Twenty-five candidates filed to run for 17 positions in 12 Benton and Washington county school districts.
Voters across the state will pick local school board representatives during the Sept. 20 election. Early voting begins Sept. 13. The deadline to register to vote for school elections is Aug. 22.
Contested races are set for the Zone 3 seat in Bentonville, for the Position 4 seat in Farmington, for the Zone 1 seat and an at-large seat in Fayetteville, and in the two at-large positions in Rogers, according to information from the county clerk's offices in Benton and Washington counties.
No candidates filed to run for two positions in Decatur, one position in Gentry and two positions in Greenland, according to the county clerk's offices.
Positions with no candidates will be considered vacant after the election, said Dana Caler, Benton County elections administrator. The school boards will appoint a board member to those positions.
School boards set the direction for school districts, said Sarah McKenzie, director for the Office of Education Policy at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The boards approve school district budgets, and it's up to the elected members to make sure spending aligns with the goals the community has for its schools.
"The policies that they create are what helps the district keep its focus regardless of changes in administration or curriculum or testing," McKenzie said. "They're really the blueprint for the direction the district will go."
The following candidates filed to run for school boards by Tuesday's filing deadline. The asterisk represents incumbents.
Benton County
Bentonville
Zone 3
• Eric C. White
• Grant Lightle*
• Beth S. Haney
Zone 7
• Joe Quinn*
Gravette
Position 5
• Hope Hendren Duke
Position 6
• Heather Barnwell Finley
Pea Ridge
Position 1
• Jennifer R. Wood*
Rogers
At-Large Position 6
• Caley B. Vo
• Mitch Lockhart
• Bob White
At-Large Position 7
• Mark S. Sparks
• Nathan Gairhan
Siloam Springs
Zone 2
• Chuck Hyde*
Zone 3
• Audra Farrell*
Washington County
Elkins
Position 4
• Gayla L. Stahman
Farmington
Position 4
• Amy Hill*
• Jay Moore
Fayetteville
At Large, Position 1
• Maria Baez de Hicks
• Megan T. R. Hurley
Zone 1
• Farla Steele-Treat
• Nika Waitsman (appointed to at-large position)
Lincoln
Zone 5
• Connie Meyer*
Prairie Grove
Position 7
• Shawn Shrum*
Springdale
Zone 1
• Kevin Ownbey*
West Fork
Position 4
• Owen McAdoo*
NW News on 07/13/2016