When you go to vote next week, you’ll quickly notice there are no names on the ballot for school board.
In order to vote, you’ll need to know the names of write-in candidates and how to correctly spell them.
Two candidates tried to formally file, but didn’t have the necessary 250 registered voter signatures. Therefore, no one formally filed to run for school board.
Jon Hile, the outgoing board president, said it’s difficult to get on the ballot, citing the signature requirement.
Hile said there are good candidates to choose from.
“When the discouraging news came out that no one had successfully filed, candidates really stepped up and within a couple weeks, each of the races was contested,” Hile explained.
Natalie Lewis is one of those candidates. She even moved into a new district to be considered.
"I thought moving seemed a bit much and you just assume that people will stand up. But when I found out that they didn't, I knew we couldn't afford to have a board that lacked the leadership to do what we need to do,” Lewis said.
“As a longer-term strategy, we absolutely as a community have to do a better job preparing people to run for school board and executing those campaigns. However, in this particular election, we have some very compelling candidates," Hile said.
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Lexi Sutter can be reached at alexandra.sutter@kshb.com.
