Theta Epsilon, the ACU Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, is hosting a School Board Forum on Thursday, April 26, from 6 – 7 p.m. in the Campus Center Living Room.

All six candidates are running for positions on the Abilene Independent School District Board of Trustees. The six candidates, running for three open positions, are as follows:

Place 1-incumbent Robert Laird and challenger Charles Byrn

Place 2-incumbent Sammy Garcia and challenger Randy Piersall

Place 7-incumbent Charlie Wolfe and challenger Shane Davidson

The Forum will address certain issues that school boards typically face each year, with a few other concerns. Budget cuts, technology implementation, allocation of funds, teacher salaries and benefits, school accountability ratings, personnel cuts and reassignments and corporal punishment in schools will all be addressed on Thursday night.

Sheila Delony, Assistant Professor in the Department of Teacher Education, feels that the forum is a great way for students to get up close and personal with local politics.

“Anyone who will be voting in the election should come to hear the candidates’ perspectives on these issues,” Delony said. “Any citizen of Abilene should care about the direction that the school board is setting; the event will only last an hour, so it’s quick way to get first-hand impressions of the candidates.”

For more information on the forum and elections, visit: http://www.abileneisd.org/page/14