First candidate emerges in Sioux Falls School Board race

Cynthia Mickelson hasn't announced whether she'll seek a third term

There could be new representation on the board of South Dakota’s largest public school system this summer.

Dawn Marie Johnson has filed her candidacy for the district’s Board of Education. She hopes to replace School Board member Cynthia Mickelson, whose second term on the board ends in June.

Though eligible to serve a third three-year term, Mickelson has not publicly stated whether she’ll seek re-election.

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A Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribe descendant and a native of Waubay, Johnson now resides in Sioux Falls and works for the South Dakota Afterschool Network. She also served as the Career Technical Education (CTE) and Community Outreach Coordinator for the Sioux Falls School District for the last two years.

She also serves as a member of the Indian Education Parent Committee with the Sioux Falls School District, the city of Sioux Falls Human Relations Commission, the Bridging the Gap Advisory Committee with the Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation and the National After School Association.

Johsnon has a nine-year-old daughter named Rhayn.

The deadline for candidates to file petitions to secure a place on the school board ballot is Friday. The election is May 16.