This year's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board race may be vital to the community, but early donations have been scanty as 16 candidates began vying for three open seats.

Summer campaign finance reports show Elyse Dashew, a CMS parent and first-time candidate, far ahead of everyone else, with $11,921 collected by the end of July. All others were well under $1,000.

By comparison, first-time school board candidate Eric Davis had raised almost $28,000 at this time in 2009. Davis, who is now board chair, eventually spent $58,000 to win the seat representing the south/central Charlotte District 5.

Political observers predict it will take about that much to win an at-large seat, which requires getting one's name and views before all voters in the sprawling county. Some speculated that late-starting campaigns, the huge slate of candidates and a recession that seems to be stalled over Charlotte have made the money hunt tough.

"Even though people might not be getting their wallets out, I do think the community realizes how crucial this election is," said Bill Anderson of MeckEd, a nonprofit advocacy group that has posted candidate surveys on its Web site.

The school board is poised to hire a superintendent after the November election. Three new members could shift the balance on a nine-person board that's split on many philosophical and policy issues.

Kathy Ridge, an education consultant who backed away from a school board run partly because of the fund-raising demands, said she's surprised there's so little early money on the table: "Maybe it's a really slow start because of the summer, but I'm surprised (donors) didn't come out of the gate when (candidates) announced."

Davis launched his campaign in January 2009, and jammed his calendar with face-to-face meetings with potential donors. Political newcomers may not realize that's what it takes, said Natalie English, the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce's public policy executive.

She said the business community is interested in the board race, but she's hearing that few candidates are making the personal pitches.

"It's different from nonprofit fund-raising," where a letter or a friend's recommendation may bring hefty checks, English said.

Traditionally, people and firms associated with construction and housing - developers, realtors, engineering firms and law offices - have dominated school board donations. Now, not only has CMS' multi-million-dollar school construction program slowed to a trickle, but most of those businesses are struggling.

"Those people in that industry who used to give and give heavily, there's a good chance they're not in that industry anymore," says candidate Tim Morgan, who used to work with a construction-industry group.

Morgan, who won the south suburban District 6 school board seat two years ago, is now running for a countywide post. He said he spent about $10,000 on the district race, and believes it will take $45,000 to $60,000 to win countywide.

But as of his July report, he had logged only $38, along with about $1,700 carried over from the last campaign.

"I was a little late making the final decision," he said.

Incumbents are generally tough to beat. Two of the three - Trent Merchant and Kaye McGarry - announced late in the season that they wouldn't seek re-election.

Keith Hurley, a banker making his first run for office, said he believes it's unethical to collect donations before formally filing for office, which took place the first two weeks of July. His initial report shows only $800, in donations from himself, but he said today he has collected $30,000, which will show up on the reports due Oct. 4.

Campaign law allows candidates to collect as early as they like, as long as they've filed papers showing their intent to run. Dashew filed to start raising money in May. Her biggest donations - three checks totaling $4,000 - came from out-of-state family members, but she also logged several donations from local people.

Deshauna McLamb and Hans Plotseneder, two of the earlier candidates to announce and file campaign papers, did not meet the July 29 deadline for providing midyear finance reports.

Mecklenburg Elections Director Michael Dickinson said his staff is reviewing the files and reminding those who missed the deadline. Eventually, those who don't meet reporting requirements are reported to the state Board of Elections.