Perry County school board candidates file as November ballot takes shape
Johnny Feltner and DeWayne Earl Combs filed for a contested District 4 school board race, while Berl Hurt filed alone in District 5 before the June 2 cutoff.
Perry County’s November ballot began to take shape at the school board level after the June 2, 4 p.m. filing deadline closed. Johnny Feltner and DeWayne Earl Combs filed for District 4, setting up a contested race, while Berl Hurt filed in District 5. Those seats help decide how Perry County Schools handles classrooms, staffing, transportation and long-range spending.
The district’s own board listing shows Feltner in District 4 and Hurt in District 5, giving voters a clear view of the current lineup before the Nov. 3 general election. With Hurt the only named filer in District 5, that race was effectively uncontested at the deadline, while District 4 already had at least two candidates in place. Under Kentucky law, school board elections are held in even-numbered years and elected members serve four-year terms, which means the filing period marks the start of a new stretch of policy decisions rather than a routine administrative step.
That matters in Perry County because Perry County Schools served 3,512 students across nine schools in the 2023-24 school year. In a district that size, even one board seat can influence questions that reach into daily family life, from classroom programs and staffing levels to building repairs, transportation routes and the budget choices that shape next year’s priorities. The Kentucky School Boards Association says its 2026 election guide covers filing, campaigning and finance requirements, underscoring how much is packed into a single local race.
The names on the filing list also point to familiar local history. Feltner and Hurt were on opposite sides of a past school consolidation vote, a reminder that Perry County board races often reflect bigger arguments about school identity, neighborhood stability and what kind of district residents want to build over the next four years. That background gives the November contest more weight than a simple filing list might suggest.
The county election center says the general election is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2026. As campaigning shifts from paperwork to public meetings and voter contact, the school board field already shows which seats will be fought over and which ones are likely to move through the fall with far less attention.
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