Brown, six hopefuls will campaign for HVS school board

Voters in the Huron Valley School District will be asked to choose from a field of seven candidates to fill two four-year terms on the Board of Education during the Tuesday, Nov. 8 general election.

The filing deadline for candidates was 4 p.m. yesterday, Tuesday, Aug. 16.

Board Secretary and incumbent Bonnie Brown, who was appointed to complete Debbie Squires’ term in 2010, has opted to run for her first full term of office.

“Even though it involves many challenging decisions, I’ve enjoyed my past eight months on the school board, as I have always been an advocate for children.” Brown said. “My main reason for running is due to the fact that I was appointed to a position that is normally filled with a public vote. I want to know that the public supports me in representing them with the school district.”

Long-standing board member John Knight has opted not to seek re-election after serving the community for 20 years.

Challengers Kim E. Galbraith; Russ Krawczyk; Kevin Lawrence; Jeffrey Long; Karen Wallis; and Xuan Avallone also filed petitions to run for office.

The Huron Valley Board of Education voted to revise the election cycle for the district in December 2010, moving from odd years to even years, to align with state and national election cycles.

To transition to the even-year cycle, board members elected in the November 2011 and 2013 elections will have their terms extended by one year to align with the even-year cycle. Although the November 2011 ballot will state the elected board members would serve a four-year term, following the election, the Board of Education will take action to extend the terms for one year in order to effectuate the policy change that was approved on December 16, 2010.

Board members receive $30 per meeting for up to 52 meetings per year and receive reimbursement for board-related travel, including training and expenses.