Plenty of candidates for fall school board elections

There will be some turnover on the Corridor school district school boards after next month's elections. Several incumbents have opted not to run again, including three in Iowa City.

Ten individuals have filed papers for the Iowa City school board election. In Cedar Rapids, eight people will seek seats on the school board.

The deadline for school board candidates to file nomination papers with their respective school district was 5 p.m. today. The election is Sept. 13.

This is the largest school board election Cedar Rapids has seen in recent years. Only three individuals sought seats in the 2009 election. With only three spots open, the election was decided before a single vote was cast.

That's not the case this time around.

Cedar Rapids has four positions -- two at-large, District 1 and District 4 -- open this year.

Incumbent Mary Meisterling, the board's vice president, will run for her District 1 position. She will be challenged by Dustin Weiland.

Melissa Kiliper-Ernst won't seek re-election for her District 4 seat. Both Allen Witt and Sunny Story have filed papers for her position.

Two incumbents – John Laverty, currently the board president, and Ann Rosenthal – have filed papers to retain their at-large seats. They will be challenged by Matt Ford, Karen Hartleb and Kathy Ulrich.

Iowa City has five at-large seats available, but one is a two-year term. This position will fulfill former board member Mike Cooper's term, which expires in 2013.

Cooper resigned in June because he moved out of state. The school board picked former board member Jan Leff for the interim role. Leff said will not run in the election.

Candidates for the two-year at-large seat are Karla Cook and Julie Van Dyke.

Candidates for Iowa City's four at-large seats are Phil Hemingway, Marla Swesey, Jeff McGinness, James Tate, Jeff Alden, Patti Fields, Sally Hoelscher and Robert Porter.

Fields is Iowa City's only incumbent. She is currently the board president.

In Marion, five individuals have filed forms for the Marion school district's four at-large seats. They are incumbent Dan Barkley, the board's current president, incumbent Dennis Trout, David Law, William O'Brien and Shelly Pearson.

The school board race won't be contested at College Community and Linn-Mar. The number of candidates who filed papers for the districts' school board elections mirror the number of seats available.

-- College Community (Prairie) school district: Four individuals have filed nomination forms for four seats. Incumbents Randy Bauer, the board's president, and Greg Kelsey, the board's vice president, and Dot Pospischil will seek re-election. Angela Ehle has filed nomination papers for the District 4 seat, currently held by Norm Zahradnik. Zahradnik will not run in this election.

-- Linn-Mar school district: Four people have filed nomination forms for four seats, including incumbents Ann Stark and Barry Buchholz, the board's current president and vice president, respectively. Elizabeth Wilson and Tim Isenberg also will be on the ballot. Bob Gilchrist and Helen Romanowsky won't seek re-election.

All elected officials, exlcuding the individual elected to fulfill Cooper's term, will serve for four years.