School board races: Some crowded, some not

It's feast or famine when it comes to some local school board elections this year.

The feasts? In Holt, three people are running to fill a partial term expiring in 2018 and six are running for three six-year terms. In East Lansing, eight candidates are campaigning for four open board seats.

The famine? In Webberville, only two people filed by the July deadline to run for three available seats on the school board. In Morrice, two people filed for three four-year terms and no one filed for two partial terms ending in 2016.

"The best -case scenario is that you have a really fine operating district and the board has a good reputation and when you have vacancies, you have a lot of people who want to serve," said Don Wotruba, deputy director and director of government relations for the Michigan Association of School Boards.

In districts with crowded races, the root cause can be changes that are unpopular with the public.

"Building closures or a repurposing often drive turnout," Wotruba said. "You get people from a neighborhood who aren't happy and they run for the board. Mascot changes, you see a big turnout for boards. On occasion, you'll see it for a union contract."

Change is good - or not

In Holt, an administrative plan that didn't require board approval has, among other things, moved seniors into a separate building from other high-schoolers. Four of the school board candidates — Julie Bureau, Mark Perry, Craig Anderson and Doug Needham — have said they would be open to reversing that decision if elected. They are challenging incumbents John Malatinsky, Deb Roeske, Fred Ford and Rick Brooks.

In East Lansing, where the community has been divided by a failed millage to fund school renovations and the closing of Red Cedar Elementary, two incumbents — Kay Biddle and Jay Todd — are stepping down. A third incumbent, Nell Kuhnmuench, will run again.

Newcomers are Joe Borgstrom, Yasmina Bouraoui, David Gott, Kyle Guerrant, Karen Hoene, Mary Katherine (Kate) Powers and Jeffrey C. Wray. Hoene, Bouraoui, Kuhnmuench and Wray all have the public support of 50,000 Strong for Red Cedar School, a group that worked against closing the school.

Little interest in Webberville

It's the second time recently that Webberville has come up short on bodies to fill board seats. Two candidates ran as write-ins in 2011 after two incumbents bowed out and no one else filed. At that time, two people filed as write-in candidates.

Wotruba said there are any number of reasons that discourage people from running, including the fact that school boards have had to make many unpopular budget cuts in recent years and school elections have been moved from spring to November in many districts.

He said candidates perceive it as more difficult to run in November when the ballot is crowded.

"It's harder to get known, it's more extensive to campaign," Wotruba said. "There are people who just view running in November as more partisan, even though they're on a non-partisan ballot."

'Healthy' competition

In Lansing, a field of seven candidates, including two incumbents, is busy campaigning for three six-year terms.

Peter Spadafore, president of the Lansing school board, isn't up for re-election this year. He said he thinks some competition for the unpaid seats is healthy.

"In a lot of cities and a lot of places around this state, you have multiple board members who run unopposed," he said. "It's nice to see that people are interested and they're competitive."

The result, he says: "They're not there by default, but because they have earned a place on that board."