By Leon Worden/SCVNEWS.com

The Santa Clarita Valley was on track for another low turnout as hordes of registered voters shunned the polls in Tuesday’s school board election.

Up for grabs are seats on the COC, Hart, Saugus and Sulphur Springs school boards, while the Newhall School District’s electorate will decide on a $60 million construction and technology bond.

Poll worker Saul Han said only 40 people had cast ballots by 10:45 a.m. at the Friendly Valley Country Club, the polling place for a consolidated precinct with roughly twice as many addresses as an even-year election precinct.

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“We’re hoping for a good turnout today,” poll worker Carol Mosher said. “We always like the people that stop by.”

Voters throughout the valley will make three separate decisions for the Santa Clarita Community College District (College of the Canyons) Board of Trustees, as three separate at-large seats are up for election this year.

Voters will see Michele Jenkins’ name on the ballot even though she’s running unopposed for another four-year term in Seat 2.

Seats 4 and 5 are contested, each with one incumbent and one challenger. Incumbent Bruce Fortine squares off against Diana Shaw for Seat 4, while incumbent Scott Wilk faces a challenge from newcomer Patrick Hill for Seat 5.

The other all-SCV vote is for the Hart School District governing board, where newcomer Heather Davis is challenging incumbents Steve Sturgeon and Gloria Mercado-Fortine. The three-way race will go to the top two vote-getters.

Voters in Saugus Union School District will also pick two of the three names they’ll see on the ballot. Challenger Steven Winkler is seeking one of the seats currently held by incumbents Rose Diaz and Rose Koscielny.

Likewise in the Sulphur Springs Union School Distirct, the election will go to the top two finishers. Challenger Priscilla Lofton hopes to unseat one of the two incumbents in the race – Shelley Weinstein and Denis F. Defigueiredo.

Nobody opposed incumbents Sue Solomon, Mike Shapiro or Brian Walters in the Newhall School District this year. Their names don’t even appear on the ballot. But the district’s voters aren’t off the hook. They’re asked to decide whether to approve a $60 million bond that will pay for campus renovations and new technology. On the ballot as Measure E, it would extend the life of the previously approved Measure K school construction bond.

Castaic Union School District voters won’t see Steve Teeman or David Huffaker on their ballot, either – but not to worry. They’re still on the school board. Nobody filed to run against them.