With the passage of a new law by the Iowa Legislature, terms of school board members will grow to four years. Each school district in the state has submitted plans with the Iowa Secretary of State as to how they will phase in these new terms.

The change in terms will also mean that school board elections will only be held in odd numbered years. 2010 will be the first year that there will be no school board election in September. In addition to lengthening the terms of school board members, the legislature also set limits on how many times a year special elections can be held. Starting January 1, 2009, districts will only be able to have four special elections a year.

Tomorrow, voters all over the county will head to the polls to elect members to serve on their school boards. In the Le Mars district, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. In the other districts in the county, polls will be open from 12 noon to 8 p.m.

Voters in the Le Mars district will also decide the fate of the Instructional Suppot Levy (ISL). This is the second time voters have seen the levy on the ballot, and the ISL is one of the reasons the polls are open longer in the Le Mars district.

Last time, a larger than expected turnout created lines at the voting locations, especially in Le Mars at the lower level of the Convention Center, where residents living within the corporate limits cast their ballots.

Interest in the ISL will more than likely be the main factor turning out residents of the Le Mars district, even though there is a contested race for school board.

Please make the time to vote tomorrow. It does matter. And when Wednesday comes and the votes are all tallied, it would do us all well to remember that we are a single community, no matter how we disagree on issues.

That constant should never change.