The filing deadline for candidates interested in running for election to their district school board is Tuesday, but according to Berrien County Clerk Louise Stine, very few filings have been received.

Candidates are required to file an Affidavit of Identity and School Nominating Petitions at the county clerk’s office in the courthouse, 811 Port St., St. Joseph. In lieu of filing petitions, candidates may file a $100 non-refundable filing fee.

In Niles, as negotiations between board members and district teachers begin, two four-year seats are open on its school board. Terms for both President Dana Daniels and Vice President Michael Waldron are set to expire in June.

Waldron, whose first term with the Niles school board included the privatization of school busing and the closure of Eastside Elementary School — two events he described as “contentious” — said he would be running for a second term.

When he was first elected to the board, Waldron said he’d “expected it to be rather routine.” But in addition to the busing issue and last year’s school closure, the last four years kept members of the Niles school board busy with a shrinking budget and the search for a new superintendent.

For Daniels, a win would mean a fourth term for the current president, who has been sitting on the school board for seven and a half years.

He described the last few years as bittersweet, with the state funding issue being “difficult to deal with” and the fact that “we still haven’t gotten past the antagonism with the (teachers’) union.”

Daniels said in the last few years he’s seen the entrance of a new superintendent as well as nine students of the 2010 class going on to join the U.S. military. And, he added, “last year was the first year that I know of that if you had a 4.0 you were in the top 10,” referring to the number of graduating honors students.

At neighboring district Brandywine Community Schools, Dennis Cooper’s four-year term expires later this year, leaving one seat open on the ballot.

Cooper has been serving on the board for 12 years.

“I live in the community,” he said. “You’ve got to serve somehow.”

He’s also a Brandywine parent, with the last of his five children currently attending Brandywine High School as a sophomore.

Signatures of registered voters in a candidate’s respective district, required as part of the School Nominating Petition, are based on population as follows: population 0-9,999, six minimum, 20 maximum; population 10,000-24,999, 40 minimum, 100 maximum.

Anyone with questions or in need of more information should contact Stine at (269) 983-7111 ext. 8241 or lstine@berriencounty.org.