With term limits for Warsaw School Board members on the verge of changing from two consecutive four-year terms to four consecutive four-year terms, two office holders who’ll reach their eight years of service by year’s end could run for another term in November.
But Matt Dick, District 1, and Dan Metzger, District 7, reiterated Tuesday that they will not be seeking re-election this fall.
“I currently do not have plans to seek re-election this fall,” Dick said via text message. Metzger texted, “I am not seeking another term.”
At the Feb. 13 school board meeting, Dick read a statement that he and Metzger would not seek a third term if the policy to extend board terms from two to four was approved. Their second four-year term ends Dec. 31.
Warsaw School Board voted 6-1 Dec. 13 on a resolution to increase member term limits from two to four. A term is four years. Metzger was the sole board member who voted against the resolution.
A notice was published Dec. 15 that the board voted on the resolution. Voters had 120 days from that publication to file a petition objecting to the plan or proposing their own. Contesting the plan required 500 signatures from registered voters to put the issue on the ballot.
Letters to the editor in the Times-Union indicated a group of school district patrons were planning to oppose the decision by circulating petitions.
Ann Torpy, Kosciusko County clerk, said Tuesday that there were not enough signatures to get a referendum question on the ballot.
The new plan for term limits was submitted to the State Board of Education for its approval, which Indiana SBOE Director of External Affairs Josh Gillespie confirmed will be on the SBOE’s July agenda.
Warsaw School Board has four seats up for election this fall. Along with Districts 1 and 7, the other two seats are District 2 and 5.
Jeremy Mullins currently represents District 5. He has been a board member since October, fulfilling board president Jennifer Tandy’s term after she moved to San Diego.
Current Board President Heather Reichenbach represents District 2. She’s been a board member since January 2015.
Current terms for Jay Baumgartner, District 6; Randy Polston, District 4; and Elle Turley, District 3 do not end until Dec. 31, 2020.
Filing Begins July 25
School board candidate filing for the 2018 general election begins July 25, ending at noon Aug. 24. The general election is Nov. 6.
Information on the election, along with forms to file for office, are available on the county website at www.kcgov.com.
Local school board seats up for election in November include:
• Tippecanoe Valley School Board
District 3, Franklin Township, Kosciusko County, incumbent Stan Miller
District 4, Henry Township, Fulton County, incumbent Bryan Murphy
District 5, New Castle Township, Fulton County, incumbent Todd Hoffman
• Wa-Nee Community School Board
Harrison Township, Elkhart County, incumbent Terry Graber
Locke Township, Elkhart County, incumbent Curt Flickinger
Union Township, Elkhart County, incumbent Lou Bonacorsi
• Warsaw Community School Board
District 1, incumbent Matt Dick
District 2, incumbent Heather Reichenbach
District 5, incumbent Jeremy Mullins
District 7, incumbent Dan Metzger
• Whitko Community School Board
District 4, Jackson Township, Monroe Township, Washington Township, Kosciusko County, incumbent Eric Trump
District 5, Richland Township and Cleveland Township, Whitley County, incumbent Jorell Tucker
• Triton School Board
District 1, Tippecanoe Township, Marshall County, incumbent Terri Barnhart
District 2, Etna Township, Kosciusko County, incumbent Steve Stichter
District 4, Town of Bourbon, Marshall County, incumbent Ken Miller
• Wawasee Community School Board
District 1, Tippecanoe Township, incumbent Rob Fisher
District 2, Turkey Creek Township, incumbent Mary Lou Dixon
District 3, Van Buren Township, incument Rebecca Linnemeier
