Check out my other School Zone columns at Nancy Price’s School Zone Facebook page.

Unless a candidate for the Fresno High Area 5 trustee seat makes a last-minute filing — and the deadline to file is Friday — it looks like Trustee Terry Slatic won’t be the only man on the Fresno Unified School Board a few months from now.

Four candidates — all men — have qualified to be on the ballot for the April 12 special election. The winner will fill a vacancy that was created when longtime Trustee Carol Mills died in July 2021.

The deadline to file Friday is 5 p.m. “We will lock the doors at 5 o’clock,” Fresno County Clerk James Kus told GV Wire.

The candidates, in alphabetical order, are retired educator Russ Allen, retired firefighter Andy Fabela, teacher Andy Levine, and retired administrator Daniel Renteria.

Not on the list is Kathy Bray, president of Denham Resources, who had filed paperwork to start up a campaign fundraising committee. Bray told GV Wire on Monday that she learned after her initial filing that she is not a resident of the Fresno High trustee area and is not eligible to run. Her home on Christmas Tree Lane in central Fresno is a few blocks east of the current boundary line between the Fresno High and McLane High trustee areas.

Also in School Zone: 

• There’s a new bus route linking to Fresno’s northern college campus.
• Fresno Pacific entrepreneurial program ready for next sign-ups.

Three of the four candidates already have some name recognition. Levine is a longtime staffer with the nonprofit Faith in the Valley and has been a senior adviser to the organization. Fabela is an outspoken critic of the district who has engaged in public verbal battles with trustees during School Board meetings. And Renteria has been closely connected with Tower District marketing efforts.

The winner of the election will serve the remainder of Mills’ term through November 2024.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round

It might be called Clovis Community College, but it sits squarely in the city of Fresno at International and Willow avenues. So even though the FAX buses have to drive up the Clovis side of Willow Avenue, the city’s No. 3 bus route now connects to the campus. The north Fresno route then heads south on Willow to Herndon Avenue, makes a right onto Herndon and goes as far west as El Paseo near Highway 99.

If you need to transfer to Route 3 from another line, transfers are unlimited for 90 minutes.

Click here to see the schedule and route guide.

Calling All Budding Entrepreneurs

Looking for some help in launching your business dreams? Look no further than Launch Central Valley.

The 10-week program, sponsored by the Center for Community Transformation at Fresno Pacific University, will start up again on Thursdays, from Jan. 27 through March 24.

Participants will meet online via Zoom, and they will also have the option of individual coaching, either in person, by phone, or virtually.

The university said that the 12 participants in the first group two years ago launched eight new micro-businesses, and subsequent groups have quickly filled up with entrepreneurs.

For more information and to register, go to cct-lvc-cohort-5.eventbrite.com