Special election coming for Fresno Unified’s school board. What parents should know
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Hello Education readers,
It is Monday, Oct. 4.
Voters living in the city’s Fresno High area will have a special election on April 12 to elect a new trustee.
The Fresno County Superintendent of Schools called the special election after the Fresno Unified school board reversed a decision in August to appoint a community member to fill the vacancy.
The seat became vacant earlier this year after the death of long-time trustee Carol Mills.
A ballot will be mailed to registered voters living in the area about one month before the election takes place, according to Fresno County Clerk/Registrar of Voters James Kus.
Voters living within the jurisdiction will have the option to receive in-person assistance at one of three voting centers. People can also vote in person at the voting centers.
For those who want to drop off their ballot, there will be two drop boxes within the area in addition to the in-person voting centers.
Candidate registration to campaign to fill the seat opens Dec. 20 and closes Jan. 14.
Fresno parents react to Gavin Newsom’s student vaccine mandate
On Friday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced vaccine requirements for California school students. Currently, there is no vaccine for children under the age of 12. All eligible students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine once vaccines are available for their age group.
Parents spoke with the Ed Lab to let us know how they felt about the new rule. The rule to require vaccines is an additional state mandate to help schools grapple with the COVID-19 virus. In August, Newsom announced California teachers would be required to be vaccinated or submit to regular testing.
Ed Lab’s higher ed reporter Ashleigh Panoo learned at least one local school district wouldn’t discipline employees who do not test for COVID.
What are your thoughts? How much control do you think school boards should have when it comes to state mandates? Let us know at edlab@fresnobee.com.
Speaking of school boards, now that Newsom’s executive order to require live-streaming has ended, Clovis Unified will not long live-stream meetings. Parents talked to Ed Lab to tell us how they felt about the change and their concerns with going back to pre-pandemic meetings.
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