CANDIDATES WANTED: ELECTION SLATES INCOMPLETE IN SOME SCHOOL BOARD RACES

Voters may find the pickings slim for some Boards of Education when elections are held April 4.

Filings close at 5 p.m. Tuesday for school board elections in Cape Girardeau, Scott, Bollinger, Perry, Stoddard and Mississippi counties.

By Thursday afternoon, eight of 18 area school districts had no candidates or just enough to fill the two, three-year terms available in most districts.

Some school districts, like Nell Holcomb and Perryville, also need candidates for special elections being held to fill unexpired terms.

Despite a dearth of candidates with less than a week to the filing deadline, superintendents said they were confident they would have at least enough candidates for available positions.

Chaffee schools Superintendent Bob Biggs said candidates have waited until the final days to announce their candidacies in each of his three years in Chaffee.

"Last year, one of the incumbents didn't file until the last day," he said. "I feel confident that we'll have at least one candidate for each position."

Charleston School District had no Board of Education candidates Thursday afternoon, and Nell Holcomb had only one candidate for three available positions. Even so, officials in both districts said they also expect a full slate after filings close Tuesday.

"I've always had at least enough candidates for office, and I expect it will be that way again this year," said Nell Holcomb Superintendent David Fuemmeler. "I've had people indicate to me verbally that they plan to file."

Local officials were unsure what action their school boards would have to take if filings closed without a full slate of candidates. Many said they would wait until Monday or Tuesday to determine whether that information would be relevant to their district.

"I'm so confident we're going to have enough candidates that I have not checked out the legal procedure for otherwise," said Charleston Superintendent Terry Rowe.

SCHOOL BOARD ELECTIONS

Area school board seats up for election April 4. all districts have two seats available for three-year terms.

Cape Girardeau

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Dr. Bob Fox and David Goncher

FILED: Goncher, Fox, Martha Zlokovich

Jackson

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Jack Knowlan, Tom Ludwig

FILED: Mark Baker, Dennis Wayne Siebers, Tom Ludwig, Mack Illers

Nell Holcomb

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Dwayne Kirchoff, Charlie Roberts

Last two years of three-year term vacated by Debra Followell earlier this year.

FILED: Kirchoff

Oak Ridge

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Stephen Schonhoff, Richard Baer (won't refile)

FILED: Schonhoff, Darrell Hahs

Delta

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by John Livingston, Herbert Blattel Jr.

FILED: Livingston, Blattel, Diana Horn

Scott City

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by nancy caldwell, Rick Sample

FILED: Caldwell, Ronald Gray, Scott Amick, Randy Morse

Chaffee

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Danny Finley, Alvin Vandeven

FILED: Vandeven

Oran

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Tom Urhahn, Rosalia Friga

FILED: Urhahn, Friga, Carla Graviett

Kelso C-7

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Robin Burger, Randy Kern

FILED: NONE FILED

Kelly

Two three-year terms

Seats currently held by Scott Sander, Tom Beardslee

FILED:Jim Simmons, John Felter, Laurie Romas, Scott Sander,

Charleston

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Dr. Ron Peterson, Bill Branum

FILED:NONE FILED

East Prairie

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Ricky Penrod, Martin Lucas

FILED: Kevin Hess, Ronnie Wallace, Penrod

Meadow Heights

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Greg Ellis, Terry Propst

FILED: Ellis, Propst

Leopold

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Joe Bohnsack, Gary Vandeven

FILED: Pam Horrell, Karen James, Roberta Jansen

Woodland

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Bill Rhodes, Steve Upchurch

FILED: Rhodes, Jim Gray, Doug Lindley, Dan Lindley, Dale Chronister

Zalma

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Steve Dickinson, Dale Fish

FILED: Dickinson, Fish

Perryville

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Dennis Martin (president), Tom Wesolek

A special one-year term currently held by Jim Bauwens also will be decided.

FILED: Jim Martin, Bauwens

1-yr term: Wesolek

Advance

Two, three-year terms

Seats currently held by Ron Cantrell, Tony Jenkins

FILED: Cantrell, Jenkins, Scott Markham