Some districts looking for just a few good school board candidates

Feast or famine.

It’s a good description of the November school board races.

Of the 17 districts in the Pikes Peak Region, seven had just enough candidates to fill the seats, so elections weren’t necessary. In two others there were not enough candidates, so appointments will have to be made later.

Yet, in other districts, candidates are stepping all over each other for a few coveted spots.

Is there any pattern to why candidates run and when? Do candidates only jump in the race when something is very wrong with a district? Or do they seek office when everything is rosy?

It’s a bit of all that, say board watchers.

This year in El Paso County there are 46 candidate in eight school board races. And while there are particular district concerns and some battles are not so polite, there is a standout issue — the economy — that is affecting everyone, says Brad Stauffer, spokesman for the Colorado Association of School Boards.

School board members don’t get paid, and a lot of people are too exhausted trying to make a living in the dismal economy to volunteer for a position that can take 20 hours a month or more, he said. Others don’t want to run because they will be called on to make painful and unpopular decisions regarding school finances. After three years of severe education cuts by the state, and more to come, a lot of people don’t have the stamina to make those gut-wrenching financial decisions.

“It’s a difficult task and not to be taken lightly because the decisions they have to make on the board affect kids,” Stauffer says.

School board members serving for the first time often find the sudden scrutiny unnerving, especially when it comes to criticisms for cutting pet programs various constituencies hold close.  

Edison School District 54JT, with 200 kids and a $1.7 million budget, has suffered a quarter million dollar state cut in the past couple of years. There is no school board election because there were only three candidates for three seats.

Superintendent Pat Bershinsky puts this year’s overriding issue this way: “No controversy, just money. We are just waiting to see how much the state cuts us again.”

In Colorado Springs School District 11, where $28 million has been cut since 2008, Lisanne McNew says that making financial decisions in dire times didn’t deter her from becoming one of eight candidates seeking four seats.

“I think any time you are forced to make cuts it is uncomfortable and something you don’t want to do. But I won’t shy away from it. You start from the bottom up and build a budget like I do in my business and at home.”

The district, which has around 30,000 students and a staff of nearly 4,000, has a 2011-2012 budget of about $226.4 million.

What did surprise her was that there are so many candidates running, considering not many people seem to be unhappy with the board.

D-11 incumbent Bob Null, who is running for a second term, recalls 2006 when the board was the issue. The infighting, recall of two board members and firing of a superintendent, brought out deeply divided candidates.

“We call those the dark days,” he says. ‘Now, the board is going along so good that everyone wants to be on it.”

This year, Ellicott School District 22 is feeling the pain. It’s in the throes of recall fever, which could turn the board topsy turvy as pro-board and administration candidates duke it out with those who see lots of problems. Six candidates are vying for three open seats, including that of an incumbent who is running for a second term, one who threw in the towel, and another who is term limited.

On top of that, three candidates are asking voters to chose them for successsors if two other board members are recalled. One recall target is Stefanie Dickinson, who resigned from the board after being arrested on suspicion of sexting a 14-year-old youth. Under law, voters still must vote to recall her to pick a successor.  

A year ago, four D-22 board members survived a recall attempt when the county clerk determined that some petitioners gave misleading information and called off the election.

Ernest Hudson, a candidate for an open seat, says, ”There’s a lot of dissatisfaction, so citizens are trying to get in there and fix it. In my experience if things are gong well, people won’t run.”

But that theory doesn’t necessarily hold water in Harrison School District 2, where the decision makers regularly tick people off. In 2010, a recall effort against three failed because petitioners could not muster enough signatures. The incumbents handily were re-elected.

At a recent school board meeting, some who are upset about sweeping changes in the district shouted “vote ‘em out.” But ironically, no one is opposing the two incumbents running for re-election.

Incumbent Keith Varney said he had second thoughts about running again.

“It’s been feast or famine in this district. Either a lot of people run for a couple slots or no one runs. That’s what has happened this year. I was going to step back, because people were saying during the recall effort a year and half ago that  they were going to run...well, where are they? So, since I’ve learned a lot being on the board, I thought I better step up again to fill an empty space.”

He notes that about 90 percent of the time it is quiet, and that community surveys show people agree with the way the district is going. But then there are those outbursts. “Without talking to us first, the first ever we see them, they are yelling, missing the point that we will not lower the high expectations we have for our students to succeed.”

At a recent board meeting, high school students noted that they were unhappy with longer high school class periods and the shorter lunch breaks, personnel changes and too many substitute teachers.

Over the past six years the district has fired teachers deemed ineffective, adopted a pay system that compensates based on how well students do, gotten off probation and increased test scores among students, most of whom are impoverished and at risk of dropping.

Sometimes, school board races are influenced by outside forces. That’s what Tracey Johnson experienced the first time she ran for school board.

Now a candidate in Academy School District 20, she says things have calmed since 2009, when she and eight others nine ran for three spots. It was on heels of the 2008 presidential election. Sarah Palin, who had been a school board member, inspired a lot of people who thought it was an avenue to other elected offices.

“It introduced partisanship into a race that is nonpartisan. I was getting all sorts of questions, even what position do you have on Roe vs. Wade.”

She isn’t seeing that atmosphere this time around. The issues are more typical: budget challenges and pushing for even higher academic performance.

In the high-achieving Cheyenne Mountain School District 12   there were no takers for the one board opening, so someone will be appointed to replace President Jack Wiepking, who is term limited.

“We are a very civil board and have hired good administration and are not overgoverning.

There are no secret agendas, no one using the position as a stepping stone,” Wiepking says. “There aren’t any controversies. The issue is money, how to deliver the education what we have in the past.”

The district, with 4,500 students is one of the highest performing academically in the state, and has a bond measure on the ballot.

Why aren’t people running? “It’s a lot of work. People here volunteer a lot and you have to give something up. I think people don’t want to have to run for the office,” he said.

In Cripple Creek-Victor School District RE-1, where there are 400 students and a $5 million budget, they’ve been trying to appoint someone to the vacant Victor seat since February. A bond measure failed in 2010.

“We have talked to volunteer types and they don’t want to make the commitment. There’s nothing scarey, we are a cohesive strong board and there’s a great superintendent. I  don’t think people have the time and energy now. They are trying to make ends meet,” says Brent Kennedy, board president.

When he ran for office the board was contentious and some were upset about going to a four-day school week. He is in his sixth year — halfway through his second four-year term.

“My wife had been asked to run and instead she talked me into it,” Kennedy notes. He went to his very first meeting and was elected president. “I didn’t know what I was doing, but I was a neutral figure.”

Bottom line, everyone agrees being a board member anywhere is not a cake walk.

“As smooth as our board runs now, it’s challenging,” Kennedy says. “You have to make very hard decisions.”

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