It's a crowded contest to decide who will represent the Santa Fe school board's populous midtown District 5 — so candidates have devised a way to try to set themselves apart.

The four contenders running for the board seat in the Nov. 4 election, along with unopposed District 3 incumbent Kate Noble, have organized a forum this week to tell the public how they would address some of the contentious issues facing the local school district that has grappled with slow academic improvement and steady declines in enrollment amid uncertainty in federal funding, losses of students to private and charter schools — and controversy over the board's decision to close neighborhood schools like E.J. Martinez Elementary School, which has been operating in a building with nearby Chaparral Elementary.

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