School board elections: Who's running in Story County school districts?
Competitive school board races are heating up in several Story County school districts ahead of Election Day.
The early voting period in Iowa opened Wednesday, Oct. 18. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 23.
Polls will be open Nov. 7 from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., and you can find your precinct and polling location on the Secretary of State's website.
Here's who's running in the Story County school elections:
Who’s running for school board at Ballard?
Three candidates will compete for the at-large school board seat in the Ballard Community School District. Nick Hurst, Joshua Kruse and Jean Saveraid are vying for the seat. Saveraid is a former school board member and is running again after being defeated in the last city-school election.
Incumbent Kirk Peterson is running unopposed in his reelection bid for the District 1 seat. He joined the board in 2015.
Newcomer Tim VanLoo is unopposed in the race for Ballard’s District 2 seat.
Who’s running for school board at Collins-Maxwell?
Two newcomers are running for the at-large school board seat in the Collins-Maxwell Community School District. Katie Oswalt and Stephanie Smith are on the ballot for the position currently held by Mike Leslie, who is not seeking reelection.
Incumbent Jonathan Hand, who joined the board in 2019, is seeking reelection to the District 2 seat and is running unopposed.
Dawn Pasquariello, the incumbent in District 3, is also seeing reelection and is running unopposed. She started on the school board in 2019.
Who’s running for school board at Colo-NESCO?
Two incumbents are running unopposed for two seats on the Colo-NESCO Community School District school board. Brad Kohlwes of Colo joined the school board in 2011, and Justin Walker of McCallsburg joined in 2022.
Who’s running for school board at Gilbert?
At Gilbert Community School District, four candidates are on the ballot for four school board seats.
Newcomers Nathan Kerns and Mindy Rash and incumbents Andrew Ricklefs and Melissa Pearson are running unopposed for positions on the board. Ricklefs joined the board in 2019 and Pearson joined in 2022.
Who’s running for school board at Nevada?
The Nevada Community School District has three incumbents running unopposed to maintain their at-large school board seats.
Martin Chitty most recently joined the board in 2019, and was a member for several years prior. He stepped down in 2017 to serve on the Story County Board of Supervisors.
Leanne Harter started on the school board in 2016, and Thomas Maier won the seat in 2011.
Who’s running for school board at Roland-Story?
Two incumbents and two newcomers are vying for three seats on the Roland-Story Community School District board of directors.
Incumbents are Christopher McIlrath, who joined the board in 2019, and Tosha Whipple, who joined this year.
New candidates are Ashlee Mullenbach and Candi Holm, the longtime business manager and board secretary at Roland-Story.
Ronna Faaborg is a reporter for the Ames Tribune. Reach her at rlawless@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Ames Tribune: Find out who's running in the Story County school board elections
