At least one familiar figure is in the running to fill a vacant seat on the Boise School Board: Mike Lanza.
In all, 15 people are seeking the board vacancy. The list also includes a recent Boise School Board candidate, a member of the state’s charter school commission and several applicants with teaching experience inside and outside the Boise School District.
Lanza played a lead role in the successful 2012 campaign to repeal Propositions 1, 2 and 3 — along with current trustee Brian Cronin, elected in September.
More recently, Lanza was campaign spokesman for Democratic gubernatorial candidate A.J. Balukoff. Balukoff lost, but he still holds his longtime spot on the Boise School Board.
Lanza announced his bid Wednesday on his Facebook page. “To everyone who urged me to apply for the open seat on the Boise School Board, thanks for the encouragement. I put my name in today.”
The applicant list also includes Boise attorney Anthony Shallat, a candidate for a School Board seat in September, and Brian Scigliano, appointed earlier this year to the Idaho Public Charter School Commission.
Other applicants include:
- Ron Alexander, a drafter and designer.
- Claire Armstrong, a parent and teacher.
- Alecia Baker, a retired junior high school teacher in the Boise district.
- Nancy Baskin, a staff attorney with U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge.
- Jim Core, a teacher at the West Ada School District’s Sawtooth Middle School.
- Mellisa Maxwell, an attorney with Healthwise Inc.
- Anthony Quilici, an assistant principal at Bishop Kelly High School, a Catholic school in Boise.
- Decateur Reed, a Boise State University professor.
- Wendy St. Mitchell, an independent contractor with the State Department of Education.
- Laura Shealy, a neighborhood association board member and former sales and marketing manager.
- Lachelle Smith, local administrator for AmeriCorps VISTA and Senior Corps.
- David Wagers, president of Idaho Candy Co.
Wednesday afternoon was the deadline for candidates to apply for the trustee’s spot left vacant by Joan Boren. On Oct. 31, Boren resigned abruptly, saying the board is “not an independent, governing body and instead serves at the pleasure of district administration.”
It will be up to the remaining six trustees to interview applicants and select a trustee to complete the remaining two years of Boren’s six-year term. Interviews will be held on Jan. 7 and, if necessary, on Jan. 9. Trustees will vote on the appointment on Jan. 12.
