Six candidates have filed to run for the Nye County School District Board of Trustees.

Area I

* Kevin Pape, manager of Pahrump's Wal-Mart, is running uncontested for Area I trustee. Pape was appointed to the board to fill an Area IV vacancy left by the November 2006 elections.

"I really like what we've started to accomplish," Pape said. "Having a year under my belt, I think I can be a more savvy board member."

One of Pape's goals is to make the district's generally-high annual yearly progress scores "the threshold and not the goal."

In addition, Pape said he is planning on working within the community and school district to help ensure that Nye County school students have all the supplies they need for a successful education.

Area II

* Kathleen L. Bienenstein has been a Pahrump resident for two years and decided to run for school board trustee because she has "always been involved with the schools wherever I've been."

Recently, Bienenstein said she's been active in helping support Manse Elementary School in getting supplies.

Bienenstein is active in the community as the chairman of the Pahrump Valley Community Action Team's Beautification committee and Nye County's Parks and Recreation Commission.

She is also president of the Las Vegas chapter of the League of Women Voters.

If elected, Bienenstein said her main focus would be to increase parental involvement in the schools and help students get a well-rounded educational experience.

"The test scores required by the state are only part of a child's education," she said. "They need music, field trips and all those extras."

* J.E. "Doc" McNeely is hoping to continue serving as a trustee as well. McNeely was appointed to fill the vacancy in the area in June 2007.

McNeely said he has worked with kids all his life and sees serving on the school board as a way to give back to the community.

In addition, McNeely believes his years working in the corporate construction industry and handling large budgets give him valuable experience to contribute to the board.

McNeely defines himself as a fiscal conservative.

He said if elected he would like to see projects that have begun in the school district proceed successfully and focus on parental involvement.

In addition to serving on the school board, he has been active in the northern schools' honor program and was even a volunteer bus driver for Beatty and Amargosa schools.

Area IV

* Incumbent Tracie Ward will be running unopposed for her school board seat, which she has held for six years.

She first became a school board member because one of her daughters was enrolled in the district's Early Education program, and was so impressed with it, she decided to become involved.

Ward said she is most proud of her involvement with the school board's truancy committee. "I like being able to see how we really make a difference in people's lives," Ward said.

She added that she enjoys being able to give smaller schools a voice as a member of the board. "I understand what the smaller schools are going through and also what the bigger schools are going through," Ward said.

Area VI

* Incumbent Harold Tokerud is also looking to keep his position on the board.

Tokerud has served on the board since being appointed in November 2006 and believes he can contribute even more during the next four.

His extensive education experience includes having been a classroom teacher and serving as superintendent in Esmeralda County and interim superintendent in Nye County.

One of Tokerud's major objectives if elected is to finish plans for Pahrump Valley High School. Although the board has discussed building a second high school, budgetary concerns may have dampened that hope for now.

Tokerud said he would at least like to see a vocational center added to PVHS.

"Too many kids are dropping out of school, and maybe that's part of the problem," Tokerud said.

* Courtland H. Ofelt has 32 years of experience as an academic administrator and teacher.

He has also been the city manager of Whittier and Thorne Bay, Alaska.

Ofelt spent 11 years as a middle school science teacher in Beaverton, Ore., before going to the Kodiak Island School District for two years, where he helped revamp the special education program.

He was also principal of a kindergarten through 12th grade school in Marshall, Alaska, and helped form an alternative education program for seventh through 12th graders located in Fairbanks.

Ofelt contributed in creating a foreign exchange program with the Soviet Union and taught at the University of Bulgaria.

Trustees from Areas III and V are not up for election this year.