WINTON – Seven individuals will attempt to secure three seats on the Hertford County School Board this fall.

The seats of current board members Ron Baker, John Horton and Rev. Patrick Young are all up for re-election on November 7. All three have filed for re-election.

Filing closed Friday at noon and no new candidates came forward in the final week that filing was open to the public.

Hertford County Board of Elections Director Sheila Privott said that while no new candidates would be able to file, because it is a non-partisan board, citizens are allowed to &uot;write in&uot; candidates on the day of the election.

The remaining individuals who have filed for the open seats include Marcus L. Williams and Susan Barnes Williams of Murfreesboro, Carolyn Mitchell Vaughan of Ahoskie and former Hertford County School Superintendent Dennis Deloatch.

Mr. and Ms. Williams as well as Barnes would be newcomers to the local political process.

Deloatch was the Hertford County School Superintendent for the past four years. His contract was not renewed and his last day as a school system employee was June 30.

Several Hertford County citizens lobbied to have Deloatch’s contract renewed during the last few weeks of his tenure.

Dr. Mary Jo Allen was hired as the interim superintendent for Hertford County after Delotach’s dismissal.

One of the first things on the agenda for the new School Board will be the selection of a new superintendent to replace Deloatch.

Board Chairman David Shields confirmed in July’s board meeting that a target date of Jan. 1, 2007 had been adopted to have a new superintendent on board.