Candidates file petitions for PUSD, HUSD, CVUSD and JTED governing boards

The governing boards of the Prescott, Humboldt and Chino Valley school districts each have two of their five positions up for election in November. Wednesday was the deadline for filing nomination petitions with the Yavapai County School Superintendent's Office.

Prescott Unified School District and Chino Valley Unified School District will each have a new governing board member.

PUSD board member Andy Newton is not running for re-election. In CVUSD, the July resignation of board member Paul Mitchell created a vacancy that will be filled during the Nov. 2 General Election.

In PUSD, incumbent Joan Fleming is seeking re-election. Maureen Erickson, Daniel Franks and Jack Jackson filed nominating petitions and will appear on the November ballot.

Mary Louise Bergman is challenging incumbents Gary Marks and Scott Paulsen for a seat on the Humboldt Unified School District Governing Board.

CVUSD board member Travis Bard is seeking re-election. Penny Hubble and Kelly O'Brien also are seeking a seat on the CVUSD board.

When voters in seven public school districts approved the formation of Mountain Institute Joint Technical Education District (JTED) two years ago, County School Superintendent Tim Carter appointed the original governing board members on the recommendation of each of the member school district governing boards. The JTED board members were to serve until the next General Election - Nov. 2.

The percentage of votes received by each district candidate would determine the initial term rotation. The four districts receiving the highest percentage of votes would receive four-year terms, and the next three districts would receive an initial two-year term. At the next General Election, in 2012, those two-year terms would become four-year terms. After that, a four-year term rotation would be in effect for the JTED board.

However, Carter told the board in July that the law and the JTED plan did not "anticipate that the current board would be running unopposed."

Typically, Carter would cancel an election when the number of candidates equals the number of seats available. This saves the district the cost of an election.

However, since the election establishes the JTED board's term rotation, Carter could not cancel the election without another method of determining which districts would have an initial two-year term and which would have a four-year term.

In July, Carter offered the JTED board two options - decide among themselves which districts would take a two-year or four-year term, or draw lots. The board members decided among themselves which districts would take which terms.

Board members Roger Harlow from Chino Valley, Jesse Eller from Prescott and Ronnie Hawley of Seligman chose two-year terms for their districts. Board members Heidi Baker from Ash Fork, Tony Carroll from Bagdad, Thomas Liuzzo from Humboldt and Casey Samsill from Mayer selected four-year terms for their district.

Eller, Hawley and Liuzzo did not file nominating petitions.

JTED board members seeking re-election include Baker, Carroll, Harlow and Samsill.

William Fitzgerald filed nominating petitions to represent Seligman on the JTED governing board.