Pay attention and get involved

It’s election time in the New Prague Area School District, but one would hardly know it.

Three seats on the New Prague Area School Board are up for grabs. The three incumbents, Don Dvorak, Jerry Walerius and Sherry Brooks, are running for reelection for four-year terms on the board. Two years ago there was no shortage of candidates for the school board. Two years prior to that, there were four running for the three open spots.

Elections work best when there are candidates. When more than one person runs for elective office, voters, hopefully, look at the issues and the candidates and choose those they feel will best represent them. Having no opposition is a sign of one of two things - either there is general agreement in the community that the incumbents are doing a great job, or there is a kind of apathy in that no one really cares what is going on.

We will agree that it seems the school district is doing a good job. The district continues to grow, test scores continue to be high when compared to neighboring districts and the district’s fiscal house appears to be in order, judging by the district’s annual audit and by the healthy reserve funds the district has in its budget.

Still, we lament the fact that there is no opposition, or at the least, no additional candidates for the board. Having a contested election forces candidates, board members and voters to look at all sides of the issues and come up with sound solutions. 

We urge residents to pay attention to school board business and consider becoming involved. Another election will be coming in two years, with four seats up for election. It would be nice to see more than four names on the ballot.