Deadline to enter school board election nears

Ten school board positions are up for election this fall in Plymouth County, and the deadline to file papers is only a week away.

Candidates wishing to run for seats must turn in nomination papers with a designated number of signatures by 5 p.m. Thursday, July 31 to their schools' board secretary.

Le Mars Community Schools' board of education has two positions open for the Sept. 9 election: those of Districts 3 and 5. Candidates in Le Mars must have 50 signatures of support on their nomination papers.

The LCS District 3 seat is currently held by Marjorie Franke, who announced earlier her plans not to seek re-election. The District 5 seat is held by Dan Smith, who has filed papers for re-election, according to LCS administration.

Other county school boards:

*Akron-Westfield has three seats open: Districts 5 and 6 plus an at-large district. Candidates must have 23 signatures on their nomination papers. Those seats are currently held by Janet Willer (Dist. 5), Kirk Banks (Dist. 6) and Roger Oetken (at-large).

*Hinton has two at-large seats open on the school board. To file nomination papers, candidates must collect 22 signatures. Those seats are currently held by Ed Vondrak and Ken Hoefling.

*Kingsley-Pierson has two seats open: Districts 2 and 4. Candidates must have 18 signatures of support. Those seats are currently held by Clayton Powell (Dist. 2) and Cindy Inman (Dist. 4).

*Remsen-Union has one seat open: District 2. Candidates must collect 30 signatures. The seat is currently held by Arlie Pick.