The factionalized Sto-Rox school board may get a shake-up.

The front-running candidates for the four open seats are all newcomers, and are all touting themselves as independent thinkers determined to rise above the infighting that has plagued the board in recent years.

Jean Mayes and Barb Kitt, both of Stowe, appear to be aligned with the Stowe-based majority faction on the board, running on a ticket with board President Kevin Kochirka and supported by the Stowe Democratic committee. But Ms. Mayes said anyone expecting her to knuckle under to anyone is in for a surprise.

"Right now it is all politics and game-playing, and I'm not going to be party to it," she said. "I'm not going to go around calling people names."

Meanwhile, Jeanne Hughes and Elizabeth Smith -- both of McKees Rocks and both generally regarded as part of a minority faction led by Ms. Smith's fiance, Ed Maritz -- echoed Ms. Mayes' words, declaring themselves to be independent voices devoted to getting the politics out of the process.

"People don't want me in there because they know no one's going to tell me what to do," Ms. Hughes said.

What's more, Ms. Mayes said Ms. Hughes is one of her best friends, and that another is board member Luanne Schipani, of Stowe, a member of the majority.

"With Jeanie [Mayes] going on and Barb Kitt, and Elizabeth Smith being my partner, we'll have an interesting, independent group there," Ms. Hughes said.

Cheri Zielinski was nominated as a Republican in Stowe, and is competing with Ms. Mayes, nominated as a Democrat, and Ms. Kitt, nominated by both parties, for two board seats in Stowe.

And in McKees Rocks, Ms. Hughes, nominated as a Democrat, and Ms. Smith, nominated by both parties, are opposed on the ticket by incumbent board member Carlton Brown, with two seats available.

Both communities are heavily Democratic, though. Mr. Brown said he "didn't have a snowball's chance" of getting elected, and had not campaigned. Ms. Zielinski, touting herself as an advocate of academic basics and a "pain in the butt" for board politicians, finished fourth among Democrats in the primary, seven percentage points behind Ms. Kitt and 11 behind Ms. Mayes.

Ms. Mayes, 48, said her pet issue is funding for special education, which she said is equalized among all districts even though some, including Sto-Rox, have a higher-than-average number of students with special needs.

A working mother of a special needs child herself, she hopes to see the system change.

"If it doesn't change, in 10 years we won't have a school anymore, and the districts taking the money and spending it on other things are going to have our children in their schools anyway," she said.

Ms. Hughes, 61, said she is essentially an advocate for change, and for a move away from politics. She is also deeply concerned about taxing systems and the community's eroding tax base.

"We need to get this town back on the map," she said. "I want to bring a positive attitude to things."

Ms. Smith, 39, noted that 85 Sto-Rox children were enrolled by their parents this year in Propel Montour Charter School, a sign of problems in the district.

"As I go door-to-door, people are telling me they're not happy with the academics and not happy with the discipline," she said -- with the main complaint on discipline being a perception that some children get special treatment.

Attempts to reach Ms. Kitt and Ms. Zielinski were not successful.