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Jennifer Swindell | 08/03/2022

Idaho Education News and the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce are partnering to cover the Boise School District’s board of trustees races. Our goal is to help you get to know the candidates.

EdNews asked each candidate to complete a 10-question survey. Click here for their unedited answers.

We next will host a virtual forum. The videos will be available Aug. 10 by 2 p.m. EdNews senior reporter Kevin Richert will moderate and IdahoEdNews.org will have links to the recordings. Here are the lineups:

Beth Oppenheimer, Dave Wagers, Krista Hasler, Greg Woodard (two six-year terms)
Andy Hawes, Neil Mercer, Matthew Shapiro (one four-year term)
Elizabeth Langley, Nate Dean, Dawn King, Todd Kurowski (one two-year term)
Steve Schmidt, Shiva Rajbhandari (one two-year term)

The election is Sept. 6, the Tuesday after Labor Day. Boise’s board is made up of seven trustees and five seats are up for grabs. Patrons vote in all of them and voting happens at Boise schools.

Finally, you’ll have a chance to meet the candidates who choose to show up to our reception on Tuesday, Aug. 23, from 4 to 6 p.m. (location TBD). The event is open to the public.

Most of the candidates have said they will participate in all of our activities. We appreciate them making themselves available to voters.

Jennifer Swindell

Managing editor and CEO Jennifer Swindell founded Idaho Education News in 2013. She has led the online news platform as it has grown in readership and engagement every year, reaching over two million pageviews a year. Jennifer has more than 35 years of experience in Idaho journalism. She also has served as a public information officer for Idaho schools and as a communication director at Boise State University. She can be reached at [email protected].