Arkansas school board elections largely unopposed
September 12, 2014
By Lauren Dixon
Competition is not in the cards for four of the seven Arkansas school districts holding elections on September 16, 2014. Cabot, Conway, Fort Smith and Rogers school districts will have either unopposed incumbents or newcomers winning the golden ticket to a new five-year term.
In Conway, both seats up for election will be filled by unopposed newcomers; Wesley "Trip" Leach in Zone 4 and Scott Champlin in Zone 5. Rogers School District has only one seat up for election, which will be filled by newcomer Amy Horn. The three districts that do have competitive races — Bentonville, Little Rock and Springdale — only have one challenger opposing the incumbent in each race.
Spotlight: Little Rock School District
The winners of the two seats up for election in Little Rock School District will see a district without court-mandated funding for the first time in over 20 years. It started in 1982, when Little Rock School District sued Pulaski County Special District, North Little Rock School District and the state to create a countywide school district. The largely African-American district saw the case as a way to halt the segregation that had plagued the area for years.
The lawsuit resulted in district boundary changes, as well as a settlement that required the state to pay approximately $129.75 million over 10 years to the three districts.[1] After a desegregation plan was approved in 1998, court monitoring over the district lasted until 2007. A January 2014 decision approved the final phasing out of state payments to the three school districts, which are set to end after the 2017-2018 school year.[2]
Candidates
Note: An (i) next to a candidate's name indicates incumbent status.
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Bentonville School District Zone 5 Cabot Public School District Conway Public Schools Zone 5 Fort Smith Public Schools At-large |
Little Rock School District Zone 5 Rogers School District Springdale Public Schools |
See also
Footnotes
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