Only one school board seat up for election after all

This past week it was reported in error that two school board seats will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot and qualifying for candidates begins this week.

There will be only one, for the Union County School District.

Union County Circuit Clerk Phyllis Stanford said she checked with school officials and it turns out that the representative for the added territory of the separate municipal district serves a five-year term instead of the more common four years for local officials.

That means incumbent David Rainey will not be up for election until next year. He first won his seat in 2016.

The county school race that will be on the November ballot is for Union County School District 5, currently held by Wayne Mahon.

To legally run for and serve on the school board, a person must be a qualified elector of the district for which he or she is running, have a high school diploma or equivalent, not have been convicted of certain crimes and, if elected, successfully complete continuous education training within six months and on a yearly basis.

Candidates have only a one-month window in which to qualify, from Wednesday, Aug. 5 to Friday, Sept. 4.

Mahon has indicated he plans to seek re-election.

The county school district has five trustees, all elected by the public and serving staggered terms. The county school districts do not coincide with the county supervisors’ districts and, in fact, are quite different.

Current county school trustees include Terry Cook, District 1; Mickey Basil, District 2; Mike Browning, District 3; Daphnia McMillen, District 4; and Wayne Mahon, District 5.

The New Albany School District also has five trustees, but they are selected differently from the county.

Four of the five city trustees are appointed by aldermen, one from each of the four wards.

The city district also encompasses a couple of small areas that are outside the city limits as well as one large area that extends north on Hwy. 15 and out Hwy. 30 East nearly to Pleasant Ridge.

The fifth trustee represents that area and is elected by popular vote by residents who live in that added territory.

New Albany school trustees include, in addition to David Rainey, Jill Shaw, Barbara Washington, Mark Garrett and Ren Nelson.

The general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 3. If a runoff is needed after that it will be Tuesday, Nov. 24.