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USD 112 has open board positions
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LORRAINE — After serving for one year, the seats of the Central Plains USD 112 interim school board will be up for election on April 5, and the elected members will take office July 1. The filing deadline is Jan. 25.

Those serving on the interim board are Alan Siemer, Bert Besthorn, Dawn Dolezal, Malcolm Shaw, Ron Etchison, Jim Vance and Cherlyn Maier.

Each board member was elected by USD 354 or 328, and then appointed by their respective boards to serve on the interim board. Candidates must file with the Ellsworth County Courthouse, which is the home county for the district. The filing fee is $5.

According to the Ellsworth County, the individuals elected to the even-numbered board member positions will be a two-year term and those from the odd-numbered positions will serve a four-year term. Each of the districts has approximately 643 to 664 residents.

One member of the board will be voted on at large with the rest elected from the member district.

The next meeting of the interim school board will be Jan. 17 at the library of the Quivira Heights Elementary/Junior High School at 6 p.m.

Suggested qualifications from the Kansas Association of School Baords for board members are:

• Have a broad background of experience and knowledge.

• Be visionary, able to understand the forces of societal change and to plan for the future.

• Be tolerant and without prejudice.

• Understand education today is complex, and simplistic approaches will not meet today’s challenges.

• Be willing to invest the many hours that will be necessary to carry out the duties of the office.

• Have a sincere desire to serve the community.

• Be responsive to human needs of individuals and groups.

• Willing to be part of a team.

• Listen for a real consensus and not confuse a few noisy voices with a majority feeling.

• Remember the responsibility is to all the children in the state, not solely to those in the local district; and

• Above all, have the capability to learn and grow as one becomes more aware of the responsibilities of one of the most important elective bodies in our society.