Sisters School District has a strong academic reputation, but it does have its challenges. Enrollment in the district has dropped. And voters rejected a bond measure that would have made needed repairs to schools.

Those are two of the issues that candidates for the school board will be facing. There are two contested seats. We urge voters to support Lachlan Leaver for position 2, which is a two-year term. For position 4, which is a 4-year term, we urge voters to elect Stephen King.

Leaver, 54, is academic director at J Bar J Youth Services, the nonprofit that provides services for at-risk youth throughout Central Oregon. He has been a teacher and an administrator. He serves on the school budget committee.

He wants to see the district maintain its high academic quality. He supports the ways in which the arts are incorporated into the schools. Leaver also hopes to enrich the district’s mental health program and expressed concern for the issue of affordable housing, though he knows there is little the district can do about that.

We do disagree with him on one point about teacher pay. He generally supports keeping teacher pay based on time of service and qualifications. We would rather see an attempt to evaluate teacher performance and incorporate that into compensation.

Leaver’s opponent, Greg Zadow, 45, runs a physical therapy business. He said he does not have a big agenda other than maintaining the district’s high quality. Neither Zadow nor Leaver is a bad choice, though we believe Leaver offers slightly more and has already shown more involvement in the district.

King, 55, was appointed to fill a vacant position, so this is his first election. He is the CEO and president of OpenMake Software.

He strikes us as a creative thinker about the leadership challenges that the district faces. We would not be surprised if he prompts some important debates about the district’s declining enrollment. He doesn’t want to downsize the district’s academic ambitions, but he does wonder if the district needs to consolidate schools or dispose of land.

Both of the challengers to King — Karan Swaner, 65, and Steve Mathews, 72 — have backgrounds that could prove valuable to the district. Swaner, a former diplomat, brings a wealth of professional international experience. Mathews worked as an art teacher for years in Beaverton and now volunteers in the Sisters schools. But neither could offer a reason King should be replaced.

Vote Leaver and King.