Fourteen candidates are running for six seats on the Onaway Area Community School Board in Michigan

By

David Luchs

Fourteen candidates are running for six seats on the seven-member Onaway Area Community School Board in Michigan on Nov. 5, 2024.

Eight candidates are running for three full six-year terms. Incumbents James Rieger and Lorrie Kowalski and challengers Kathleen Christian, James Gibson, John Kaszonyi, Tom Moran, Stacey Porter and Taed T.A. Price are on the general election ballot.

In the other three races on the ballot:

  • Incumbents Joe Bonnard and Jeremy Veal are running against one another to fill a vacancy. The former incumbent, Erin Chaskey, resigned on Jun. 11, 2024. Bonnard and Veal are running to serve the last four years of Chaskey’s unexpired term.
  • Incumbent Annette L. Porter and Sheri LaFave are running for a two-year term.
  • Incumbent John Palmer and Lain Veihl are running in a recall election.

According to The Alpena News, the elections are taking place following “infighting and controversy over a number of issues, leading earlier this year to the resignation of the district’s superintendent, a longtime principal, and a school board trustee all at the same meeting.” A four-member majority consisting of Chaskey, Kowalski, Rieger, and Palmer differed with Mike Hart, Porter, and Veal on issues including selecting a new football coach and looking for a new law firm.

Candidate Stacey Porter, Annette L. Porter’s daughter, launched a recall against the majority of the board in 2023. Porter said the members had committed ethics violations and misled the public about their policy towards charter schools. County officials rejected the recall effort against Chaskey, and the recall efforts against Kowalski and Rieger did not make the ballot.

The Northeast Michigan League of Conservative Education issued endorsements for a full slate of candidates in this election, endorsing Christian, Kowalski, and Rieger for the three full terms, Bonnard for the four-year term, LaFave for the two-year term, and retention for Palmer.

The Onaway Area Community School District is located in western Presque Isle County and eastern Cheboygan County in Michigan. The closest metropolitan area is Alpena to the southeast. The district enrolled 541 students in the 2023 school year. The district is one of 539 school districts in Michigan and 13,318 nationwide.