Incumbent Sheila Jakubik already had a lot to deal with before she found out she was handily on her way to winning a second term in the District 5 position on the Bainbridge Island School Board Tuesday, Nov. 7.

“I’m trying to fix my freezer, pack and be incredibly grateful,” Jakubik said Tuesday night.

Her freezer was malfunctioning, she said, her frozen foods in peril. She was packing to leave town for an uncle’s funeral the very next day.

And she was, of course, grateful to the community for bestowing on her 56.3 percent of the total votes counted Tuesday.

Jakubik had 2,555 votes to newcomer Christina Wakefield’s 1,981 as of the initial tally (or 43.6 percent of all ballots counted). Write-in candidates got just 0.1 percent of the vote (four votes).

Jakubik was first elected to the position in 2013.

“I’m excited,” she said Tuesday. “I hope that it stands and is good.”

Even with the race well in hand, Jakubik wondered before the vote tally was announced if she had done all she could to secure another term.

“With the school board it’s hard because … it’s a 100 percent volunteer job, so you kind of think, ‘I hope that I did all I could to reach people.’”

Reach people she did, apparently.

“I’m really, really passionate about our schools and the work that I do with other board members,” Jakubik said. “Our focus is always to put as much as we can into the classrooms to support students and staff.”

Jakubik was the only incumbent on the Bainbridge ballot this year to win another term.

City Councilman Wayne Roth lost in his re-election bid, as did longtime Parks Commissioner Kirk Robinson.

Jakubik said there “weren’t really any surprises” in the issues she heard most often raised during the campaign; the future of the Options program, social emotional learning initiatives, the fate of the Commodore building, among others.

“I feel like we’re really working hard on a lot of the things that were brought up,” Jakubik said.

Greater transparency was perhaps the most discussed concern, she said, and she pledged again to continue to push the board to make improvements.

She also recognized her opponent, and gave credit to Wakefield for a well-run effort.

“I’m thankful to the community for its support and I’m grateful to Christina for stepping up and showing an interest in our schools and engaging in a dialogue,” Jakubik said. “Contested races bring light to what we are doing.”

The District 5 position carries a four-year term.

The next vote count is scheduled for late Wednesday.