Two Onondaga County school districts will go into the elections Tuesday with too few board candidates to fill the open seats on their school boards.
Skaneateles and Tully both face a shortage of interested candidates for the job, which is an unpaid, volunteer position.
That means residents in those districts may not know their full board slate after polls close Tuesday.
In the Skaneateles school district, one candidate is running for three open seats on the school board. Two of the openings are three-year terms and one is a year-appointment to fill a vacancy.
In the Tully school district, one candidate is running, but there are two open, three-year seats.
So what happens when there aren’t enough candidates? The write-in candidate with the most votes wins, that is after the winner is vetted to ensure they want the position and are eligible, said Tully Superintendent Darcy Woodcock.
If more than one write-in candidate ties for a win and both want the job, a special election will be held to determine the winner, Woodcock said.
READ MORE: Here’s who is running for school board and where to vote
How often does this happen? Woodcock said it’s unusual in Tully. Skaneateles Business Manager Connor Brown said he also believes it’s unusual in his district as well.
Statewide, there are fewer people running for school board, said Cathy Woodruff, speaking for the New York State School Boards Association. The ballots are often emptier in smaller, rural districts.
Overall, there are fewer candidates running for school board seats statewide than last year, she said.
This year, there are 1.3 candidates running, on average, for school board seats, she said. Last year, that ratio was higher — 1.5 people ran for every seat.
At the same time, 55% of school districts this year have uncontested school board races. That means they either have the same number of candidates as open seats, or fewer candidates for open seats, she said.
Also, from 2017 to 2020, about a quarter of incumbents…
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