In November, local school boards will have multiple seats open for new board members, and the applications for interested individuals will open at the beginning of August.
Mancos’ RE-6 school district will have three open seats that have four-year terms each. Members are permitted to run for two consecutive terms for a total of eight years if they choose. The current board in Mancos consists of members Pamela Coppinger, Victor Figueroa, Katie Cahill-Volpe, Emily Hutcheson-Brown and Tim Hunter.
President Coppinger’s term limit is up, and member Cahill-Volpe won’t be seeking a second term. Mancos Superintendent Todd Cordrey said member Hunter, who took over for someone who left the board early, likely will seek another term.
“When they join the board, their job is really to be whole-district-focused as opposed to a particular interest-focused,” Cordrey said.
The Mancos board even put together a handbook to help new board members “understand what their role is so they can be effective instantly in making the school district better.”
“What we’re looking for in our school district is someone who’s looking at the entire district, someone who is interested in and making sure our students have all the opportunities they deserve to be successful,” Cordrey said. “And really someone who could bring wisdom and thoughtfulness to the board.”
Cordrey urged those interested in the school board to consider applying.
“We’re interested in anyone who’s interested in running for the board. We have some great processes in place with our strategic plan, and we want to continue to make really strong progress with our project-based learning,” Cordrey said.
He also noted that he would answer questions from interested people.
“So as the superintendent, I welcome anyone thinking about running for the board to get in touch, and we can sit down and have a cup of coffee and talk about what it’s like to be on the school board,” he said.
Cordrey’s email is tcordrey@mancosre6.edu.
Dolores RE-4A will try to fill four seats as well, as they just recently filled former Dolores board member Lori Raney’s seat with Michael Rime, who now will run for the seat.
The current board consists of Maegan Crowley, Casey McClellan, Rime, Lenetta Shull and Clay Tallmadge.
Montezuma-Cortez RE-1 will have four open seats. Their board consists of members Sheri Noyes, Sherri Wright, Ed Rice, Jeanette Hart, Cody Wells, Layne Frazier and Lyndreth Wall.
Like Dolores’ Rime, Wall will have to run for his seat in District D since he was appointed to the position in the middle of the year to replace Stacey Hall.
Other open seats are for District A, which is held by Cody Wells; District C, held by Sherri Wright; and District G, held by Layne Frazier.
Candidates for a school board position must be residents of the district to represent the board and be registered voters for at least a year before the election.
Sex offenders are not eligible, and candidates are not permitted to run on the ticket of a political party because school boards board elections are to be nonpartisan.
Candidates must also acquire 25 signatures to run for the Mancos board, and 50 names are required for the Cortez board. Cortez recommends that candidates acquire at least 75 signatures, however, to ensure they end up with 50 valid names.
The signatures must be from people who are registered to vote in the school district area.
Cortez candidates file a “notice of intent to be a candidate” on Aug. 9, and those packets are available at the district office at 400 N. Elm St. in Cortez.
The deadline for petitions to be turned in for Cortez seats is on or before Aug. 31 at 6 p.m. The petitions should be given to Debra Ramsey at the district office.
In Mancos, potential candidates pick up their packets of election information Aug. 9 and return them to Administrative Assistant Heather McKee on Sept. 1.
Those interested in running for the Dolores school board can reach out to the district to learn more about the requirements and the deadlines for petitions.
Valid candidates are turned in to the county elections office, where they are put on the ballot for the election in November.
On Dec. 7-9, boards will travel to Colorado Springs for the annual convention of the Colorado Association of School Boards, to learn more about their duties and responsibilities.
“That gives them a really good opportunity to get three days’ worth of training in at the very beginning of their role in the school board,” Cordrey said.
New board members also receive training from their school districts.
School board members are unpaid volunteers. According to Dolores and Cortez’s board websites, members spend about three to six hours a week reviewing school documents and attending meetings.
According to CASB’s website, a school board’s job is to hire and hold a superintendent accountable for “managing the schools in accordance with federal law, state law and the school board’s policies.”
CASB also noted that a school board “should set educational goals for the school, based upon state laws and community values.” They are a “link between the school system and the public,” CASB’s website says.
