DECATUR — School board zones in Decatur will have to be redrawn before the 2012 elections because of population changes revealed in the 2010 U.S. Census, according to superintendent Larry Ben.

The Secretary of State’s office will be providing the district with directions on how to redraw the census lines and handle the elections, Ben explained. The number of school board zones will not change due to the census data and all five positions will be up for election, he said.

Gentry recently went through the process of redrawing school board zones and Decatur could have done it this year, but Ben said he felt it was a good idea to maintain the board a little longer since it has only been in place for a year.

School board members serve five-year terms in Decatur. Ben said that it is possible the board members will draw for term lengths as they did after the new board was put in place last October, but said he has not yet heard how that will be handled.

The 2011 school board elections will be held by absentee ballot, Ben said. The school board formally requestedthat Benton County allow them to conduct the election by absentee ballot last week becauseonly one candidate, Kevin Smith, filed for election.

Smith has served as the board member representing Zone 3 since he was appointed to that position last fall.

No candidates have filed for the open Zone 1 position, currently held by Justin Thompson. Thompson will continue to represent Zone 1 by default until the next election unless he resigns or the board votes to remove him in the event he doesn’t attend the meetings, Ben said.

News, Pages 1 on 08/24/2011