No, you did not imagine it: Tuesday’s election was lacking in exciting races for Central Oregon school boards.

Every seat up for election on the Bend-La Pine, Crook County and Culver school boards saw an incumbent running unopposed. On the board for Central Oregon Community College, one of three incumbents faced a challenger.

The Oregon School Boards Association reports there were 817 candidates running for school board positions Tuesday, the smallest number of any election in the past decade. Candidates usually number about 850 to 1,050 for board seats for K-12 districts, education service districts and community colleges.

Among K-12 district boards, about 72 percent of races on Tuesday were uncontested, according to OSBA; in 8 percent there were no candidates running.

“Board members play a pivotal part in their communities,” OSBA Executive Director Betsy Miller-Jones said in a statement. “They provide the connection between schools and the places we live, and it’s vital that we encourage as many strong candidates as possible to fill these positions.”

Deschutes County Clerk Nancy Blankenship, who oversees elections, said there are typically more candidates for city council seats than school board, but hot-button issues can draw more candidates. “It depends on what’s going on in the district, if people have a high level of interest in what’s going on in the district,” she said.

In Jefferson County, where the school board recently faced criticism over the decision to remove the Madras High School principal from her post, incumbent Brad Holliday faced three challengers and board chairman Stan Sullivan faced two.

Open seats also draw more candidates. In Redmond, four candidates ran for two open seats and two people ran against Rhonda Etnire, who was appointed to the board in January to fill another open seat. Board chairman A.J. Losoya said recent outreach efforts to let the community know more about the school system may have netted more candidates.

Janelle Wilcox, who spent three years on the Bend-La Pine board, said she was sad to hear there were no contested races for that board this year.

“It is really hard (to serve on a board). That’s probably the main thing — people’s lives are so busy,” Wilcox said, noting many meetings happened during the day and were difficult on members who worked.

“It’s just playing that game of splitting up your time and your priorities. I honestly don’t know how people who work full time do it.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7837,

aspegman@bendbulletin.com