SARANAC LAKE – Four candidates are running for three seats on Saranac Lake’s Board of Education, but only one’s name will be printed on the ballots voters fill out Tuesday.

That name is Miles Van Nortwick, the board’s current vice president. Two other incumbents, Dennis Dwyer and Katie Fischer, decided not to run.

Three other candidates – James Abendroth, Linda Piro and Rick Retrosi – have expressed interest in serving on the school board, but they missed the filing deadline. Therefore, voters will have to write their names in the ballot’s write-in section.

“We can not put their names on there (the ballot) because they did not put in a petition to run,” district Clerk Christine Fransen said.

Fransen cautioned voters to print candidates’ names carefully and legibly on Election Day. Names that cannot be read will be disqualified.

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Miles Van Nortwick

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Van Nortwick was last elected to the school board in 2012 and was the top vote-getter in that election. He looks forward to implementing new technology and other infrastructure through the state’s Smart Schools Bond Act.

“If I get re-elected, I will help that move forward,” he said.

Van Nortwick has served on the board a total of 13 years, but not consecutively. Three of those years he was the board’s president. He is a member of the board’s Capital Improvement, Technology and Safety committees. His wife is a teacher.

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James Abendroth

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This Bloomingdale resident is a retired former employee for Sunmount Developmental Center. He said he has a master’s degree in education and in the past served on a few Saranac Lake school board committees.

“I’ve always been really interested in our educational system, having two children go through it,” he said.

Abendroth was also a substitute teacher in the 1980s in the Tri-Lakes region and is a current member of Voters for Change, a local political organization that usually supports Democratic candidates. He’s also been president of the Stevenson Society of America, based in Saranac Lake, which maintains the Robert Louis Stevenson Memorial Cottage here.

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Linda Piro

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This former Saranac Lake school board member of five years, from 2002 to 2007, told the Enterprise she would accept the position if elected.

“I have been asked by several people,” she said. “I told them I would.”

Piro owns and runs Maurice Unisex Beauty Salon in Saranac Lake. Over the years she’s been closely involved with many local groups including the Republican committee, Elks Club and Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary.

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Rick Retrosi

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This former Lake Placid Elementary School librarian and principal has also tossed his hat into the ring. He spent 38 years working with the Lake Placid Central School District: first in 1978 as a media and library specialist, and then as principal from 1999 until his retirement in 2011. He lives in Saranac Lake. He could not be reached for comment by press time.

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Teachers union endorses

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Saranac Lake Teachers Association Co-President Don Carlisto told the Enterprise the union has endorsed three candidates.

“The SLTA recognizes how difficult the job of being a school board member can be,” Carlisto wrote via email. “Therefore, we were heartened to see that Miles Van Nortwick’s name will appear on the ballot again.

“As for the open seats,” Carlisto continued, “the SLTA was contacted by two individuals who are willing to run as write in candidates. We believe that Rick Retrosi and Jim Abendroth will be great additions to the board of education.”

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Almost a candidate

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Jacob Vennie-Vollrath, who moved to Saranac Lake from Wisconsin last year, was another person who considered running for school board, but he told the Enterprise this week that he has changed his mind and will support several of the other candidates who stepped up.

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Managing Editor Peter Crowley contributed to this report.