would be on a free and reduced breakfast program.
Three first-time candidates drawn to vacant Nine Mile Falls School Board position
Three candidates filed for the Nine Mile Falls School Board position No. 2 vacated by Debbie Williams, who is moving out of the district. Incumbents Mac Mikkelsen and Bill McBride are running unopposed for director positions No. 1 and No. 3, respectively.