JACKSON SCHOOL RACES FORM

Candidates for upcoming school board elections have been slow in coming in most area school districts.

Many school districts postponed election filings until after the first of the year because of bad weather that hit the region just after filings opened in mid-December. People can file until 5 p.m. Jan. 16 at the school's Board of Education office.

Missourians will vote April 3 for school board candidates.

In the area, only Jackson and Oran schools have full-blown races so far. Former school board members Rosalia Friga and Will Bucher and first-time candidate Sandy Diebold will vie for positions on the Oran board while five candidates -- Donna Tidwell, Kevin Schaper, incumbent Gerald Adams, Mack Illers and James Woeltje -- have filed for the Jackson posts.

No candidates have filed for the Perryville and Kelso school boards.

Cape incumbents file

Both Cape Girardeau school board incumbents filed last month. Board president Dr. Ferrell Ervin will seek a third term, and Mark Carver will seek his second term.

Carver wants to remain on the board to see the new high school built and "to get the district's finances under control."

Membership on a school board is more complex than people think, Carver said.

"So much of it can be completed in the next three years," he said. "I'm just beginning to understand how things work, and I really think I can make an impact."

Scott City school board president Debbi Miller also hopes to see her district complete a major project within the next three years. Miller will seek a third term, along with longtime board member and treasurer Kevin Hillemann.

If re-elected, Miller wants to help the board raise funding for a building addition to accommodate the district's growing enrollment.

A number of refurbishing and expansion projects have been completed within recent years -- including a classroom addition in 1998 to accommodate a middle school -- without a tax increase.

However, additional funding will be needed for expansion projects, Miller said.

"Definitely within the next two years we would seek funding," she said. "I think a lot of people in the community do think we need to have more classrooms."

In the Delta district, board vice president Keith Cook and treasurer Mike Reiminger have filed while at Oak Ridge board members Roger Thomas and Robert Eisenhauer have filed.

Nell Holcomb board member Karen Fornkahl and Daryl McNeely, who was elected last year to complete the final year of a three-year term vacated by Debra Followell, have filed.

Chaffee board member Mick Wessel, who was appointed last year to complete an unexpired term, will seek election to a full term, along with challenger Ronnie Eifert Jr.

In the Kelly School District, Doug Lynn and incumbent David Hamm will seek board seats.

As of Wednesday afternoon, only one candidate filed for office at Leopold, Meadow Heights and Altenburg. Filing for Leopold school board was Francis Nenninger, for the Meadow Heights board, Culley DeSpain, and for the Altenburg board, Harold France.