The Crook County school board has four open seats in the May 20 election, but only one contested race. Incumbent Eric Osborne is running for Position 1, incumbent Scott Cooper is running for Position 2 and incumbent Kelsey Swick is running for Position 3.

Eddy Howard and Kevin Bradley are facing off for Zone 5’s at-large seat. Learn more about them here:

Eddy Howard
Eddy Howard, 52, is an information technology specialist who has lived in Prineville most of his life.

His wife works for the school district. Out of a desire to learn how the district worked, he started looking into the finances and how pieces are acquired and purchased. He began attending school board meetings and decided to run for the seat in 2023 to be a part of things. He lost to Jennifer Knight, but had people asking him to run again and decided to give it another go.

Howard said, “I’m not into the politics or other things, I care more about the money and where that’s being spent and transparency and streamlining where that’s going and just some accountability.”

He said that students should be there to learn and isn’t interested in distractions.

“That’s where my main focus is: getting teachers the resources they need, getting students involved, trying to help out,” he said. “I also think that sports and getting the community leaders involved with the school district is going to be helpful…We have a lot of resources here in Prineville and I think that’s kind of an untapped resource that we should be utilizing.”

Howard said he doesn’t have a problem working with the rest of the board. If elected, for the first six to eight months, he sees himself learning and working to get along with everyone.

“I’m not confrontational, I don’t take any of that stuff personally,” he said. “I think that stuff needs to be put on the wayside, I care more about the numbers than anything else. I’ll ask questions. If the consensus of the board is to go one way, then I’ll abide by it. I could make my objections, my objections are heard, if they decide to go against it, I’m fine with that. It’s a give and take.”

Kevin Bradley
Kevin Bradley, 65, is retired from the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, where he was the youth program manager. He oversaw youth programs, including alternative schools in Central Oregon. He’s lived in Prineville for nearly 50 years.

He said he’s running for the seat mainly because his granddaughter is a student in the district. He served on the committee that helped select Osborne and Swick to the board. Bradley said there’s a good variety of backgrounds on the board right now.

“I’ve just kind of sat back for the last six or seven years, retired, and I’ve got a little granddaughter at Crooked River Elementary,” he said. “I know quite a few of the staff there, because I worked with them when we had our alternative school here in Prineville. I have a lot of respect for them, so I just decided what the heck. And I like which direction the district’s going, I’d like to help.”

He’d like to focus on alternative education and is excited to expand the career technical education programs. Bradley is also interested in talking with students and getting their input.

“(Career technical education) clearly helps students that aren’t engaged in traditional academics, to keep them in school the more offerings you have,” he said.

Since Prineville is growing, Bradley is also aware that the district may need to deal with capacity issues in the future. With the changes the Trump administration is making, he’s aware that funding may be cut, and is concerned about how that will affect the district.

“I’ve got a little granddaughter there, and I have a lot of friends with kids in school, I have friends with grandkids in school. I’m very passionate about making sure they have good options, and a good learning experience and whether they want to go onto college or they want to go onto a trade, I just think we need to be supportive in all areas like that, and I think I can be helpful,” Bradley said.