Three members of the Rockwood Board of Education will continue to hold their positions for another three years without an election. Keith Kinder, Lynne Midyett and Randy Miller, whose terms were set to expire this year, will be sworn in again at a reorganization meeting scheduled for April 16.

All Rockwood residents were given the chance to file from Dec. 17, 2019 to Jan. 21, 2020 so long as they were U.S. citizens, at least 24 years old and a Missouri resident for at least a year prior to the election, according to the Board’s website. The election, originally set for April 7, was canceled, however, as only Kinder, Midyett and Miller filed to run. 

“Pursuant to Missouri Statute 115.124, the district will not hold an election for new three-year terms on the Rockwood Board of Education because the number of candidates filing is equal to the number of open positions,” a press release from the district said.

That statute details the procedure for a “[n]onpartisan election in a political subdivision or special district.” In this scenario, it allows political subdivisions like school districts to forgo a scheduled election due to a lack of competitors.

“[I]f the number of candidates for each office in a particular political subdivision… is equal to the number of positions for each office… no election shall be held, and the candidates shall assume the responsibilities of their offices at the same time and in the same manner as if they had been elected,” the statute says.

In 2019, a seat opened up as longtime Board member Matt Doell resigned after failing to receive the Republican nomination in an election for District 110 to the Missouri House of Representatives. The vacant seat forced an election and put Board president Loralee Mondl, who was running for re-election, into a contest with candidates Azra Ahmad and Tom Dunn over who would occupy the two seats. Dunn and Mondl won that election and were sworn in on April 11, 2019.