Posted Date: 03/04/2020
Board schedules Zone 5 election for next year
The Board of Education scheduled the upcoming primary election for District #5 on February 11, 2020.
The seat is currently held by Ken Kinnear, who also serves as president of the Board. In the past, board member elections have coincided with annual bond elections, but Union passed a five-year bond initiative in 2018 instead of asking voters to consider bond elections annually over the next five years.
During the 2018 legislative session, H.B. 2082, effective November 1, 2018, changed the requirements for primary and general elections of school board members. If more than two qualified candidates file for the position, a primary election will be held on February 11, 2020. If a candidate in the primary receives more than 50 percent of the votes cast, that candidate shall be elected to the Board of Education and no general election shall be necessary. If necessary, the general election would be April 7, 2020.
Union to purchase laptops for 8th Grade Center
In an effort to provide digital devices for all students as part of the district’s 1-to-1 initiative, Board members approved the purchase of 238 laptops for student use at the Union 8th Grade Center.
Trinity 3 won the bid for $89,488. Todd Borland, executive director of technology, said the devices are the same laptops already being used with the program now.
Efforts by K-12 schools to give every student a laptop computer (called “1-to-1”) have been shown to increase student achievement in English/Language Arts, writing, math, and science. In August 2018, Union made considerable progress toward this goal by distributing laptops to all students at the 9th Grade Center. As of September, every Union student in grades 9-12 has the use of a computer 24/7. This will enable teachers to deliver more personalized content to students, boost their technology skills, and empower young people to do more complex and creative work.
The district also began testing 1-to-1 in elementary grades with the distribution of iPads to students in grades pre-K – 5 at Boevers Elementary.
In other action, the Board: