School board race over before it began

Alice McCoy will run for state Senate

By Barbara Soderlin, Journal staff | Thursday, March 27, 2008

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There will be no contested races for the two Rapid City school board seats that are up for election this year.

Bret Swanson, 47, was the only candidate to file for the Area 5 seat, vacated when incumbent Eric Abrahamson decided not to run. Area 5 includes much of the West Boulevard neighborhood, part of North Rapid and a "wedge" of rural area west of the city that goes out to Nemo, Swanson said.

Incumbent Leah Lutheran is unopposed for the Area 4 seat on the school board. This will be Lutheran's fourth term on the board. School board members are elected for three-year terms.

Home day care operator Alice McCoy, who ran unsuccessfully for state Senate against Republican District 35 Sen. Bill Napoli in 2006, had filed to run for school board in Area 4 when she thought Lutheran might not run but withdrew her name when Napoli announced he wouldn't run again for the Senate seat.

"When he said he wasn't, I said, 'Whoa, wait a minute,'" McCoy said. She couldn't run for both, so she chose to run for Senate.

McCoy, a Republican, now faces challenger state Rep. Jeff Haverly, R-Rapid City, for the seat.

"I've got people out there that want me to do it, and I do what the people say," McCoy said. She described herself as someone who works well with other people and doesn't mind compromising when the situation calls for it.

McCoy served eight years in the state House. Her priorities, if elected, would include frugal budgeting and keeping state programs running without increasing property taxes too much.

Swanson, who teaches English in Rapid City for Black Hills State University, said he never expected to be unopposed for the school board.

"This all happened very fast," he said.

He said that only recently he and his wife, Jackie, had been talking about getting more involved in the schools, such as going to school board meetings and voicing their opinions.

Then, someone suggested he run, and now, here he is on the board.

He said he wants to learn more about school funding and feels schools have long been underfunded. He is also concerned about students dropping out of school and not receiving the attention they deserve. "We have to do something different," he said.

Swanson and his wife have four grown children -- three graduated from Central High School and one from St. Thomas More.