The school board candidate filing period begins at noon Thursday for Arkansas school boards that have decided to hold board elections in conjunction with this year's May 22 preferential primary.
The weeklong filing period for school board candidates will close at noon March 1 in county clerks' offices across the state.
This is the first year in which there are no stand-alone school board elections in September.
Act 910 of 2017 gave school boards the choice of holding board elections in either May or November.
In even-numbered years, starting with this year, the school board elections can be held simultaneously with the preferential primary in May or with the November general election. The general election -- Nov. 6 this year -- is held on the first Tuesday following 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.
The total number of districts selecting May elections and the total selecting November elections were not available Tuesday. The deadline for notifying Arkansas' county clerks of a school board's election date choice is Thursday.
Boyce Watkins, advocacy director for the Arkansas School Boards Association, which is monitoring the change in the school board election dates, said his organization will send a two-question electronic survey to the districts at the end of this week on the matter. The surveys will simply ask the name of the district and the outcome of the local board's election date decision, he said.
As far back as November, anecdotal information indicated that the May date was more popular than a November date for a school board election.
Watkins on Tuesday expects that will be confirmed with the survey results.
"I will be surprised ... if the overwhelming majority doesn't pick May, simply to try to stay away from that general election and all the build-up that usually goes with that," Watkins said. "Plus there is all the cost of getting your name out there. I know there is that before the primary but it seems to really ramp up before the general election."
The May election date will bring on new school board members close to the start of a school year and not in mid-year just before superintendent evaluations are required. Those that favored the November date have cited the potential for large public participation in the election.
In Pulaski County, the state's most populous county, only the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District has opted for a May election of its school board, which will feature three open seats this year: At-Large Position No. 1 and Zones 2 and 5.
The North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special districts have selected November as the month for their annual elections, as has the Little Rock School District. For the time being, however, the Little Rock district is operating under state control and doesn't currently have an elected school board.
Daniel Gray, 43, president of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board, said Tuesday that he intends to file as a candidate for re-election to the at-large Position 1 seat. Principal broker and co-owner of Re/Max Homefinders, Gray and his wife, Amy, are the parents of two district students.
Dena Toney, who holds the board's Zone 5 seat, and Ava Coleman, who holds the board's Zone 2 seat, did not return phone and email messages Tuesday afternoon about their plans for running for election.
Toney was first elected in 2015. Coleman was appointed by the board last year to fill a vacancy created by the resignation of board member Carol Miles.
The Jacksonville board terms are for four years and are unpaid.
Metro on 02/21/2018