Eight running for Hamburg school board

Voters in the Hamburg, Eden, Frontier, Lake Shore and North Collins school districts are going to have decisions to make on May 15, as school board candidates had to file their petitions by Monday (April 16).

Some of the districts will also referendums to its voters as part of the annual budget and trustee vote next month.

Hamburg Central School District

Eight candidates – including three incumbents – are seeking three positions on the school board.

Current Board President Joan Calkins and Vice-President Patricia Brunner-Collins are seeking another term. Also, Robert Madden, who was appointed to the board last fall following the resignation of Kelly Harper, is also seeking to remain on the school board.

The three will be challenged by Laura Heeter, John Maurer, Tacy O’Connor-Robillard, Sally Stephenson and Ginger Taylor.

The top two vote getters will serve three-year terms, while the person with the third highest vote total will join the board immediately and serve the final year of Harper’s original term. That seat will be up for election for a full term in 2013.

Frontier Central School District

The Frontier Central School Board will have two new members come July as current members Michael Comerford and Stanley Figiel are not seeking reelection.

Two candidates – Thomas M. Best, Jr., and Patrick T. Boyle are seeking to replace the two incumbents on the board. The winners will serve five-year terms.

Voters will also have to decide on the purchase of school buses and grounds and maintenance equipment as part of three referendums. The other two are to reduce the board from nine to seven members, effective July 1, 2013, and to allow the appointment of a high school student as a non-voting, ex-officio member of the board.

Eden Central

School District

Four candidates will seek three seats on the Eden School Board.

Scott Henderson, Michael M. Byrnes, Barbara Henry and Robert J. Reed are the candidates, and due to the recent resignations of former school board members Patrick Howard and Brian Burgstahler, the terms will all be different.

The top vote getter will have a three-year and six-week term. The candidate with the second highest total of votes will have a three-year term, while the candidate with the third highest total will have a two-year, six-week term.

Lake Shore Central School District

Incumbent school board members Richard Vogan and Jennifer Wackowski are seeking reelection to the Lake Shore Central School Board and will seek to hold off challenges from Jennifer Farrell, David Lopez and Kenneth West.

The top two vote getters will serve three-year terms.

District voters – who did not pass a referendum to allow for the purchase of buses in May – will decide whether to pass a referendum to purchase five, full-size 71-passenger school buses, one 30-passenger school bus, two 24-passenger wheel chair accessible school buses, one Ford F-350 Plow Truck, and one Ford F-350 Service Truck.The cost would be a total of $823,889.41.

North Collins Central School District

Incumbent board members David Gier and Paulette Renaldo are seeking five-year terms on the school board and will be challenged by Lisa Petrus during the May 15 vote.

Residents in the North Collins School District will also have to decide on the purchase of two vehicles.