Bentonville School Board candidates meet public, answer questions

CENTERTON -- A Bentonville School Board member running for re-election answered questions and criticism from the public Saturday about an employment-related policy change he championed last year.

Grant Lightle, a board member since 2012, appeared along with his opponents Eric White and Beth Haney as special guests at Mayor Bill Edwards' monthly Coffee with the Mayor event.

The candidates stood up individually in front of more than 70 audience members and talked about themselves. They then sat down together to take questions from the audience.

The event was an informal opportunity for the public to get to know the candidates for the Zone 3 board seat. Zone 3 covers parts of north and central Bentonville and east Centerton.

Several people grilled Lightle over his request last year to add sexual orientation, gender identity and other classifications to those protected under the School District's anti-discrimination policy.

"You consistently said last year you wanted it to be in line with what your employer, Wal-Mart, does," said Lisa Richards, a Bentonville resident, addressing Lightle. "The glaring difference is the impact a teacher has on the developing brain of a 5-year-old who may be a male one day and a female the next day."

Richards said the proposed policy change was an attempt to supersede her role as a parent. She also expressed concern, echoed by others at the meeting, over how such a change would affect who is allowed in which bathrooms.

"You're saying my bodily privacy rights are below somebody's sexual feelings one day to the other," Richards said.

Lightle said in any case, there are boundaries to behavior at school, regardless of the teacher.

"But I would also say if the teacher happens to have a different sexual orientation and it doesn't impact their job, and it's not introduced in the classroom, I think that's OK," he said. "And I understand that may not be a popular opinion in this community or in this room."

The board voted 4-2 against Lightle's suggestion on the matter in August 2015, ending a debate that had lasted four months.

All seven board members agreed people should be judged on their own merits and shouldn't be discriminated against based on things not related to their job performance, but there weren't four members who wanted to write that into policy, Lightle said.

"That's OK. I've moved on. We have seven people, we have seven different opinions," he said.

Mike Brinson, pastor of a Centerton church, told Lightle he had lost faith in him because of the policy issue and would not be voting for him in the Sept. 20 board election.

"I appreciate that," Lightle said. "It's the great thing about democracy."

White, when asked about the issue, said he would "never support a little boy going into a little girl's bathroom."

Later in the meeting, the question-and-answer session was disrupted briefly by a loud argument among numerous audience members over the anti-discrimination policy.

Lightle, during time allotted to speak about himself, recounted some of the board's accomplishments during his four years as a member, including building West High School, hiring a new superintendent, managing a steadily growing district and finding a way to finance two more schools without asking voters for a millage increase.

Haney served on the board for 12 years. She resigned in April 2012 because her daughter was about to be hired by the district. District policy states immediate family of board members cannot be employed unless the family member was employed prior to the board member being elected.

"When I served -- and it's not changed a bit -- we've got to continue to manage the growth," Haney said. "It will be a very big charge to make sure we have facilities and staffing and finances to adequately meet the needs of the district. There's nothing easy about it and growing pains are hard, but that's our duty as a public school, to ensure that for all of our children and families."

Equality among the schools is "a big deal" to her, Haney said.

"Every child in this School District is going to get an excellent education. It doesn't matter if you're here and it doesn't matter if you're there," she said.

White, a Wal-Mart relationship team leader for Tyco, spoke about his grandmother, who fostered more than 150 kids, including his mother.

"I learned a lot from my grandma," White said. "I learned about hard work. I learned about caring for other people. And I learned that when the time comes, you've got to stand up for the people that need it, even when it's not easy."

White's wife, Tamara, is a counselor in the Bentonville School District. They have two daughters, including one in the district.

"Ladies and gentlemen, if you ask me why you should vote for me for School Board? I'll protect your children," White said.

Other issues were raised by audience members during the question-and-answer session.

Robert Anderson, a former teacher, said the district has lost its vision of serving all students, including those who are not planning on going to college.

Another man asked about the possibility of the district being less strict on zoning to allow special-needs students to attend schools that may be better able to serve them than their zoned schools.

Board members Rebecca Powers and Matt Burgess, who represent zones 1 and 6, respectively, also attended Saturday's meeting. They are not up for election this year.

NW News on 08/21/2016