Hartselle voters showed their support for an elected school board in the November 2010 General Election. Since then, there has been little talk about potential candidates or their supporters.

Those willing and eager to serve must begin stepping up to the challenge soon. Qualifying of candidates starts July 3 and the term of office begins in November.

Provisions for the election of board members are spelled out in Act 2010-113 of the State Legislature.

The law provides for the board to have five members with each being elected at-large by a majority of the city’s qualified electors. Qualifications are that the candidate must reside within the city’s boundaries, be at least 19 years of age, and be a resident of the city for at least 90 consecutive days prior to the deadline date for qualifying.

All of the board members will be elected at the same time, assume office at the same time and serve the same 4-year term, as the Mayor and City Council members do.

Each member will be paid $500 per month and, after that, compensation will be left up to the board.

The board will elect its own chairman and vice chairman and have the authority to fill vacancies by a majority vote.

Some may not completely understand the role of a school board. To help with this, the Hartselle Board of Education, Hartselle Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Association of School Boards is having a workshop for prospective candidates on Tue., June 19, at 6 p.m. in the BOE central office auditorium.

Sally Howell from AASB will conduct the workshop and will go over the duties of a school board member and talk about new qualifications for board members.

So if you’re interested in helping Hartselle’s school system continue to be one of the best in Alabama, this is a great opportunity to learn more about this position. We hope to see you there.