2 on Pulaski Special's board run unopposed

Tina Renee Ward and Eli Keller are each unopposed Nov. 3 for reelection to the School Board for the nearly 12,000-student Pulaski County Special School District.

Both were first elected in November 2016 when the board was reestablished after a five-year period when the district was under state control because of academic distress.

Ward, 52, the mother of two adult children and a human resources staff member at the University of Arkansas For Medical Sciences, represents the district's Zone 2, which encompasses southeast Pulaski County.

Keller, 42, who has two sons in district schools, is running from Zone 6, which encompasses much of Maumelle.

He is a Maumelle Police Department sergeant and supervisor of its division of school resource officers.

"There are still some things I would like to see for the district," Keller said of his interest in a second term.

"I want to make sure we don't break up and lose all of the hard work we've put into it," he said.

The sprawling district that partially circles the Little Rock and North Little Rock school districts saw the Jacksonville/North Pulaski area break away to form its own district in 2016.

Some residents and city leaders in Sherwood have continued to say they would like their city to have its own school system-- apart from the Pulaski Special district.

"The only way I would be in favor of that would be if it was beneficial to all of the feeder patterns," Keller said. "If Maumelle and Sherwood breaking off would leave the Robinson and Mills (school feeder patterns) in dire straits or less than desirable circumstances, I would not be in favor of it."

Keller also said there is more to be done to equalize the facilities among the school campuses

"I'd like to see Maumelle get a track," he said. "It's the only high school that still doesn't have a track, and the Maumelle community really wants a track at the school. It doesn't have an indoor practice facility either."

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