Filing closes for April school board elections

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct information about filing for the school board in the Zalma School District of Bollinger County.

There will be new faces on many area school boards following the April 6 elections.

Filing for board seats closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday, and in eight of 16 districts covering portions of Cape Girardeau, Perry, Scott and Bollinger County, one or more incumbents eligible to run for re-election did not.

In the Cape Girardeau School District, incumbent Paul Nenninger will face Don Call, Philip "Phil" Moore and Hamner Hill for two available seats. Incumbent Laura Sparkman did not file for re-election.

In Jackson, only incumbents Gerald Adams and Don Stover filed. With two seats available and only two candidates, the election is over. State law does not require voting if the number who file equals the number of seats.

There will also be no elections in the Chaffee, Kelly, Perryville, Nell Holcomb and Altenburg districts.

The Scott City School District has the most candidates, with seven vying for two available seats. Incumbent David Gene Thompson will face Lisa Schaefer, Keefer Daniels, Gary Haynes, Bobby Bollinger II, E.D. "Nub" Boswell and Karen K. Pobst. Incumbent Debbi Miller did not seek re-election.

The contests in other school districts include:

* Delta incumbents Don Hester and Kenny Burnett seeking re-election against Michelle Steimle and Greg Brawley.

* Leopold incumbent Bryan Stroder facing Daniel James, Martin Arnzen and Jim Thele. Incumbent Roger Bucher did not run.

* Meadow Heights incumbent Dennis Mouser against Sheila Bess and Josh Angle. Incumbent Karla Kiefer did not run.

* Oak Ridge incumbent Diane Mangels against George Below, James Seyer and David Matthews. Incumbent Roger Thomas did not file.

* Oran incumbent Will Bucher against Jennifer Holmes and Kevin Tenkhoff. Tom Seyer will not seek another term.

* Woodland, where Chris Rhodes, Brian K. Johnson, Michael R. Sowers and Dale Long are running. Incumbents Van Greer and Lottie James had not filed as of last week. A message left with the district late Tuesday afternoon was not returned.

* Kelso incumbents Jeff Schmitt and Farah Moore challenged by Rhonda Smith.

* Zalma, where incumbents Jim Beal and Mike Hovis will face challenger Aaron Lemons.

There will be some new faces on the school boards in some districts where no election will be held. Ken Latham will replace Donnie Kiefer in the Chaffee School District, while incumbent Chris Johnson will remain. Jason Watson will replace Karen Fornkahl in the Nell Holcomb School District, with incumbent Dean Reeves receiving another term.

In the Kelly School District, incumbents Kindel Ward and John Felter will keep their seats, as will incumbents Tina Littge and Nancy Voelker in Perryville and Harold France, Richard Sachs and Tom Scheiter in Altenburg.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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