Rate of candidates filing for school board election lags with a week and a half to go

Robin Gibson, Muncie Star Press
·2 min read

Correction: Because of incorrect information provided, the name of Cowan Community School Board candidate Kimberlie Campbell was misspelled in an earlier version of this article. We regret the error.

MUNCIE, Ind. — School board candidate filing for the Nov. 8 election continues through next week, but many local school board seats remain wide open on the ballot so far.

Filing for the school board election began July 27, and ends at noon Aug. 26. As of Tuesday afternoon, only eight candidates had filed for a total of 17 school board seats up for election in Delaware County, and just two Delaware County school boards out of six had as many candidates who'd filed so far as seats up for election, according to the Delaware County clerk's office.

School board seats up for election in Delaware County this November and candidates who have filed so far are:

  • Cowan, three at-large seats: currently held by Angela Johnson, Mike Van Horn and Alan Wright. So far, Wright, Paul Hansard and Kimberlie Campbell have filed to run.

  • Daleville, two at-large seats: currently held by Diane Evans and Ron Halbert Jr., both of whom have filed to run.

  • Delaware Community, three seats: Delaware Township (currently held by Lance Engle), Niles Township (currently held by Jacob Case) and Union Township (currently held by Trent Fox). No candidates had filed as of midafternoon Tuesday.

  • Liberty-Perry, three seats: Liberty Township (currently held by Keith Davis), Perry Township (currently held by Robert Cook) and at-large (currently held by Kevin Thomas). No candidates had filed as of midafternoon Tuesday.

  • Wes-Del, three seats: Harrison Township (currently held by Todd Trehearne), Washington Township (currently held by Larry Batt) and at-large (currently held by Richard Johnson). Trehearne and Batt both have filed to run.

  • Yorktown, three at-large seats, currently held by Ryan Kelly, Pat LaVelle and Tom Simpson. LaVelle has filed to run.

The Muncie Community School Board is now appointed by the Ball State University Trustees and president, rather than being elected by voters in the school district.

In recent elections, few Delaware County school boards have had contested races, and in some case have had no candidate run for an open seat.

For subscribers:Recent school board elections have had few actual races. Will this year be any different?

To file to run for school board, a prospective candidate has to provide the county clerk's office with a petition of nomination signed by 10 registered voters from their district during the filing period, according to Delaware County Clerk Rick Spangler. That form and instructions can be found online on the Indiana Secretary of State's page, at in.gov/sos/elections/candidate-information/.

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Contact Robin Gibson at ragibson@gannett.com or 765-213-5855. Follow her on Twitter @RobinGibsonTSP.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Rate of candidates filing for school board election lags