By: Grace Baranowski and John Shi <[email protected], [email protected]>

On Tuesday, the names of the seven candidates for the Carmel Clay School Board will appear on the Indiana primary ballot, along with the names of the presidential candidates (though voting-age Carmel Clay residents can opt to vote only for the school board).

The school board election is given through the Hamilton County Board, according to Superintendent of schools Barbara Underwood, and they generally know the results that evening. The candidates take their positions on July 1.

The seven members seek to fill two seats on the school board in this election held every two years. On alternating elections, according to Underwood, either two or three board seats are elected. According to Joseph Miller, secretary of the board of trustees and school board member, elections are staggered in order to prevent the complications that would arise should the entire school board change hands at once.

Underwood said, “The issues may or may not change because three members continue to serve. The majority won’t change.”

However, the policies examined on the board are “truly dependent on who is elected and what issues they want to address,” according to Underwood.

Miller said he is up for re-election, since it is the end of his four-year term. Campaigning as the experienced candidate, Miller said that although there is always speculation that the election will be easier for an incumbent, he doesn’t “take (the election) for granted at all.” But according to Underwood, a candidate running for a second time is a “fairly common occurance even though last time it didn’t happen.”

As a superintendent in her eighth year, this 2008 school board election is “either the third or fourth” for Underwood. She said she doesn’t involve herself, though. “The school board supervises me; that’s why I don’t get involved,” she said. “I have five bosses, and every two years they change.”

Senior J.C. Pankratz’s mother, English teacher Sherri Pankratz, was the campaign manager for the last school board election. According to J.C., her mother managed the campaigns of Bruce Calabrese, Stephen Backer and Greg Philips, all of whom ran together.

J.C. said, “I remember when the school board members won. I came home from rehearsal for the musical, and I called my mom because I heard that we had won, and she was hoarse from crying because she was just that happy. I don’t think I’ll ever forget that moment because she had worked so hard, and she was so happy.”

Underwood said she also finds significance in the school board elections. She said, “This is pretty important.” She also said that she hopes that the people who vote do so with knowledge of the candidates.

But to Underwood, fulfilling community obligations on the school board is also a valuable undertaking. “Serving as a member of a school board is one of the best service contributions someone can make to their school board.”