Those seeking greater influence over their local schools may pursue one of 21 school board seats up for election in Benton and Washington counties this year.
Anyone interested in running for an open seat may begin circulating petitions today. Candidates may file their petitions and other related paperwork with their county clerk beginning July 5. The deadline to file is at noon July 11. Elections will be Sept. 19.
School board elections
The following is a list of seats on each Northwest Arkansas school district’s board of education that are up for election this year and the term length the election winner will receive. The current occupant of each seat is listed in parentheses.
BENTON COUNTY
Bentonville
• Zone 2, five years (Brent Leas)
Decatur
• Zone 1, four years unexpired (Amy Brooks)
• Zone 2, three years unexpired (Aaron Owens)
• Zone 4, five years (Darleen Holly)
Gentry
• Zone 2, four years unexpired (Jon Holt)
• Zone 5, five years (Jim Barnes)
Gravette
• Position 1, five years (Jay Oliphant)
• Position 2, five years (Jack Skillett)
• Position 4, three years unexpired (Ty Russell)
Pea Ridge
• Position 2, five years (Sandy Button)
Rogers
• Zone 1, five years (Sterling Wilson)
Siloam Springs
• Zone 4, five years (Brian Lamb)
WASHINGTON COUNTY
ELKINS
• Position 5, five years (Troy Kestner)
FARMINGTON
• Position 5, five years (Doug Williams)
FAYETTEVILLE
• Zone 4, five years (Traci Farrah)
GREENLAND
• Zone 6, five years (Keith A. Lawson)
• Zone 7, three years (Trish Morris)
LINCOLN
• Zone 3, five years (Nick Brewer)
PRAIRIE GROVE
• Position 1, five years (Mark Beaver)
SPRINGDALE
• Zone 4, five years (Randy Hutchinson)
WEST FORK
• Position 5, five years (Karen Daugherity)
Source: Staff report
Board candidates must file petitions with at least 20 signatures from registered voters within the school district or from within the zone they would represent to appear on ballots; alternatively, they may file a notice of write-in candidacy with their county clerk. They must be qualified voters and live in the district or electoral zone for which they're running.
Northwest Arkansas' 15 school districts all have at least one seat up for election. The Gravette and Decatur school boards lead with three seats available on both boards.
One seat is up for election in each of Northwest Arkansas' four largest districts: Springdale, Bentonville, Rogers and Fayetteville. Three of the four incumbents in those districts plan to run for re-election; Sterling Wilson of the Rogers School Board is the only one who said he won't run.
Here's more about those seats and their current occupants.
Rogers
Wilson, 54, was the only person who filed to run for the Rogers School Board's Zone 1 seat in 2012. He replaced Joye Kelley, who had served 29 years, including 20 as board president.
The zone consists essentially of the northern half of the School District, including not only part of Rogers but also Little Flock and Garfield.
Wilson is a former medical researcher. He became a stay-at-home dad when he and his wife moved to Rogers 20 years ago and has given hundreds of hours of volunteer work to the district.
Wilson, the board's secretary, said he and his wife recently became empty-nesters. Their desire to travel more led to his decision not to seek re-election. He said he's missed only two meetings in five years.
Reflecting on his term, Wilson said he's most proud of the job the board did hiring Marlin Berry as superintendent last year.
"I think [Berry] was as good a fit and as good a superintendent as we could've gotten for the district," Wilson said.
Wilson will become the fourth person to leave the board within the past two years when his term expires this fall.
Springdale
Randy Hutchinson is finishing his ninth year on the School Board, of which he is president. He was first elected 10 years ago, but had to vacate his spot for a year when his sister was seeking a teaching position with the Springdale School District. After she was hired, he was able to run again and returned to the board.
He hopes to serve another five-year term.
Hutchinson, 48, grew up in Springdale, graduating from Springdale High School in 1986. Hutchinson is an insurance agent and owner of his agency for Shelter Insurance. He is married to Cynthia, and they have three boys who graduated from Springdale High School in 2012, 2015 and 2016.
Hutchinson took an active role with parent-teacher groups and booster clubs in the school district. When School Board member Mike Luttrell needed to vacate his spot because he was moving to another zone in the district, Luttrell suggested Hutchinson run.
"It was a natural next step," Hutchinson said. "I was part of the Springdale School District, as were my kids. I want to be a part of that continued success. It feels good to give back."
Bentonville
Brent Leas summed up his five years representing Zone 2 on the Bentonville School Board as "interesting" and "informative." He will seek another five-year term after running unopposed in 2012.
"I hope I've done a good job of offering a valued voice on the board," Leas said. "There's been a lot of contentious things that have come up along the way and through that, I think I've become a better person and better able to handle those kinds of situations as they have come along."
Leas, 46, is a vice president with First National Bank of Northwest Arkansas. He has lived in Bella Vista for 22 years. His zone covers most of east Bella Vista.
Leas and his wife, Stephanie, have three children. Their two oldest graduated from Bentonville High School in 2015 and this year. Their youngest child is entering the fourth grade at Cooper Elementary School.
