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Schools

School Board Candidates Begin Filing for April 2012 Election

Filing opened Tuesday for school board candidate races in the Fort Zumwalt and Wentzville school districts.

Candidates began to trickle in for school board seats up for election on April 3, 2012 in the Fort Zumwalt and Wentzville school districts on Tuesday.Candidate filing opened Dec. 13 and will close on Jan. 17. 

In the , former board president Michael Swaringim was among three candidates filing for two open seats on the board.  The other candidates filing on Tuesday were incumbent Mike MacCormack and Jim Pepper.  Barbara Story is the other incumbent whose term is up.

Swaringim and board member Jeff Kutterer were ousted in the district’s school board election finishing fourth and fifth in a six candidate race behind winenrs Laurie Schmidt and Renee Porter. Swaringim served on the board from 1999-2004 and rejoined the board in 2007.

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Just how long the winners of the 2012 election in the Fort Zumwalt School District will serve is up for discussion. Board candidates elected next April could serve six-year terms unless the school district receives an exemption from new state requirements.

Missouri has classified the Fort Zumwalt as an “urban” school district because of population growth. This may require board members to serve six-year rather than three-terms, and set term limits of not more than two terms.

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Fort Zumwalt officials say local state legislators are crafting legislation to overturn the requirement.

Most of the activity on the first day of filing occurred in the . Five candidates, including two incumbents, had filed Tuesday for two open seats.

The candidates filing Tuesday were incumbents Sheryl Cox and David Hurst along with candidates Michael Spiroff, Aaron Schaper and Saundra Garber.

The basic qualifications for becoming a school board member include being a U.S. citizen, a Missouri resident for at least a year before the election, a resident taxpayer of the district and at least 24 years of age.

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