Templeton school district seeks new trustee to replace Jordan Cunningham
Jordan and Shauna Cunningham and family (courtesy jordancunningham.org).
Elected to the State Assembly in Sacramento, Templeton resident vacates position
— The Board of Trustees of the Templeton Unified School District is actively seeking applicants to fill a vacancy on its governing board. The vacancy was created by the resignation of attorney Jordan Cunningham (R) following his election to the State Assembly on Nov. 8. Cunningham’s term expires in Nov. 2018 and the appointment will serve until that time.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to serve Templeton on the school board,” Cunningham said. “I think we were able to accomplish meaningful things for kids and it gave me a great education about building consensus and the importance of local control in education, as well as learning about some of the education policy issues that I think are more appropriately addressed at the state level.”
Jordan Cunningham and his wife have four young children and live in Templeton. He expects that with so much time committed to the Assembly in Sacramento, he will have little time to litigate, another reason why Cunningham felt it was time to step down from his position on the TUSD board.
Cunningham previously served as a Senate Fellow in the California Legislature, working for the Senate Minority Leader on policy and legislation. He obtained his law degree from the UC Berkeley School of Law and passed the State Bar in 2004. He has been a prosecutor and civil litigator and maintains a diverse practice with his wife Shauna, an attorney who specializes in education law.
Education remains high on his agenda. “One of my primary goals in the assembly will be to promote more CTE — career and technical education — for middle schools and high schools in my district,” he said.
The 35th District in which Cunningham will serve runs from San Miguel in the North County down to Lompoc in Santa Barbara County, and includes some 470,000 residents.
“I think it’s very important for kids to have access to CTE, especially when you look at the data that something like two-thirds of kids don’t finish college within five years [of graduating from high school]. So we need to be pushing that number up as much as we can for kids who are college-bound. There’s a whole under-served class of kids that need to get exposure to the trades so they can further that skill set in a community college or internship.”
Cunningham’s other priority, he said, was working on increasing the water supply and building out local infrastructure. A fan of desalinization, he said, “I think it has tremendous potential for solving the problems of today and tomorrow. Look, 75-percent of water in Israel is desalinated and they’re able to export it. The technology they use there is very energy-efficient.”
Applicants for the board spot Cunningham is vacating must:
• Reside within the boundaries of Templeton Unified School District
• Be a citizen of the State of California
• At least 18 years of age
• Registered to vote
• Not legally disqualified from holding civil office
Applications are available by clicking here or stopping by in person at the district office, located at 960 Old County Road, in Templeton. Completed forms must be returned to the district office no later than 12 noon on Wed., Nov.30, 2016.
The TUSD Board will interview applicants during its regular board meeting, in open session, on Dec. 8, 2016. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. For further information, please call Cheryl Parks, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent and the Board of Trustees, at (805) 434-5805.