Fayetteville
Traci Farrah remembers running for the first time in 2012 as a parent of two children who were impacted by lots of changes in Fayetteville School District, including construction at Fayetteville High School and changes made to which campuses served the different grade levels across the district.
"I wanted to be able to have a voice in the direction the school was going," Farrah said. "I wanted to be able to have a voice in it and provide other people with a voice."
Farrah, 49, is married to Bobby, and their daughter graduated from Fayetteville High School in 2015. Their son will be a junior there in the fall. Farrah is a value improvement manager at Tyson Foods.
Farrah thinks the past five years were hard for the district, but she likes the direction and bigger picture thinking of Superintendent Matthew Wendt, who joined the district in July.
Farrah wants Fayetteville to be a leader in how it educates students. She's interested in figuring out how to reach and communicate with families so they know and understand what's happening in their schools, she said.
Washington County
Among the county's smaller districts, Troy Kestner plans to run for the seat he was appointed to last year on the Elkins School Board. Kestner, 46, is a senior vice president with Arvest Bank and a senior client adviser with Arvest Wealth Management.
Kestner moved in 2011 with his wife and three daughters from Fayetteville to Elkins, where they owned some land, he said. Their oldest daughter recently graduated from Elkins High School. The other girls will go into the ninth and 10th grades this fall.
His path to the board stems from volunteering to coach youth sports, he said. A few years after he stopped coaching, discussions came up about serving on the board. He has a background in financial services and personal experience with building facilities and managing people.
Kestner's priority is providing opportunities for students. He is proud of the district's efforts to increase student access to electronic devices, with every student now assigned a laptop starting in seventh grade, he said.
Doug Williams of the Farmington School Board plans to discuss whether to run in the election with his family and Superintendent Bryan Law. Williams, 53, is an owner of Williams Tractor. He is married and has three children who have graduated from Farmington High School and a stepdaughter who is a student at Farmington High School.
He estimates he spends about eight hours a month on school-related business, including meetings with the superintendent and preparing for and attending board meetings.
He's taken an interest in curriculum, with a desire to ensure Farmington students have the same options provided by larger districts. Students have access to Advanced Placement courses, and Northwest Arkansas Community College offers programs in Farmington.
"I'm very interested in my community, and the future of our community is our kids," he said.
The positions up for election in Greenland are for Zones 6 and 7, occupied by board members Keith A. Lawson and Patricia Morris, respectively. Lawson could not be reached for comment, but Morris plans to run in the election to remain in her position.
Morris was appointed in September. This will be her first experience running in an election.
"I love to help the kids," she said. "Anything for the kids I'm happy to do."
Morris, 44, has lived in Winslow with her husband, Gabe, since 2013. They have four children between them, including her youngest daughter who will be a senior at Greenland High School in the fall. Morris has been a nurse for 17 years. She is a full-time organ procurement coordinator for the Arkansas Regional Organ Recovery Agency and works part-time for Mercy Life Line in Rogers. She's also a volunteer firefighter for District 8 of the Boston Mountain Fire Department.
Other area board members whose positions are expiring could not be reached for comment.
In Lincoln, the term School Board Secretary Nick Brewer is expiring. Brewer is the Zone 3 representative.
One seat is expiring on the Prairie Grove School Board, Position 1, represented by Mark Beaver. West Fork School Board President Karen Daugherity also is up for election in Position 5.
Benton County
The terms of three school board presidents in Benton County are expiring. All three -- Brian Lamb of Siloam Springs, Sandy Button of Pea Ridge and Jay Oliphant of Gravette -- said they plan to run for re-election.
Lamb has served 20 years on the Siloam Springs board.
"I still have passion for public education and feel I can be an effective board member for the Siloam Springs School District," Lamb wrote in an email. "It has been a pleasure to serve the past years and I hope to represent zone 4 for another term."
Button served on the Pea Ridge board from 1994 to 2000. She was appointed to the board again in May 2012 and ran unopposed for election to a five-year term a few months later.
"Being on the school board is very rewarding to me and I enjoy serving in that capacity," Button wrote in an email.
Oliphant is seeking his second term on the Gravette board. He said he looks forward to continuing progress made by the Gravette, Bentonville, Gentry and Decatur districts toward building a career center in western Benton County the four districts would share.
Also in Gravette, Jack Skillett, who's served 20 years on the board, has announced he won't run for a fifth term. Skillett, 77, of Bella Vista is a former teacher, schools superintendent, college professor and college dean.
Three of the five board seats in Decatur are up for election, according to the Benton County clerk's office. Those seats are zones 1, 2 and 4, held by Amy Brooks, Aaron Owens and Darleen Holly. None of the three incumbents returned email messages seeking comment last week.
The Gentry School Board has two seats to be voted upon this year. They belong to Jim Barnes and Jon Holt. Barnes, in his 16th year on the board, said he won't run for re-election. Holt could not be reached for comment.
NW News on 06/11/2017