Troy Kaufman
Montpelier at-large member of the Blackford Community School Board, listed by the district as vice president. He won the seat in 2016 by unseating longtime member John Payne, was re-elected unopposed in 2024, and moved several of the key votes on the district's new performing arts center, including the $19.8 million construction contract in January 2026.
The 60-second story
Troy M. Kaufman holds the Montpelier at-large seat on the Blackford Community School Board. He won the seat in 2016, defeating John Payne, who had held it since 1992, and was re-elected unopposed in 2024 to a term running through 2028.
Kaufman moved the board's February 2021 agreement with Barton Coe Vilamaa for a $37,125 preliminary design study for an auditorium, the October 2024 project resolution for the district's 2024 bonds, the August 2025 resolution re-approving the building corporation, lease amendment and bond issue, and the $19.8 million Meyer Najem construction contract in January 2026. All passed unanimously. In March 2025 he and board secretary Nikki Gorrell toured three auditoriums with the superintendent and district staff as the project took shape, and at the March 2026 groundbreaking he called it "a foundation for our entire community."
Voting record: In the 64 meetings with minutes the district has posted from June 2019 through August 2026, Kaufman is not recorded casting a 'no' vote. He was present for the April 2022 vote to close Montpelier Elementary, which passed 4-1; the minutes do not name the dissenter. The minutes show him present at at least 54 of the 64 meetings. Minutes for all of 2020 and 2023, January through May 2019, February through May 2024 and several other months are not posted; the Ledger has requested them.
The board kept Kaufman as vice president in January 2021 and again in January 2024 and January 2025, with Kaufman abstaining on his own election each time, and the district's website lists him as vice president. The January 2026 minutes, however, record the board retaining Scott Malott as vice president.
Quick facts
- Office Vice President, Blackford Community School Board (per the district's website; the January 2026 minutes record Scott Malott retained as vice president)
- Seat Montpelier at-large (term through 2028)
- Elections Won 2016 (1,854 votes), unseating John Payne; unopposed in 2024
- Party Nonpartisan
- School board 'no' votes 0 in the minutes posted since June 2019
- Attendance (posted minutes) Present at at least 54 of 64 meetings, June 2019 to Aug. 2026
Three things voters should know
He unseated a 24-year board member
Kaufman defeated John Payne, on the board since 1992, in a three-way 2016 race.
He moved the performing arts center's key votes
He made the motions on the 2021 design study, the 2024 project resolution, the 2025 bond and lease resolution and the 2026 construction contract.
He is not on the 2026 ballot
His at-large term runs through 2028.
Biography
Biography pending.
Memberships & affiliations
Blackford Community School Board (Vice President, Montpelier at-large)
Notable votes
Positions, in their own words
"We're laying a foundation for the future of our students, a foundation for our entire community"— Arts center groundbreaking, Hartford City News-Times, Mar. 18, 2026