Domestic Troubles Topple School Board President : Antelope Valley: A once-popular high school official was ousted and three incumbents lost in the Keppel elementary district.

The major changes wrought by school board elections in the Antelope Valley were the ouster of three incumbents in the small Keppel District and the defeat of the president of the Antelope Valley Union High School District, a former top vote-getter who became involved in a domestic scandal.

Almost complete, semi-official returns showed that about 9.5% of the region’s voters--well below the countywide turnout of 13.2%--cast ballots Tuesday in eight Antelope Valley school district elections in which 44 candidates sought 22 seats.

Four years ago, county probation officer William Olenick got more votes than any other school board candidate in the Antelope Valley to win a seat on a high school board.

But he finished a surprisingly distant fifth among seven candidates following a much-publicized arrest in July on a complaint by his now-estranged wife that he had struck her. The district attorney’s office declined to prosecute him, and his opponents did not make an issue of the arrest in their campaigns.

In the region’s other major upset, incumbents Patricia Conner, Jerry Freeman and Robert Jones were ousted by challengers who complained of poor educational standards and other problems in the Keppel elementary school district, which covers Pearblossom and Littlerock.

In the 9,800-student Antelope Valley Union High School District, with three seats at stake, the top finishers were Parent Teacher Assn. president Sophia Waugh with 22.2% and advertising executive Steve Landaker with 21.4%. Larry Rucker, the only victorious incumbent, won the third seat and a third term with 20%.

Trailing them were school police officer Daniel Fricke, 10.6%; Olenick, 10.4%; phone company superintendent Phil Maher, 9.1%; and court financial officer David Von Buskirk, 6.4%.

In the nearly 3,000-student Keppel Union School District, three incumbents and four challengers competed for three seats. The challengers winning office were school principal R. Michael Dutton, 20.7%; homemaker Valorie Gorny, 20.2%; and parks supervisor Richard Sanders, 14.4%.

The ousted incumbents finished fourth, fifth and sixth. Freeman got 11.9%, Conner 11.2%, and Jones 11.1%. Trailing them was homemaker Claudia Moore with 10.5%. Challengers had complained the district was suffering from high teacher turnover, low test scores and excessive administrative spending.

In the 8,600-student Antelope Valley Community College District, two incumbents and two challengers sought three seats. Incumbents James Du Pratt Jr. and Herman Kicenski won reelection with 30.8% and 25.4% tallies. Former college spokeswoman Betty Lou Nash took the third seat with 28.9%, while insurance executive Felix Le Marinel trailed with 14.9%.

In the 10,700-student Lancaster School District, all three incumbents on the ballot won reelection, fending off four challengers. Incumbents Melinda White and Michael Huggins, who both took office as a result of a February recall election, won new terms with 24.2% and 21.7%, respectively. Board President Richard White (no relation to Melinda White) won a second full term with 19%.

Three challengers lost, led by air traffic controller Joseph Starling, who received 11.6%. Maridelle Wright, the wife of a former district superintendent who was ousted earlier this year, got 9.2%; Parent Teacher Assn. President Jacki Pendleton received 9%, and aircraft mechanic Keith Wilde, 5.3%.

In the 11,500-student Palmdale School District, Sheldon Epstein, a teacher in a sheriff’s detention facility, topped two opponents to win a two-year term. Epstein got 45.1%, besting retired aerospace engineer Dan Hunter’s 34.7% and the 20.1% tally for general contractor F. Don Linde. The seat belonged to former board member Susan Moulton, who resigned in June, leaving the four-year seat available for the remaining two years of the term.

In the Eastside Union School District, incumbent Martha Johnson won reelection with 28.3%, while newcomers Larry Lake and Lee Doughty took vacant seats with votes of 25.4% and 21.4%, respectively. Lake is a rancher and businessman. Doughty is an educational consultant. Trailing them were Michael Terry with 13.2% and Gary Holmes with 11.8%.

In the Westside Union School District, homemaker Sandra Engebretson finished first with 22.1%. Two incumbents, Lynne Murley and Charles Strole, won reelection with 21.8% and 20.5%. The losing candidates were Larry Lindner, 17.7%; Chuck Brandel, 9.6%; and Howard Brooks, 8.3%.

In the Wilsona School District, challengers Frank Donaldson Sr. and Michael Brown finished first and second with 23.7% and 22.5%, respectively. Incumbent Sue Stokka was defeated, finishing last with 16.7%. Incumbent Luis Easterwood, with 18.6%, clung to a two-vote lead over Richard Foster in semi-official returns.