While November didn’t go exactly as planned for Christy Smith, December is already offering another opportunity.

The longtime Newhall School District board member was named president of the body this month.

Smith and Assemblyman Dante Acosta were in a heated contest for the 38th Assembly District seat, which Acosta ultimately won with 51.7 percent of the vote.

However, Smith said she’s spent little time looking back, and instead she was excited to focus on the progress ahead for the elementary school district

“That’s our Democratic process, and the voters chose, and we support our elected officials, and we move on,” she said Thursday. “There’s a lot of work to be done in Newhall, which I’m happy to be doing.”

Among the projects set to be finished during the current school year is a the refurbished Newhall auditorium, which is making a more than 60-year-old facility a facelift and complete renovation.

“The auditorium is progressing along,” Smith said, “we’re hoping for a nice spring opening.”

The district has also shifted its marketing and outreach focus to students within existing district boundaries, after the other SCV districts became upset with what they felt was Newhall targeting their students.

After the last campaign was announced by the Newhall School District, several of the SCV’s educational leaders got together, forming a subcommittee of the SCV Education Foundation to address any future concerns.

“We want to make sure we’re not stepping on one another’s toes,” Smith said, noting the new focus would be on NSD’s branding within the district.

A state school construction bond voters also approved in November provide increased potential for the district to eliminate its portable classrooms, some of which have been around for more than 5 years past their expected lifespan.

The funds are a welcome supplement to support community voters gave the district back in 2011, when it passed Measure E.

“We remain a very lucky community in terms of support for our schools,” Smith said.

When asked about her political future, she remained eager to run again, but undecided in which direction exactly that might take her.

“I would definitely like to do it again,” Smith said of running for office, but when asked about a redux of the Assembly race? “I haven’t decided, yet.”