Teachers, community members and more are organizing in Floyd County with hopes of impacting the school board election this May.

Starting today, people can file to run for one of the four New Albany-Floyd County Consolidated School Corp. board seats that are up for election this year.

“We can no longer sit back,” said Mark Kessans, president of the teachers’ association that is organizing the group. “If you do nothing, you get what you get. Hopefully, we’ll get what the school community deserves.”

He said right now some board members have personal agendas, don’t act professionally and don’t act in the best interest of schools. That’s what spurred the association to take action and form the group: New Albany-Floyd County Education Association and Community Coalition, he said.

That coalition includes teachers, staff members and community members, he said. Community members who want to be involved can by calling or e-mailing Kessans.

He said a smaller subset of the committee will meet with each candidate that fills out a survey from the group to interview them. Then the committee will decide who to endorse and help by campaigning door-to-door for them, passing out flyers and more. They will also get financial support, courtesy of contributions made to the Indiana Political Action Committee for Education, he added.

“Most people don’t know school board candidates. So, we want as many people out there as possible saying positive things about the people we endorse,” Kessans said. “We’re really trying to organize to make it a true community event where people work to support people that will hopefully make us have an outstanding school board following the election.”

Those up for re-election this May are Roger Whaley, Lee Ann Wiseheart, Jim Zoeller and Don Sakel. Wiseheart has said she can’t run for re-election, since she is running for the local state senate seat. However, she said she’s in favor of this political action group.

“It’s a great thing. I especially like that they are including parents and community members,” she said. “We need that kind of engagement. It’s crucial that we get four people that have a focus on kids and can be fiscally responsible with the budget.”

Board member Becky Gardenour won her bid for re-election last May, but said she likes this new group.

“I’m glad they are expanding it. It’s engaging the community more and that’s great,” she said. “That’s what we need to be doing.”

Whaley said he will probably seek the endorsement of the group.

According to the Floyd County Voter Registration Office, people can file to run for one of the school board seats through Feb. 19. The election is May 4.

Kessans said it will take time to review all the questionnaires and to interview the candidates, but he predicts to have the group’s final four they are endorsing picked 30 days from the end of the filing period.

“I’m really excited about this, especially with the superintendent,” he said. “I am so impressed with the vision the new superintendent has and the changes he has already made ... His hands are tied with the school board. He can’t do any more than the school board allows him to do. We want to make sure there is a board there that will assist and support him in his visions and in doing what’s right in education.”

He said the main quality he’s looking for in school board candidates is someone who is willing to open the lines of communication with the association.

“We’re not looking for rubber stamps. We won’t agree on everything,” Kessans said. “I think we can find a school board that can agree to have open dialog with the association in that the more information they have, the better informed decisions they can make.”

He said he’s unsure of how much financial backing the group will have to give, but said helping to spread the word about good candidates will help get people’s names out there.

No other school board members returned an e-mail seeking comment for this story.