School board members Gary W. Bauer and C. Scott Stone were re-elected to their third terms yesterday along with newcomer Laura K. Rhodes, a longtime PTA activist who led the pack of six candidates.

With all but an estimated 2,500 absentee ballots counted, Rhodes, 40, of Taylorsville had garnered 27,358 ballots, nearly a quarter of all votes cast. Bauer, 56, of Hampstead was second with 22,698 votes. Stone, 51, of Hampstead came in third with 21,311 votes, beating out James E. Reter, 71, of Westminster, William M. Bowen Jr., 72, of Westminster and John F. Murray Jr., 46, who lives on the outskirts of Mount Airy.

"I'm excited and anxious to get on the board and off the sidelines," said Rhodes, a self-described "professional volunteer" who worked as a psychologist and real estate agent before making nearly a full-time job of helping at her children's schools and working with countywide and statewide PTA organizations. "I still am shocked, and it's still amazing to me that a little stay-at-home mom can come through like this."

Overshadowed by the county commissioners election and the race for a newly created legislative seat in South Carroll, the nonpartisan school board campaign plodded along without the banner headlines, spending frenzies and hectic schedule of forums that made the board election two years ago one of the most-watched and closely fought in years. The low-key nature of this year's race was reflected in voters' nonchalance at the polls.

"The school board didn't seem to advertise this year," said Heather Colvin, 18, a hairstylist from Mount Airy.

"We just didn't know anything about them," said her twin, Laura Colvin, who works at a grocery. "You see Tregoning signs and his opponent's everywhere," she said of Sheriff Kenneth L. Tregoning and challenger Charles C. "Chuck" Paulsen Jr. "But I didn't see signs for the school board."

Even informed voters had trouble explaining their choices for the three open seats on the five-member board. (Board President Susan W. Krebs ran for the House of Delegates.)

"I hate it that I didn't know a little bit more about them, but I was surprised to read some of the names in there," said Helen Simpson, 85, of Mount Airy. The former home economics and biology teacher voted for Stone, Reter and Rhodes.

"I really liked what I read about Rhodes," she said. "She sounded so sincere and so practical, as if she knew the precise things we really need to do. The other two, I don't remember a thing about."

Many others were similarly excited about Rhodes.

"I have three kids, and this is an important decision for me," said Shirley Carter, 35, a Westminster housewife who voted for Bauer as well as Rhodes. "She's female, a mother and her issues are mine. She, more than the others, has better insight into the school board because of all the work she's done."

Bauer, a Baltimore Fire Department pump operator, Stone, a systems and program analyst at Goucher College, and Rhodes will serve four-year terms.

Sun staff writer Athima Chansanchai contributed to this article.