School board candidates file to campaign

By Kate Hayden, khayden@charlescitypress.com

FRIDAY, 10 a.m. — Jeff Kuhlers and incumbent Mike Staudt have filed to run for Board of Education in the Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community School District.

Kuhlers is running for the seat left by board member Harm Eggena, who is not seeking re-election. Staudt has served two terms on the school board, Superintendent Keith Turner told the Press.

THURSDAY — One incumbent and two new candidates are running for the Charles City Board of Education, which has three positions up for election this fall.

Board President Scott Dight has filed for re-election. Candidates Missy Freund and Joshua Mack are seeking their first terms as board members.

Incumbents Lorraine Winterink and Jim Frisbie did not file to seek re-election by the nomination deadline, Thursday at 5 p.m.

Election day for school districts in Iowa is Tuesday, Sept. 12, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Absentee ballots must be postmarked on Sep. 11 or earlier.

Dight was first elected to the Charles City Board of Education in 1993 and served until 2005, and was voted by fellow members as board president for a time during that term.

Dight campaigned again later and was elected for a four-year term in 2013. He was voted president of the Board of Education by fellow board members in 2014.

Frisbie was elected to one four-year term starting in 2013. Winterink was elected to her first four-year term in 2011. She was elected to a two-year term in 2015, following the resignation of board member Joey Patton mid-term in 2014.

Board Vice President Jason Walker and member Robin Macomber are not up for re-election.

Dight, Winterink and Frisbie have served on the board as the Charles City Community School District studied and built the new Charles City Middle School, to replace the former middle school at 500 North Grand.

In May, the school board approved an option agreement to sell the North Grand building to developer Charley Thomson, who would then lease the eastern addition of the building back to the district for three years. Thomson has until November to act on the purchase option.

Now, the district’s future Board of Education will decide whether to ask Charles City residents for approval to renovate/rebuild the current Charles City High School. The district has another ongoing project along Shadow Avenue, after the current board approved purchase of 20 acres to build a new athletic complex for high school baseball and softball.

School district Business Manager Terri O’Brien received filing papers starting on Tuesday. By state law, candidates for an Iowa school district’s Board of Education position must have nomination signatures from a minimum of 50 electors in the candidate’s district.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported Scott Dight’s first term on the Board of Education. We apologize for the error.