This week, The Ledger is publishing profiles of candidates for local school board elections. You'll find these on pages 4 and 5.

Local boards and special districts rarely have contested races. This year, we have multiple candidates for several board positions.

Part of our job in providing local news is making sure our readers are informed on important issues such as elections and what's happening in Sanders County towns. The first year I owned The Ledger, I missed providing the school board candidate profiles. The election snuck up on me and we had several people come into the office asking how they should weigh the candidates to cast their vote. They didn't have kids in school and weren't familiar with the candidates. That year, we failed our readers and didn't provide them with information to help them make their decision.

On the other end of the spectrum, sometimes we don't get responses from candidates or we get very basic information. We do what we can to inform voters.

A family member said she once voted for a candidate simply because they took the time to go door-to-door and meet residents. After the overwhelming number of mailings received last year during the election, personal contact with candidates, or just getting to know them a little better through our candidate profiles, is a welcome change.

Ballots for school board elections will be mailed this week and need to be returned by May 4. Make an educated choice this election. —Annie Wooden