By JASON MICHAEL WHITE

ANDERSON — The success of Frankton-Lapel Community Schools speaks to the leadership ability of current school officials, board member John Henderson said.

Henderson is running for re-election against Tami Bailey-Davis for the school board’s District 4 seat, which represents Pipe Creek Township. Bailey-Davis has been an outspoken critic of Superintendent Ned Speicher, who is leaving the school district in July and taking a new job as superintendent in Rensselaer.

Bailey-Davis has criticized the superintendent’s spending practices, which she said have wasted taxpayer dollars. The school district needs to do a better job of limiting its spending, she said.

“Kids’ education would not be hurt if the superintendent avoided spending $500 a month on gas,” she said.

The board supports Speicher and cites recent successes, such as the completion of several building projects and the fact that all Frankton-Lapel schools have met annual yearly progress according to national standards. The district has also improved its test scores.

“We’ve been doing some positive things I think should continue,” Henderson said.

Also, the school district is in good financial shape, even with the difficulty of losing state dollars because of property tax reform.

“The corporation is sound,” Henderson said.

The school board’s District 3 seat is also contested. Salesman Joseph Kelich and business owner Joni Kendall are running for the Lafayette Township seat, currently held by 12-year school board member John Mitchell, who is not seeking re-election.

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Candidates for the Frankton-Lapel Community School Corp. board of trustees are not scheduled to have a public debate. Candidates answered the following six questions in one-on-one interviews: