Filing day arrives for school board candidates

In four months, the faces that make up the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City school boards could change dramatically.

Just how big a change might take place will begin to take shape today, the opening day of filing for Missouri school boards.

The Cape Girardeau School District has four of seven positions on the board up for grabs in the 2005 election. Jackson and Scott City will each have three openings.

Candidate filing for all local school boards runs through Jan. 18, with a holiday break in between.

Cape Girardeau will have three terms of three years each available and a one-year term temporarily held now by Skip Smallwood.

Other members up for re-election in Cape Girardeau are board president Charlie Haubold, vice president Sharon Mueller and Dr. Steve Trautwein, none of whom has announced the intention to run again at this point.

Any new contenders in Jackson will be up against three incumbents. Dr. T. Wayne Lewis, Terri Tomlin and Mack Illers have all announced that they plan to run for re-election to their three-year seats.

A bond issue to renovate and expand Jackson High School is among the reasons board members there decided to run for re-election. The issue was put on last November's ballot but failed to pass by less than 1 percentage point.

"We started it and I want to see it through to completion," said Mack Illers, who is wrapping up his first term on the board.

In Scott City, the seats currently held by Wayne Petitt, Sally Porch and William Wilthong will be open next year.

The 2005 election will be April 5. Board member qualifications include being a resident taxpayer of the district who has resided in Missouri at least one year and is at least 24 years of age.

cclark@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 128