In Colorado, where local control of public education is spelled out in the , voter and education advocacy organizations are urging folks to get informed and cast their votes in the traditionally lower-ticket races for school board.
The three districts in Arapahoe County asking voters to choose new board members this year are , and .
In Englewood, voters will choose among four candidates to fill three open seats. Littleton Schools is seeking to replace two term-limited members on its board — Mary Nichols and Lucie Stanish — from a pool of three candidates. Cherry Creek Schools has three open seats in three districts. In two of them, single candidates are running unopposed, and the remaining district — District B — has four candidates vying to replace the term-limited Claudine McDonald.
In all cases, those elected will serve four-year terms.
Ballots are scheduled to be mailed out to Arapahoe County voters starting Oct. 12, according to the county’s .
“I think it is a really high stakes environment that school board members are voted into and serve in, and it should be reflective of the community,” Bruce Caughey, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Board Executives, said of the trio of district races.
Caughey’s group is a professional organization representing thousands of district administrators, superintendents, principals and other professionals across the state. He said that in an such as that of public education in Colorado, it is important for voters to elect people that will represent their priorities when making tough decisions on how to spend taxpayer money.
“It is unfortunate that so many in our communities don’t know who is running for their school board,” Caughey said. “I think it is important that voters become informed.”
Voters in Englewood will have a chance to learn more about their candidates at a scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, at Englewood Campus, 3800 S. Logan St., hosted by the League of Women Voters of Arapahoe and Douglas Counties. Candidates Kevin M. Ebert, Sharon Scheminske, Dagan Thomas and Gary Richardson are vying for three four-year appointments and all are scheduled to be present. Ebert is an incumbent who served two years of a four-year term, replacing a board member who died; Richardson is a write-in candidate.
Marlu Burkamp, who handles communications for the league chapter, said her group previously sponsored two forums for the Littleton School Board race, the second of which drew nearly 70 people. Topics covered in those forums included Common Core Standards, testing and teacher tenure.
“In off years, people tend to ignore these races, but often they find that by ignoring them, the candidates that are elected may not agree with their viewpoints and they’re upset,” Burkamp said. “It behooves all citizens to go meet the candidates face to face.”
Littleton’s two scheduled candidate forums took place in September, but voters can learn more about the district’s three candidates through candidate interviews from the Littleton Independent posted to the district’s . Candidates Jim Stephens, Richard Boorom and Robert Reichardt are competing for two seats.
In Cherry Creek’s election, Dave Willman is running unopposed for reelection in District C, and newcomer Eric Parish is the only registered candidate in District A. In District B, which includes Overland High School, district parents David Aarestad and Matt Batcho, former Jeffco Public Schools Board of Education member Vince Chowdhury and former early childhood education professional and district grandparent Janice R. McDonald will compete for a seat. The district held six candidate forums, videos of which are available on the district’s . Candidate profiles are also posted there.
Joe Watt, spokesman for the Colorado Association of School Boards, said being a local school board member is “the most important job in our state that no one knows about.” He pointed out that the state constitution clearly lays out that local school districts be established and managed by locally elected boards of directors. He encourages all voters to learn more about the candidates and cast their votes in the coming weeks.
Watt added: “They are running for these positions because they are interested in the education of our children, which has everything to do with our success as a society and as a state and determines the economic well being of our state and our residents.”
Joe Rubino: 303-954-2953, jrubino@denverpost.com or @RubinoJC
