Should I Run for School Board?

Okay, so Kevin and I are talking about whether I should run for school board in the next election cycle. We seem to be somewhat short of candidates at the moment, and there’s still a little time, but not that much (petitions are due Dec 14). He’s supportive, but pointed out that if I were going to take on another thing, I should figure out what I would cut to make space for it, which is a fair question.

School board seems like it meets twice as often as library board (which has been once a month on Tuesday nights, this would be twice a month on Tuesday nights), so figure an extra 5-6 hours month. (Time to read the board packet + plus attend the twice-a-month meeting + serve on a committee which meets a few times a quarter.)

On the plus side, it’s in the evenings — I’d have a hard time justifying taking away from writing or teaching time right now, and I don’t usually do either in the evenings. What do I do in the evenings? Watch TV, cook and craft, I think. I think I can give up some TV watching time, and cook and craft a little less.

I’m mostly just thinking this out for myself — I want to decide soon if I’m going to actually do it. But feel free to weigh in. And if you’re thinking of running for local office and have questions, this is a great place to drop them.

As a relevant note, I’d do a much more low-key campaign this time around, since a) I’m much better known in the local community than I was four years ago, and b) I don’t think there are a ton of people running for these seats. And if someone else good beats me out, that’d be fine with me. 🙂 So that part is better — I’d need to spend much less time campaigning / fundraising than last time around.

I *would* need to collect a few hundred petition signatures in the next few week, which might be a little tricky with shelter-in-place and no community gatherings to attend. Clipboard on my porch, I think, and ask people to swing by and sign? Hm.

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