Two seats on the Dexter Community Schools Board of Education are up for election on November 5. In lead up to this, the school district plans on hosting a candidate forum in September to help voters get to know the candidates.

At the Aug. 26 board meeting, DCS Board of Education President Elise Bruderly shared the plans to put on a board of education trustee candidate forum for the community. The forum is expected to take place inside the boardroom at the Bates building.

The Sun Times News (STN) followed up with Bruderly, who said, “The intention of the forum is to introduce the candidates to the community and allow candidates to share some of their background and experiences with district voters.”

She said “questions will be developed with that in mind and our Board of Education student representatives will be present to ask the questions of our candidates.”

“The Board of Education does everything with students as our first priority, and having our student representatives participate in the forum is a wonderful expression of this,” Bruderly said. “I am so appreciative of our candidates who are offering to represent the community on our board and I look forward to the chance to hear from them.”

The forum is expected to last 1-1.5 hours. It will be moderated by Bruderly, with the board’s student representatives slated to ask questions.  

There are two seats up for a vote with both for a six-year term.

According to the Washtenaw County Clerk’s office, the candidates are Mike Cipolla, Dawn Gilbert and Amy Reiser. Current school board members Dick Lundy and Mara Greatorex are not running for re-election. STN plans on a story to highlight the work of Lundy and Greatorex.

Outgoing trustee Greatorex was elected to a six-year term in 2018 while Lundy was first elected 1979 and has been re-elected many times since, most recently in 2022 for a partial term. Both seats expire at the end of 2024.

The candidate forum will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at Bates, 2704 Baker Road.