Lightle, Mertes In Zone 3 Runoff

BENTONVILLE — Zone 3 voters will have to decide between two contrasting ideas to ease overcrowding at Bentonville High School when they vote in an upcoming school board runoff.

Mertes

Lightle

Early voting starts Tuesday as Grant Lightle faces Kim Mertes, a board member since 2008. A runoff was needed in the five-person race after Lightle won with 205 votes

(48.46 percent) and Mertes finished second with 155 votes (36.64 percent) in the Sept. 18 general election. Samantha Sizemore Vernetti received 28 votes (6.62 percent), Jeff Odom got 24 votes (5.67 percent) and Brandon Davis secured 11 votes (2.60 percent).

Voters in Zone 3 will be able to cast ballots in the early voting period at the Benton County Clerk’s office at the County Administration Building, 215 E. Central Ave. in Bentonville. Early voting ends Oct. 8, with voting hours from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On election day — Oct. 9 — votes will be cast at the Bentonville Church of Christ, 811 N. Walton Blvd., from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Lightle and Mertes have been vocal in their support of a second high school. They just have different views on what is needed. Bentonville High School has about 3,900 students enrolled this school year, officials say.

A proposed 6.7 mill increase to build a 2,000-student second high school was soundly defeated (58 percent against) by voters June 26.

The $128 million cost of the millage package was the leading reason voters turned it down, results from a survey done by the Bentonville School District show.

Mertes supports a tech/career pathways school “to equip students with the skills and certifications necessary to enter the work force immediately.”

“We have growth issues, with the most immediate need being space at Bentonville High School,” Mertes said. “Does something need to be done? Yes. Must it involve building a large, comprehensive, full-service high school? No.”

Mertes also touts online classes as a way to ease high school overcrowding.

Lightle says Bentonville needs a full-service second high school to keep up with growth.

“A second high school is the only solution that will meet our capacity needs for any period of time,” Lightle said. “Even assuming a slowed growth rate of just 1 percent, our high school enrollment is projected at more than 5,300 by fall 2019. At a more realistic 3 percent growth rate, our enrollment will exceed 6,000. We simply need capacity to match our growth.”

Lightle says a second high school also will present increased participation in selective extracurricular activities.