Prince George's school board race is decided: Hernandez defeats Waller Dinora Hernandez has defeated Amber Waller, a longtime member of the Prince George's County Board of Education, to win the District 3 seat. The victory comes more than a week after election night, when Hernandez and Waller were deadlocked with seven votes separating them. The vote continued to be too close to call after a first batch of absentee ballots were counted last week, with 115 votes between the candidates. Election officials said Hernandez received 5,698 votes after 306 provisional ballots were counted Thursday. Waller had 5,605 votes. Even though there is a second batch of absentee ballots to count, Alisha Alexander, the county election administrator, said there weren't enough to change the final result. "There are not enough votes out there to make a difference," Alexander said, estimating that there were less than a half dozen uncounted absentee ballots in District 3, which includes Hyattsville, University Park and Adelphi. Hernandez will become the second Hispanic member of the school board. Lupi Grady, who defeated Peggy Higgins, another incumbent, is also Hispanic. Grady will represent District 2. Hernandez said Friday that she was pleased with the results. "With everything that has gone on, I'm happy to see the work paid off," she said, noting that she learned a lot about the work of the election board after watching officials count absentee ballots. I'm looking forward to hitting the ground running. Hernandez and Grady were hand-picked by County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) to challenge Waller and Higgins. Baker was criticized last year when he did not appoint a Hispanic to the Board of Education when he was given authority to name three members to the new hybrid board. Hispanic leaders said they were disappointed in Baker's decision not to include a Latino among his choices, given that almost 23 percent of the student population in the public school system is Hispanic. Hernandez said her first task will be to meet as many parents and principals as possible and become more familiar with the schools in her district. "I want them to get to know me," she said, noting that Waller served the district for seven years. Hernandez, who works as the Latino liaison for the county, said anyone who thinks that she will be answering to Baker in her new role is mistaken. "My job right now as Latino liaison is letting the county executive know how we can be better," she said. I'm in a sense criticizing the current administration to improve it. . . . Everyone in the office wants to make sure his vision is seen through, but mine is how he can do better in the Latino community. Hernandez said she plans to be an "independent thinker," recognizing that "I work for the constituency and the students in the district." Meanwhile, several elected board members during Thursday's board meeting thanked Waller and Higgins for their years of service. Waller did not attend the meeting. Supporters of Hernandez and Grady said during the campaign that Waller and Higgins were hindering Baker's efforts to improve the long-struggling school system. But elected members who have worked with Waller and Higgins described the two as committed student advocates. "You had the courage to vote your conscience," board member Edward Burroughs (District 8) told Higgins, who he called a role model and a leader. Board member Zabrina Epps (District 1) thanked Higgins for her example. "The children of District 2 and the county are better off because of your efforts," she said.