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Roaring Fork Schools board to operate one member down until Nov. 5 election

Nominations close next week for school board seats in all three Garfield County districts

Glenwood Springs Elementary School staff greet students and parents on the first day back to school Monday, Aug. 19. It was the first day of the new school year in all Roaring Fork District schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt.
Chelsea Self / Post Independent

No applicants came forward to fill an open seat on the Roaring Fork School District Board of Education for the interim until the November election, leaving the board to wait until that time to let the voters decide.

The seat was left vacant by board member Matt Hamilton’s resignation earlier this year. Hamilton, who represented one of the Carbondale-area seats (Director District B), left Carbondale to take a job in the Denver area.

The board in June issued a call for nominations for a replacement to be appointed until the Nov. 5 election, when that and two other seats will be up for election. As of the deadline last week, no one had applied.



That means the board overseeing Roaring Fork District schools in Glenwood Springs, Carbondale and Basalt will function with four, instead of the usual five members for the first three months of the new school year. Classes began on Monday.

In the meantime, nominating petitions for the three open seats in the Roaring Fork District are due by 3:30 p.m. Aug. 30.



Director District B takes in the sections of Carbondale west of Highway 133, along with most of the area west of Highway 82, including Aspen Glen and the Ironbridge and Westbank neighborhoods.

The other two school board seats up for election in November are District C and District D.

District C covers south Glenwood Springs, Spring Valley and the western portion of Missouri Heights. It currently is held by Mary Elizabeth Geiger. District D covers downtown and West Glenwood, and that seat is held by Shane Larson.

To be eligible for the board, a person must reside in the open district and must have been a registered elector in that area for at least 12 months.

Prospective candidates must file a written notice of intent to be a candidate and a nomination petition signed by at least 50 eligible electors who are registered to vote in the Nov. 5 election.

To obtain a petition, contact Angie Davlyn at adavlyn@rfschools.com or 970-384-6001. Spanish speakers can contact Olga Villasenor at ovillasenor@rfschools.com or 970.384.6004.

4 seats up in Garfield Re-2 district

Meanwhile, the Garfield School District Re-2 has four school board seats up for election in November. The deadlines for submitting a nominating petition are the same as for the Roaring Fork district.

Re-2 seats up for election include:

• Director B (currently held by Jay Rickstrew) generally described as Rifle east of Whiteriver Avenue and Highway 13 containing a significant portion of Highlands East neighborhood, continuing to the western town limits of Silt; 

• Director C (currently held by Jacquelyn Johnson) — south Rifle including the neighborhoods of Cottonwood Springs and part of Highlands East;

• Director D (currently held by Brock Hedberg) — Town of Silt and unincorporated Garfield County south and east of Silt to New Castle town limits.

Director District A (currently held by Tom Slappey) will be up for a two-year term. That district takes in the areas west of Railroad Avenue in Rifle.

Slappey, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year, must run to retain the seat for the remainder of the term. Anyone from District A wishing to run would be competing for a two-year term.

Candidates can pick up a nomination petition from Sharon Donohoue at the Garfield Re-2 District Office, 839 Whiteriver Ave., Rifle, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to noon Fridays.

Petitions are due by noon Aug. 30. More information is available on the Garfield Re-2 website at http://www.garfieldre2.net. 

Parachute board has 2 open seats

Garfield County’s westernmost school district, District 16, also has two seats up for election in November.

Nominating petitions can be obtained at the District 16 Office, 0460 Stone Quarry Rd., Parachute, between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Tuesday through Friday. Petitions are due by noon Aug. 30.


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