Three candidates seek seat on Fayetteville School Board

FAYETTEVILLE -- Candidates running for Fayetteville School Board are interested in district spending.

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Jeanne Champagne

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Phil Jones

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Bob Maranto

Other issues include career education, focusing on academics and thoughtful decision making.

Phil Jones, 58

Residency: Fayetteville, since 2007

Family: Wife, Janis; two adult children

Employment: Adjunct professor, owner of business consulting firm

Education: Master’s of business administration, University of Arkansas; bachelor of science, construction management, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Military experience: None

Political experience: Five-year term Benton School Board, 2000 to 2005; School Board president, Benton School District, 2005; Two-year term on Fayetteville Parks and Recreation Advisory Board

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Bob Maranto, 57

Residency: Fayetteville, since 2008

Family: Wife, April Gresham Maranto; two children

Employment: Professor

Education: Bachelor of science in political science, University of Maryland, 1980; doctorate in political science, University of Minnesota, 1989

Military experience: None

Political experience: Elected in 1978 to Republican County Central Committee in Anne Arundel, Md. Served three years

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Jeanne Champagne, 60

Residency: Fayetteville, since 2014

Family: Husband, Dennis; four children

Employment: Owner of a business consulting firm

Education: Attended University of Arkansas and University of Phoenix

Military experience: None

Political experience: None

The School Board election will take place Sept. 15. Early voting begins Sept. 8.

The seats for Zone 2 and Zone 3 are up for election. Justin Eichmann, the Zone 3 incumbent, is running unopposed for another five-year term.

Bryn Bagwell decided to vacate her Zone 2 seat. The vacancy led to a three-way race between Jeanne Champagne, Phil Jones and Bob Maranto.

Champagne, 60, is a former private school teacher who is now semi-retired from working in the medical and dental business and owns a consulting business. She is the mother of four grown children and was a foster parent of students in Fayetteville schools.

She and her husband lived near Goshen for about 30 years before moving into Fayetteville in 2014.

A granddaughter entering first grade this school year inspired her to want to get involved, she said.

"I know I don't know everything," Champagne said. "I know how much I pour myself into everything I do. I'll learn what I need to know."

Jones, 58, spent five years on the Benton School Board, including one year as board president. He was a former project executive for the construction management firm overseeing the rebuilding of Fayetteville High School. He since has started a consulting business and is an adjunct faculty member in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas and in the business department of Ecclesia College in Springdale.

"I believe strongly based on my previous experience that I can be an effective board member," Jones said. "I want to serve the community from this position."

Maranto, 57, is the father of two children attending Fayetteville schools and is the 21st Century Chairman in Leadership in the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas. He has studied successful schools and failing schools, as well as charter schools. He spent seven years on the board of Achievement House Cyber Charter, an online charter school with 800 students and an $11 million budget in Pennsylvania.

Maranto wants to work toward the Fayetteville School District becoming the best school system among states in the southeast within the next five to 10 years, he said.

"We have a good system," Maranto said. "I believe we have leadership in place that will serve us well for many years. I want to help that."

All three candidates are interested in evaluating spending in the district, with Jones and Maranto noting the district having among the highest spending per pupil among school districts in Northwest Arkansas.

Jones said the issue is efficiency. If a district has the highest per-pupil spending, the district also should have the best outcomes, including scores on standardized tests, high performance among students whose first language isn't English and exceptional preparation of students academically.

The district's taxpayers work hard for the money they pay in school taxes, Champagne said. She wants to be accountable to taxpayers and for them to know how that money is being spent.

Maranto said the district has the resources to serve children well from all income levels, as well as those bound for college and those who are not.

Maranto wants to involve teachers in developing programs and policies, improving communication with parents and focusing more attention on Fayetteville being the best school system in academics.

"A great school is a school that takes kids where they are and moves them up," Maranto said. "Progress for every kid. That's got to be your mindset."

Jones wants the district to continue to have a strong reputation for preparing students for college, he said. He also thinks serious conversations are needed on career education.

Jones is interested in making sure students who don't go to college are prepared for jobs that pay enough to support themselves and that give them the option of advancing with more education, he said.

"We have to do the best that we can for all students, not just the ones at the very top," Jones said.

Champagne thinks Fayetteville is a strong School District but always has room for improvement.

She will gather data and information in making decisions, will listen to all sides and will consider whether proposals before the School Board are designed around students' educational needs and preparing them for the future.

"I'm not going in with, 'I'm going to change,'" Champagne said. "I really need to assess it first."

NW News on 08/28/2015

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