Carson City school races slow to develop

Challengers successfully unseated two of three incumbents on the Carson City School Board in 2006. Trustees Joe Enge and Barbara Howe ousted James Hukari and Jeff Fontaine respectively.

Only one incumbent, Bob Crowell, was re-elected.

But that was then.

Unless more candidates file before the end of Friday, the new guard will be joined by at least one new face.

"Who knows, things could change," Enge said Tuesday afternoon. "But it looks like there aren't a lot of new (hats) in the ring."

As of press time Tuesday, only challenger, Carson resident Ed Skudlarek, had filed to run for the Carson City school board.

Incumbents John McKenna and James Lemaire re-filed last week and are thus far running unopposed.

Skudlarek is running for Joanna Wilson's District 7 seat.

"It's my understanding that (Wilson) filed a little while ago today," Superintendent Mary Pierczynski said Tuesday evening. "In any rate, that looks like our only race so far."

A check of Carson City's Web site dedicated to campaign filings didn't list Wilson's name as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.

"It's pretty surprising there aren't more candidates," Enge said. "But, that's kind of a reflection of what's going on regionally and nationally."

According to a 2007 survey by Dr. Albert Nylander of Delta State University, a straw poll of some 2,000 school board members nationwide revealed more than 35 percent surveyed ran unopposed in their last election.

"Those seem like pretty high numbers considering how much (school districts) spend and how important they are to the community," said Enge, who referenced the study. "I think here in Carson the (school district) is a bigger employer than the city, with a bigger budget.

"But we don't always get heated races."

One point of contention Enge noted was that Skudlarek's wife is a teacher employed by the district.

"We checked with legal counsel today and it's OK for someone to file who has a spouse who works in the district.

"The person who can't run is the teacher."

• Contact reporter Andrew Pridgen at apridgen@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.