20 file for school board seats

A total of 20 candidates — some new and some incumbents — have stepped up to run for Wayne County’s public school boards.

Each district has a few seats on the November ballot.

The deadline to file for the nonpartisan school board races was June 20.

Western Wayne

Four candidates have filed for the three seats open this fall.

Newcomers Jenni Risch and Todd A. Patterson have filed for the at-large district D seat.

Kris Bex is running unopposed for District B.

Sarah Pennington and Alan Austin, who have represented those districts for about eight years, chose not to seek reelection.

Incumbent David Sturgis filed to run again for District A.

Nettle Creek

Five candidates filed to run for the four seats serving Hagerstown schools.

Candace M. Tramel and Julie Blaase both want to serve District A. Blaase currently serves as an at-large member, while Tramel is not on the board. Incumbent Dan Davis is not running again.

Mike Banning filed for Nettle Creek’s District C. Incumbent David Moore did not file.

Ruthie LaMar and incumbent Sandra Schraub filed for the two at-large seats.  

Northeastern

The Knights have three seats on the ballot this fall: Districts B, C and D.

Patrick Barker, who isn’t currently on the board, filed for District B. Keith Webster did not file for re-election. 

Shawntel Baker filed to run again for Northeastern’s District D and Dan VanDuyne wants to keep representing District C.

Richmond

Four candidates filed for Richmond Community Schools’ four open seats.

Newcomer Cathy Hillard and incumbent Aaron Stevens filed for the two at-large seats. John Weber chose not to run again.

RCS staggers the start of service for some members to avoid a potential influx of several new board members at once; Hillard and Stevens would not be sworn in for the at-large seats until Jan. 1, 2026.

Incumbent Nicole Stults filed for District 1, and newly appointed member Austin Brann filed for District 2. They would be sworn in during the first meeting after Jan 1, 2025.

Centerville-Abington

All three Centerville incumbents whose seats are on the ballot (Andy Wandersee, Renee Westover and Todd Duke) filed to run again. They serve districts A, C and D, respectively. No one filed to run against them.