18 hopefuls vie for 9 positions on Little Rock School District board

1 candidate fails to get enough signatures, 2nd takes name out

The Little Rock School District initially attracted 20 candidates for election Nov. 3 to nine seats on what will be a reestablished School Board for a district that has been under state control without a board since January 2015.

One potential candidate, however, didn't have enough viable signatures on a candidacy petition to qualify for the ballot. Another candidate, FranSha' Anderson, said Saturday that she will remain a candidate for the Zone 6 seat.

Other candidates who could not be immediately reached for background information early this week included Evelyn Hemphill Callaway, 68, a Kansas City, Mo., native, who is running for the Zone 3 seat.

Callaway taught for 41 years before retiring from the Little Rock district in 2014, where she taught most recently at J.A. Fair. Callaway has a bachelor's degree in family and consumer science from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and a master's degree in career and technical education/family and consumer science from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She is married to Eddie Callaway III, and has four adult children who graduated from district schools, including a daughter who is now a library/media specialist in the district, and five grandchildren.

[RELATED » Full coverage of elections in Arkansas » arkansasonline.com/elections/]

Michael Sanders, 46, is also running for the Zone 3 seat. He is a community resource manager in the city of Little Rock's Department of Community Programs, a component of which is the summer youth employment program of 700 young people. Sanders is a graduate of Central High, and has a bachelor's degree from Henderson State University and a master's degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. He and his wife, Renata, a Little Rock district early childhood education teacher, have three sons, including one in college and two in Little Rock district schools.

Tommy Branch Jr., who served on the school board in 2012-13 is a director of adult day programs and regional support for the state. He is a graduate of J.A. Fair High School and studied organizational management at Philander Smith College. He has two children, one of whom is a 2020 graduate of Quest Academy charter school and a fifth-grader at a Little Rock district elementary school.

In 2016 he was chairman of the state-appointed Little Rock Area Public Education Stakeholder Group to find areas of collaboration between charter and traditional public schools.

Also in the Zone 3 race is Monica Wiley whose background information was published earlier.

Benjamin R. Coleman, 39, is running for the board's Zone 8 position, which is also being sought by Greg Adams, whose background information was published last week.

Coleman said he is an independent real estate professional. A native of Gary, Ind., Coleman graduated from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a degree in finance. He is married to Nakille Coleman, a nurse practitioner, and has a 10-year-old daughter who is a pupil in a Little Rock district elementary school.

CORRECTION: FranSha' Anderson said Saturday that she is and will remain a candidate for election Nov. 3 to the Zone 6 seat on the Little Rock School Board — a change from what Anderson said earlier in the week. An earlier version of this article cited her intention as of Tuesday.

Upcoming Events