Tecumseh School Board draws limited interest in open seats

With a little more than two weeks to go before the Tuesday, Aug. 14, deadline, no completed petitions for Tecumseh School Board candidates have been received at either the Lenawee County Clerk’s Office or Raisin Charter Township Clerk’s office. The petitions are available at both offices and must be signed by no less than 40 nor more than 100 registered voters.“We haven’t received any at this point,” said County Clerk Roxanne Holloway, “but we’d like to remind voters that it will be a general election, meaning that voting will take place at all regular polling places.”Tecumseh School board candidates will appear on the Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2012, general election ballot along with candidates for state and national offices.There are two seats that will be open for the Tecumseh School Board, formerly occupied by Board Secretary Karen Januszek and Trustee Kevin Packard, who have both chosen not to seek reelection. In a written statement, Januszek said, “It was an honor to be elected and a privilege to serve the school and community. The experience was educational, rewarding, and difficult at times too. We have a great school system in Tecumseh — and I am pleased to have been a part of it — as a board member, a former teacher at THS, and a parent of a THS graduate. I wish the best to the other board members and to those that step up and run for the position in November.” Under Michigan’s new uniform election cycle, two board members will be elected for six-year terms in this cycle. Board members Januszek’s and Packard’s terms will expire Dec. 31 of this year. School board elections will now be held only on even-numbered years, so the next election will not be until 2014.Tecumseh School Board President Ed Tritt said that the new extended term might be a sticking point for some potential candidates. When the TPS board was debating the formula for board term rotations, he pointed out that a six-year term, rather than the four-year terms that the board had served throughout its history, might prove intimidating to some.“Anyone who’s interested still has enough time to turn in a petition with the necessary number of signatures,” said Raisin Twp. Clerk Betty Holdridge. “They still have a little while before the deadline.”The county office is located in the Lenawee County Courthouse, 425 N. Main St., Adrian, and is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Raisin Twp. office is located at 5255 Occidental Hwy. and is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.Candidates may also pay a $100 nonrefundable fee to be on the ballot in lieu of collecting signatures. Certification of ballot language by the county election coordinator will be complete on or before Tuesday, Aug. 28 to allow time to prepare absentee ballots, which will be available to voters through the county and local township clerks by Saturday, Sept. 22.Anyone wishing to become a registered voter in time for the November election has until Tuesday, Oct. 2. Registration may be accomplished at city, township, and county offices.[Editor’s note] Roger Hart files petition for Tecumseh School Board seat:Just prior to press time on Wednesday, July 25, it was learned that Roger Hart has filed a petition to run for a seat on the Tecumseh School Board. Hart said he believed that the decision to hire a new superintendent would be an important one and he hoped he would be able to be a part of that.Hart has been a resident of Tecumseh since 1983.