by Josh Margolis, staff writer

On November 5th, students at HHS that are eligible to vote will have a crucial decision to make at the polls.

Three of the seven school board positions are up for grabs, and six candidates are vying for the chance to have a seat on the board.

The board includes the positions: chair, vice chair, and treasurer, as well as four directors. The board’s website states that it’s primary objectives are to establish district policy, select and evaluate superintendents, and to manage the revenue and budget of the district.

Five of the candidates will be attempting to win their first term on the board.

Michael “Doobie” Kurus has been active in the district for the past 15 years as a volunteer and a Special Education teacher at Eisenhower Elementary.

Katie Fulkerson hopes to provide the board with a fresh perspective from a younger member of the community.

Gang Gary Jing would like to use his experience as professor to use the district’s money wisely.

The two other candidates, Warren Goodroad and Betsy Anderson, are incumbents. Anderson has been on the board for eight years, Goodroad for four. Both currently hold the position of directors on the board.

The reason that a third incumbent is not running is because the chair of the board, Susan Wooten, has decided to step down. Wooten is finishing her first term as a board member, and has decided, in part because of personal reasons, to not run for reelection.

“My husband is teaching a course next winter in India, and I’m going with him. I’m also going to be examining some of the Indian school systems too. I’m not sure how I’m going to be using that in the future, but I have some ideas about where I’ll be going with policy and education in the future.”

Wooten, however, didn’t rule out the possibility of again running for the board sometime down the road.

“Who knows what the future holds? It’s possible I could run again for school board. I wouldn’t rule it out.”

For now, though, Wooten has faith that those elected will put the district first.

“The thing that school board members realize when they join the school board is that it’s not about individual standouts being stars, it’s really about seven people having to work together to formulate one position.”