Candidates sparse for Carson City school board seats

A week after the filing period opened for the 2010 elections, only one candidate has entered the race for any of the four open school board seats.

Robert Prater filed Friday for the District 1 seat, which is held by Norm Scoggin, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Prater, a retired senior chief in the Navy, moved to Carson City from Southern California 10 years ago.

In the last couple of years, he has served in citizen committees to help direct the school district, including the current master plan committee.

"I just want to see a continuation of what we're doing," he said. "We've got a lot to do in the future."

He said he felt an obligation to become involved when he saw the lack of interest in the community.

"Nobody else was running," he said. "I didn't want to see anybody appointed who had no real interest in the schools."

Lynnette Conrad, who was appointed to the District 4 seat in January 2009, said she planned on filing next week and would "most definitely" encourage others to run as well.

"Especially the people with kids in the school district so they have a voice," she said. "It certainly is a time commitment, but I think it's well worth the effort."

Randy Carlson, appointed to District 6 in December, said he plans to file next week as well.

"In our school district, we need to think really seriously about the kind of education we're delivering to our kids," he said. "If you look around at what our competitors are doing for their kids, we need to do more for ours without throwing money at it."

Stacie Wilke, who was appointed to the District 3 seat in September, said she is still deciding whether she will run for election this year.