2 school board races attract 8
Posted on Saturday, July 19, 2008
Eight candidates have filed for the Fayetteville School Board — including six for one seat — creating unusually competitive races on a board charged with several substantial decisions related to the future of the district’s high school.
The state school board filing deadline was noon Friday. The election is Sept. 16.
Filings across Benton and Washington counties show a higher than usual level of interest for school board races. The elections typically draw few candidates for open seats and numerous uncontested incumbents seeking re-election.
“This is not something I’ve seen in a long time,” said Dan Farley, executive director of the Arkansas School Boards Association. “There are not huge amounts of people stepping up to be on school boards.” Farley said he couldn’t recall another recent race that drew as many candidates as the six for the at-large position in Fayetteville. The association doesn’t track election involvement in the state’s 245 districts.
The Fayetteville candidates will compete to take former board member John Delap’s unexpired term. Delap plans to take a teaching position in the district in the fall, and the board accepted Delap’s resignation at its June meeting.
At Friday’s deadline, Stacy Furlow, Jim Halsell, Jeanie Hill, Joe Lee, Mike Malony and board-appointed interim member Conrad Odom had filed for Delap’s spot. The board’s other at-large member, Susan Heil, filed for re-election. She drew James McGinty as an opponent.
Farley said he couldn’t speculate on the surge of interest. But high-profile local issues often draw interest in the role of a school board, he said.
The Fayetteville School Board is determining the future of Fayetteville High School. It’s a question that has packed some public meetings and spurred the start of two grass-roots organizations on opposite sides of the issue.
The board has two offers to purchase the high school and its surrounding 40 acres — one for $ 50 million from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and another for $ 60 million from an anonymous group of real estate development partners who plan to convert the campus into a mixed-use space with apartments and stores.
If the board accepts either offer, officials plan to build a larger high school on a site in another part of the city.
Opponents of the plan, including a group called BuildSmart, say the current campus is a valuable, central location that could be remodeled for a lower price than relocating.
Malony, a candidate for Delap’s vacated position, served on a committee chaired by School Board member Tim Hudson that recommended a site off of Huntsville Road for a new high school.
Malony said Friday that the intense community interest in the new high school’s location didn’t deter him from running.
“It didn’t scare me away,” he said.
Despite local issues that bring out candidates, increased accountability standards from the Arkansas Department of Education may have lowered interest in running for school board seats in other districts, Farley said.
Laws passed in 2003 give the state board authority to classify school districts as fiscally distressed and to require them to develop and comply with stateapproved financial improvement plans.
Arkansas Code 6-20-1901-1907 gives districts up to two years to remedy their financial problems before the state board is required to take action.
Districts that are unsuccessful in reaching solvency may be consolidated into a neighboring district, a fate that hit home recently for two Northwest Arkansas districts.
The Arkansas Board of Education voted Monday to take control of Greenland School District, dissolving the board and appointing a new superintendent. The board will consider annexing 580-student Decatur School District into neighboring Bentonville, Gravette or Gentry at a July 31 meeting. Only one Decatur School Board member was up for reelection. Donald Morgan didn’t draw an opponent for his position. The high stakes decisions involved in the job shouldn’t cause potential candidates to shy away from running, Farley said. “It’s the very essence of what American representative government is about,” he said. “It’s the most local candidate a person could elect.” To contact this reporter: eblad@arkansasonline. com
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