Cook retains Springdale School Board spot, wins third term in at-large position

Michelle Cook
Michelle Cook


SPRINGDALE -- A School Board member earned her third term with a win in Tuesday's election.

Michelle Cook defeated challenger Donald Tippett to maintain her at-large, Position 2 seat on the board, which she's held since 2013. She gets another five years on the board.

Complete but unofficial results show Cook leading Tippett:

Cook 1,528 (74%)

Tippett 529 (26%)

Cook, 50, grew up in Springdale. She graduated from Springdale High School in 1990 and earned a business degree from the University of Arkansas in 1994. She then completed an alternative certification program for teaching in Houston and spent a few years as a special education teacher in the Houston area.

She now helps run a family business, Cook and Cook Properties.

She said before the election she did not believe her time on the board was done and that she's just now gotten open lines of communication with Springdale families and teachers.

"I believe being on the board gives me an opportunity to be their voice," she said. "I may not always agree with them. But by listening, I feel like I can see a bigger picture of what's needed and not just what's right in front of me."

Cook was board president during the covid-19 pandemic and during the transition from former Superintendent Jim Rollins to current Superintendent Jared Cleveland in 2020. Rollins had been superintendent for 38 years.

Cook said her experience on the board is pivotal and she's learned to see the big picture and work within the system.

"I have more time to visit schools because I work from home," Cook said. "We have our own business, so I can make my own hours."

Cook is one of two at-large members of the seven member Springdale board. The other is Clinton Bell. At-large board members represent the entire School District.

School board members are unpaid volunteers.



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