Just two candidates run for three openings on La Crosse school board; write-ins will count

Only two certified candidates are running for three open seats on the La Crosse School Board this spring, meaning that at least one write-in candidate could be elected in April.

Only Tim Alberts and Adam Manka qualified for the spring election by Tuesday’s filing deadline.

La Crosse’s School Board has nine members, serving three-year terms, so three seats are always listed on the ballot every spring.

“A declaration of candidacy, along with nomination papers, is not required for write-in candidates,” school board secretary Laura Steigerwald told WIZM. “Any write-in that secures a seat would then be required to file a campaign finance registration statement (CF-1). In the chance that there aren’t any write-ins, then the final (third) seat would be a vacancy and would be filled following the Board’s policy on filling vacancies.”

If that happens, the term for the vacancy would be one year.

There is, of course, also the possibility that a write-in candidate isn’t a real person, and Steigerwald covered that, as well.

“For any potentially fictitious write-ins, like Mickey Mouse, it will be up to the Board of Canvassers to determine if that write-in is a legitimate person who could take office or not,” she said.

The three incumbent board members whose seats expire this year are board president Annie Baumann, Jeff Jackson, and Brad Quarberg. They all chose not to seek re-election.

The election cycle ends April 2.

Before that happens, the current school board will likely vote in mid-February to possibly close two elementary schools.

An eight-month look at solving some of the district’s budgeting and student population issues, a Facilities Advisory Committee recommended to the board closing a north- and south-side elementary school. The schools it chose were Hintgen and North Woods.