The election of members to the Switzerland County School Board will be held as part of the November general election for the first time this year; and Switzerland County Clerk Ginger Peters has announced that Friday is the last day for candidates to turn in their official papers to run.
At press time there had been five candidates file:
– In Posey Township, Laurice See had filed for reelection; and Angie Satterfield has filed.
– Andy Truitt had filed for reelection in Jefferson Township.
– In Craig Township, there had been two filings: Virgil McKay and Kenny Briggs, Jr.
The deadline to file paperwork is noon tomorrow (Friday).
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According to state law, to run for school board a person must be at least 21 years of age; must not be an employee of the corporation; must be a registered voter in Switzerland County by August 25th, 2006; must not be a felon; must by a resident of the district represented for one year prior to the election; and must file State Form 47008 by August 25th, 2006.
As a part of that form, candidates are required to obtain the signatures of 10 registered voters from the county.
The school board enhanced those state laws with a policy setting its own requirements which was readopted by the board in August of 2004.
Under the Switzerland County School Corporation policy, a person may run for school board if they are at least 18 years of age (state law is 21); must be a legal and qualified voter in the corporation boundaries and in the Resident District which he/she represents; and must by a resident of the district represented for at least two years immediately prior to the election (state law is one year).
All other state requirements remain as adopted by the state.
The school corporation policy also allows for a board member to serve more than two successive terms; and says that when a board member moves from one resident district to another within the school corporation; he/she shall be disqualified to continue as a member of the board and a vacancy will be created.
Board members are also disqualified if they move out of the school corporation.
A complete set of both state and local school corporation qualifications is available in the Switzerland County Clerk’s office and the Switzerland County School Corporation Administration office.