The deadline for school board candidates to file their candidacy was Friday, August 26th, at noon.  We now know who the candidates will be.  I will get to that in a moment.  There are a number of new residents in Fishers, and I have been receiving a lot of questions about our local school board election.  Let me provide a little background first, then list all the candidates.

When you are elected to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board, you are elected to a four-year term.  For example, in 2014, four board seats were up for election, one seat in each of the four school board districts.

This year will be an at-large election, sort of.  Rather than candidates running at-large in the entire district, this at-large election will consist of races in each of the townships that make up the HSE School District…that would be Delaware, Fall Creek and Wayne Townships.  Voters in each township will elect one school board member from that township.  Why is the election set-up this way?  I’m not sure, but it’s likely tied to an agreement reached in the process of the HSE School District being consolidated many years ago.

So, every two years HSE has a school board election, selecting board members to four-year terms.  Every two years, we rotate between selecting candidates from each of the four districts, then having an election selecting one board member from each of the three townships, making up the seven-member board.  In 2016, we elect one board member from each township.

With that out of the way, let’s set the stage for the 2016 HSE School Board election.

If you are looking for incumbents, there are two.  In Wayne Township, Sylvia Shepler is seeking her fourth consecutive term on the board.  In Fall Creek Township, Howard Stevenson was appointed by the board to serve the remainder of Darren Sink’s term (Darren left Fishers for another job) and is running in this election.   Karen Harmer apparently feels 18 years on the board is enough, so she is not seeking re-election in Delaware Township.

Here are your 2016 candidates for HSE School Board (listed alphabetically by first letter of first name in each township):

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Delaware Township

Adam Harness

Amanda J. Shera

Bradley Jones

Franklin W. Whelan

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Fall Creek Township

Howard Stevenson

J. Kent Everett

Mike Bottorff

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Wayne Township

Charron Wright

Sylvia Shepler

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I understand at least one organization is in the process of putting together a candidate forum.  I will let you know more when anything is announced.