Arkansas school board hopefuls set to file

Noon today start for state sign-ups

The candidate filing period begins at noon today for school boards across Arkansas that have decided to hold their annual elections in conjunction with this year's Nov. 6 general election.

The weeklong filing period for school board candidates will close at noon Aug. 8 in county clerks' offices across the state.

Act 910 of 2017 gave school boards the choice of holding board elections in either May or November. This is the first year in which there are no stand-alone elections for school board in September.

In the North Little Rock School District, four seats are open -- a majority of the seven school board seats -- for election at a time when the district is operating under the direction of an interim superintendent, Bobby Acklin, and faces the task of selecting a long-term leader in the coming weeks and months. The board voted earlier this year to buy out the final contract year of its previous superintendent, Kelly Rodgers.

In the Pulaski County Special School District, one seat is open in the district that has just hired a long-term superintendent to replace an interim leader. This will be the first election since the November 2016 election in which the entire seven-member board was selected after a five-year period of state control and no elected school board.

The Little Rock School District has also chosen to have November elections but is currently operating under state control and has no elected board. The district, however, will have to offer residents the opportunity to vote on the district's current property tax rate of 46.4 mills as is required by state law to happen once a year.

Only the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District in Pulaski County opted to hold its annual school board election this past May in conjunction with political primary elections.

In North Little Rock, the zones 2, 3, 5 and 7 positions are open.

Darrell Montgomery, who has held the Zone 3 position for 12 years, has said that he will not run for re-election from the zone that is bounded on the east by Percy Machin Drive, Burks Avenue and Parkway Drive and on the west and south by the Arkansas River.

Tracy Steele, a former state senator and the director of the Arkansas Health Services Permit Agency, said Tuesday night that he is "absolutely" going to run for re-election.

Steele has served one three-year term from the district's Zone 2 position. Zone 2 comprises an area east of Pike Avenue and Percy Machin Drive and partially topped on the north by Interstate 40.

Luke King, an investment portfolio manager for Bank OZK, currently represents Zone 7 that covers the central part of the city.

In a phone interview Tuesday, King said he has not yet decided whether to run for what would be a third, three-year term.

Cindy Temple is in the district's Zone 5 position. Zone 5 covers the north-central part of the district. Temple said Tuesday that she has not yet decided whether to run for the position.

Temple was appointed to the position last year by her fellow board members. As an appointee she can only continue to hold the seat if she runs and wins at the next regular election, which is the Nov. 6 election.

She is vice president of SP Environmental.

North Little Rock School Board terms are for three years and are unpaid.

In the Pulaski County Special district, only the board's Zone 5 seat is up for election this year. The seat is currently held by Alicia Gillen. The zone encompasses the north-central part of the district, between Maumelle and Sherwood.

Gillen said Tuesday that she is not going to run for re-election because of family and work obligations.

Board terms in the Pulaski County Special district are five years and unpaid.

Both the North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special districts will put on their November ballots the districts' property tax rates as required by state law to do once a year -- regardless of whether there is a change proposed in the tax rate.

None of the districts in Pulaski County are proposing a change in their property tax rates.

As a result of Act 910 of 2017, starting this year school board elections have to either be held simultaneously with the preferential primary in May or with the November general election. That's in even-numbered years. The general election -- Nov. 6 this year -- is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of the month.

In odd-numbered years, the school board elections will be held on the dates that the primary or general elections would be held if they were to take place.

Metro on 08/01/2018

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