BY DAN HILDEBRAN
The Union County School Board elected Chris Hodgson as its chair for 2026. Hodgson takes over for Curtis Clyatt. The board elected Russell Gordon as vice chair.
Clyatt nominated both Hodgson and Gordon for the offices.
“Thank you all for giving me the faith to do this,” the new chair said.
In other news from the November 18 school board meeting:
—Superintendent Mike Ripplinger thanked W.W. Gay Mechanical Contractor, Inc. for its partnership with the school district.
—The board appointed board member Terra Johnson and community member Sal Perez to the county’s value adjustment board. The value adjustment board adjudicates appeals to property valuations made by the property appraiser’s office.
—The board approved a policy for professional ethics, requiring annual ethics training for the superintendent and school board members, requiring all employees to report misconduct that affects the health or well-being of students, and stipulating other requirements for district administrators.
—Board members delayed the approval of two copier leases for the high school, totaling $404.77 a month.
Hodgson moved to table approval for the leases to get more information, given the cost of copier leases to the district.
“We do have 10 plus copiers in the school district, and the average cost would be around $4,000 a month, that’s $240,000 over a five-year period,” he said. “I just think that I would like to make a motion to table it, get some more information, and bring it back next meeting.”
Becky Raulerson said she disagreed with Hodgson and cast the sole dissenting vote for delaying approval of the leases.
“I’m not in favor of the motion to table,” she said, “mostly just because I understand the need for a copier in a school and legally with IEPs and 504s and all the legal paperwork as well.”
Individual education programs and 504 plans are both documents related to exceptional student education.
