LaGRANGE — Board of Education member-elect Joe Franklin will take office early after the board on Thursday voted to appoint him to fill the last five months of his predecessor’s term.

Franklin is expected to be sworn in during the board’s August caucus meeting, set for Aug. 15. He will fill the District 6 seat to which he was elected to start serving in January.

Former District 6 board member Ashley Adams gave her resignation to the board because her family moved out of state, confirmed board attorney John Taylor. According to state law, with less than two years left on the term, the board can appoint someone to fill the vacancy for the remaining six months of the term, he told board members during Monday’s caucus meeting.

The board-approved resolution to appoint Franklin will be sent to the Georgia secretary of state’s office, which will need to approve the move and craft language for an oath of office for Franklin to take, Taylor said.

Adams announced in February she would not seek re-election to the District 6 post, which she has held since 2012.

Franklin won the May 24 election for the District 6 seat. His elected term officially starts on Jan. 1.

He is one of four new members coming onto the board at the start of 2017.

Kirk Hancock will take the reins of District 2 and Brandon Brooks will take on District 3, respectively replacing board members Dianne Matthews and Sheila Rowe, who did not seek re-election.

The District 5 seat — currently held by Debbie Burdette, who also did not seek re-election — is currently set to be determined between candidates John Asbell and Cathy Sargent Hunt in the runoff election on Tuesday.

In other business Thursday, the board approved:

• Paying $83,248.89 to South Dakota-based company Sterling for desktop computers to support the Read 180 and System 44 programs for students who need help with reading.

• The Bright from the Start: Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning for Georgia pre-K 2016-2017 grant. The $1.8 million grant will fund the Troup County schools’ pre-K program for 2016-2017. Funding source: state pre-K grant funds.

• Paying $220,565.07 for the yearly contract to West Georgia RESA for the Cooperative Agreement for Occupational Therapy Services. Certain students receive occupational therapy as part of their related service as identified by their IEP or 504 Plan, according to board documents. This is a yearly contract that Troup County School System enters into with West Georgia RESA and the purchase order will be billed in quarterly installments. Funding source: school system general funds.

• Paying $135,172.80 to Illinois-based CDW-Government for Chromebook laptop purchases. Funding source: educational special-purpose, local-option sales tax funds.

• Paying $60,000 to LaGrange-based Aramark Corporation for the purchase of cleaning chemicals for July 1, 2016, to June 30, 2017. Funding source: school system maintenance and operations funds.

• Renewal of the school system’s food service contract with current provider Chartwells.