Three school board seats up for election

Three of the five seats on the Sisters School Board will be on the May 17 ballot. That’s the day set aside for school and community college board elections across the state.

Only one of the three incumbents holding the positions up for election this year will run for re-election — Glen Lasken, the board’s current chairman. Bill Reed, the board’s senior member with 13 years of experience, and Eric Dolson, who will have served three years, have said they will not seekre-election.

The Sisters board is not zoned; all five positions are filled by district-wide vote. The school district occupies the northwest corner of Deschutes County and had 4,999 registered voters as of February 1.

Board members serve four-year terms. Anyone interested in becoming a candidate has until March 17 to file the necessary papers with the Deschutes County Clerk’s office in Bend. Forms are available in the school district’s administrative offices at the corner of Pine Street and Hood Avenue.

Like all elections in Oregon now, the one on May 17 will be conducted by mail. County Clerk Nancy Blankenship says ballots will be mailed out by April 29.

Board Chairman Lasken, 46, is completing his sixth year on the board. An attorney who specializes in workers’ compensation law, Lasken has two children in Sisters schools. He was first appointed to fill out two years of the term of a member who had resigned and then four years ago was elected to a full term.

Reed, 56, is a partner with his brother Mike in Coldwell Banker Reed Bros. Realty. He was first elected in 1992 (see story page 34).

Dolson, 55, and his wife, Kiki, are co-publishers of The Nugget. He was appointed to the school board in June 2002 to replace Heather Wester, who resigned. He was elected without opposition a year later to serve two years.

Asked about his decision not to run for a full term, Dolson said: “When I took Heather’s position I had a very limited set of objectives, which I have either met or have decided are ‘unmeetable.’ And I have been involved in volunteer community service for 15 years.”

What were his original objectives? He explained: “I wanted to assist in getting the new high school built on time and on budget. I wanted to help the school district find a superintendent to…help us succeed in our next challenges, and in Ted Thonstad (who was hired last August) I think we have an outstanding superintendent.

“My third hope was to assist the district in computing numerical measurements of (student) performance. I don’t think I’ve been successful in that.”

How would he rate the experience overall? “It’s been extremely difficult, with tangible rewards,” he said. He added, “The school district is served now by a wonderful group of professional educators.