Help Wanted: Candidates for Big Job, No Pay
By Icess Fernandez, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Jan. 3–If you’re wanting to run for school board, now’s the time.
Filing has started for area school board and city elections and will continue until noon Jan. 23.
To be eligible for a school board election, candidates have to live in the district in which they are running and be a registered voter.
In the Wichita school district, which has about 48,000 students, four school board positions are up for grabs:
–District 1 seat, held by Shirley Jefferson, who was appointed to the board after former board member Kevin Graham resigned in 2005. The schools in the area are: Adams, Buckner, Gammon, Isely, Jackson, L’Ouverture, Mueller, Spaght and Washington elementary schools; Blackbear Bosin and Brooks middle schools; East, Metro-Boulevard, Metro-Midtown and Northeast high schools; and Little Early Childhood Education Center.
–District 3 seat, held by Sarah Skelton, president of the board. The schools in this area are Allen, Anderson, Caldwell, Colvin, Gardiner, Griffith, Harry Street, Jefferson and Linwood elementary schools; Curtis, Jardine and Mead middle schools; Southeast High School; and Chisholm, Greiffenstein, Sowers and Wells special-education centers.
–District 4 seat, held by Chip Gramke, the longest-serving member of the board. The schools in the area are Cessna, Cleaveland, Enterprise, Franklin, Kelly, Lewis, Lincoln, Stanley, White and Woodman elementary schools; Allison, Hamilton and Truesdell middle schools; and South and West high schools.
–At-large seat, held by Kevass Harding.
School board positions are also up for election in several suburban districts.
On Tuesday, the first day of filing, no one signed up to seek a seat on the Wichita school board, Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Bill Gale said.
Wichita school board positions are not paid. Those elected will start their terms July 1.
Almost immediately after taking office, the newly elected members will be asked to approve the district’s budget. Members will also have to deal with the financial outcomes of the legislative session.
“We have a three-year plan, but you have to make sure that the second and third years are funded,” board member Lynn Rogers said. “You have to prioritize so you can get the biggest bang for your buck.”
Reach Icess Fernandez at 316-268-6544 or ifernandez@wichitaeagle.com [mailto:ifernandez@wichitaeagle.com].
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Copyright (c) 2007, The Wichita Eagle, Kan.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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