It’s the end of an era for the Manteca Unified School District’s longest-serving board member. 

Evelyn Moore, who was elected to the Board of Education in 1998 after retiring from nearly 30 years of service in local elementary schools, was defeated in her bid to extend her service to the district for another four years – ending her tenure with 20 years representing the district. 

Lincoln Unified School District teacher-librarian Cathy Pope-Gotschall, who spent one year as an English teacher in Manteca Unified, is leading more by more than 600 votes according to the final vote update released by the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters on Monday evening. 

The final election totals are set to be certified on Thursday, Dec. 6. 

And Pope-Gotschall won’t be the only new face to serve on the board. 

After longtime incumbent Nancy Teicheira announced that she would not be seeking reelection to instead focus on her health, retired Manteca teacher Marie Freitas and resident Andrea Collins-Cambra – who had Teicheira’s support – filed the nomination paperwork to succeed her. 

Freitas currently has a lead of more than 1,000 votes, which has steadily grown as election results have slowly trickled in over the course of the last month. 

To contact reporter Jason Campbell email jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com or call 209.249.3544.