Voters in Bartholomew County won’t have any choices to make in the non-partisan fall school board races.
All candidates seeking a seat on the board of trustees for Bartholomew Consolidated and Flat Rock-Hawcreek school corporations are running unopposed in the Nov. 6 election. Filing opened July 25 and closed at noon Friday.
BCSC incumbent board member Jill Shedd became the final candidate to officially file her candidacy, which she did Aug. 7. Shedd, an assistant dean for teacher education at Indiana University, has served District 1 on the BCSC school board since 2006.
Other BCSC incumbents on the ballot are Richard A. Stenner, Jr. in District 2 and Kathy Dayhoff-Dwyer in District 6.
Julie Bilz, an associate professor at Ivy Tech Community College, is seeking the District 4 seat being vacated by retired Cummins executive Bob Abrams on the BCSC board.
Incumbent Flat Rock-Hawcreek board members guaranteed another four-year term are Hawcreek Township representative John Harker and school board president Pat Walters, an at-large member.
Construction company owner Chad Miller has filed to fill the Flat Rock Township board position held by construction estimator Andy Hunnicutt, who decided not to seek a third term.
While there were three contested BCSC school board races in 2016, all others going back to 2008 involved candidates running unopposed, according to records kept by the county voter registration office.
But that hasn’t always been the case.
When Ray Zeigler served six consecutive terms on the BCSC board, from 1980 through 2004, there were many more candidates willing to serve on the board, he said.
A lack of competitive school board races hurts the community because significant educational issues that need to be discussed or debated aren’t brought up during the campaign, he said.
For a parent, serving on a school board means taking an active role in ensuring the protection and well-being of all children, as well as providing the leadership and support staff capable of giving kids a brighter future, Zeigler said.
And since taxpayers are providing BCSC with a $115 million annual budget, even adults without children in school should be stepping forward to ensure that public money is wisely invested, he said.
After witnessing the joy and enthusiasm of teachers and students for positive actions that he and other school members had approved, Zeigler said he gained a sense of invigoration, fulfillment and self-satisfaction while serving as a school board member, he said.
