In response to the coronavirus outbreak, San Marcos CISD board of trustees voted March 27 to postpone board elections until November.

Board elections were scheduled to take place May 2 but will now be held during the November general election as part of ongoing efforts to keep voters, faculty and staff safe in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

During the special called meeting via Zoom, Clementine Cantu, District 5 trustee and board vice president, said she would be supporting moving the election to keep participants safe. Board members shared her concern.

“In the past when we have voted on this, I was against having our elections in November, but because this is once-in-a-lifetime pandemic situation, I don’t believe that we should put our voters at risk for voting during a school election,” Cantu said. “I feel very strongly that we move it to protect our voters, to protect our citizens, to protect all of our school people.”

On the November ballot, three board seats will be open for election: District 1, District 2 and District 3.

The decision to postpone the May election passed with a 4-3 vote.

Similarly, Hays CISD board of trustees voted to postpone their board elections at a March 30 meeting.

Board elections will be pushed to November 3 and with it a $217.3 million bond that was going to voters on the May 2 ballot.

Three HCISD board of trustee seats are open for election in the November ballot: District 1, District 2 and at-large.