Accountant plans to seek school board seat

With filing a few weeks away, one candidate for the Jefferson City Public School Board has thrown her hat in the ring.

Lorelei Schwartz, an accountant with Schwartz & LeCure LLC, announced her intent to run for one of the two positions up for election in April.

The Jefferson City native attended the public school district from kindergarten through 12th grade, graduating from Jefferson City High School in 1986.

As the mother of two children in the district, Schwartz has been involved in Parent-Teacher Organizations, and said she's been interested in the school board for the past 10-15 years, but always stayed on the sidelines.

She said she has no agenda except restoring the schools to excellence.

"I want to bring the district back to excellence. I want to bring trust back. I want the community to have a reason to trust and support our public schools," Schwartz said. "It's a vicious cycle that takes someone to step in and intercept that."

Hiring new Superintendent Larry Linthacum and high school Principal Bob James was part of the solution, but she said it's important to have open leadership at the school board level as well.

"I can bring honesty and integrity to bridge that gap," she said. "I think I'm a pragmatic, solution-based person."

The two open seats for the school board are currently held by Dennis Nickelson and board Vice President Doug Whitehead.

Nickelson has already said he does not intend to seek re-election. Whitehead has said he will announce his intentions in the near future.

Schwartz said Nickelson's open seat didn't sway her decision to run for the board. She said she likely would have run for election either way.

She is the current treasurer for the Capitol Region Hospital Board and was a member of the Jefferson City Public School Foundation for a six-year term.

The filing date opens Dec. 15 and closes at 5 p.m. Jan. 19; each seat is a two-year term.

Board candidates must be U.S. citizens and resident taxpayers of the district who have resided in Missouri for at least one year. They must be at least 24 years old, and cannot be a registered sex offender.

Candidates will file all required campaign disclosure reports for all previous elections as a candidate and will have paid all fees assessed by the Missouri Ethics Commission.