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Bentonville School District elections (2014)
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Two seats on the Bentonville School District Board of Education were up for general election on September 16, 2014.
Incumbent Willie Cowgur defeated newcomer Kirsten Johnston for the Zone 4 seat. In Zone 5, former board member Travis Riggs won election to the board over incumbent Lisa Clark. The district continued to address two law suits regarding from parents regarding treatment of their child with special needs.
About the district
- See also: Bentonville School District, Arkansas
Bentonville School District is located in Benton County, Arkansas. The county seat of Benton County is Bentonville. Benton County is home to 237,297 residents, according to the United States Census Bureau.[1] During the 2011-2012 school year, Bentonville School District was the sixth-largest school district in Arkansas and served 14,123 students.[2]
Demographics
Benton County outperformed the rest of Arkansas in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 28.1 percent of Benton County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 19.8 percent for Arkansas as a whole. The median household income in Benton County was $53,515 compared to $40,531 for the state of Arkansas. The poverty rate in Benton County was 12.1 percent compared to 18.7 percent for the entire state.[1]
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Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Voter and candidate information
The Bentonville school board consists of seven members elected to five-year terms by geographic electoral districts. There was no primary election and the general election was held on September 16, 2014. Two seats were on the ballot in 2014.[4]
Individuals interested in running for the board began circulating nominating petitions on June 8, 2014. Candidates began to file their petitions on July 1, 2014 and the filing deadline for the 2014 general election was July 8, 2014. Each candidate had to file a petition of candidacy, political practices pledge, affidavit of eligibility and nomination petitions with at least 20 valid signatures to the county clerk.[5][6]
Elections
2014
Candidates
Zone 4
- Willie Cowgur
- Incumbent
- Graduate, The University of Arkansas
- Retail Executive
- Kirsten Johnston
- Graduate, Brigham Young University
Zone 5
- Lisa Clark
- Incumbent
- Youth minister
- Travis Riggs
- Graduate, The University of Oklahoma
- Certified public accountant
Election results
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Willie Cowgur Incumbent |
72.4% | 344 | |
| Nonpartisan | Kirsten Johnston | 27.6% | 131 | |
| Total Votes | 475 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Benton County Election Coordinator Kim Dennison," March 5, 2015 | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nonpartisan | Travis Riggs |
60% | 165 | |
| Nonpartisan | Lisa Clark Incumbent | 40% | 110 | |
| Total Votes | 275 | |||
| Source: Tiffany Rouse, "Email communication with Benton County Election Coordinator Kim Dennison," March 5, 2015 | ||||
Endorsements
The Northwest Arkansas times endorsed incumbent Cowgur for the Zone 4 seat and former board member Riggs for the Zone 5 seat.[7]
Campaign finance
No candidates filed a campaign finance report with the Arkansas Secretary of State during this election.[8]
Past elections
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2013
2012
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What was at stake?
Issues in the district
Parents sue district
In March 2014, one mother filed a law suit against Bentonville School District, Vista Health, and the Arkansas Department of Education. The lawsuit claimed that the school district moved a kindergarten student from the district to Vista Health several times during the 2012-13 school year without the knowledge or consent of his mother and that the child was assaulted and abused, while being physically restrained at Vista Health.
The plaintiff alleged that the child was misplaced into the Vista Health program because of Medicaid benefits and payments the program received from the school district. She claimed that she tried to get her son out of the program, but was not allowed to retrieve him from the care of Vista Health. Additionally, she alleged that her son was taught from worksheets printed from online sources, rather than from qualified teachers. The suit stated that the student's first, fourth, and 14th amendment rights were violated, along with rights afforded to him by various disability and education laws. Additionally, since the student was not properly evaluated for academic achievement, the suit said that the defendants also did not follow the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. The parent sought punitive action and compensation.[9][10]
Two other parents also sued the Bentonville School District, claiming their son’s rights were violated when he was placed into an autism classroom without their consent. The case was filed in June 2014 and stated the school district’s policy of automatically placing autistic students in an autism classroom violates the Individuals With Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 because children placed in the classrooms were "denied access to academic instruction provided to their same-aged non-disabled peer," and were denied participation in statewide and district-wide standardized testing. Prior to the suit, a hearing officer for the Arkansas Department of Education’s Special Education Unit ruled in favor of the district, stating that regular standardized testing would not have been appropriate for the child and that the school offered reasonable help to the child and parents concerning the boy’s autism. The parents sought to overturn that ruling with their lawsuit.[11]
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for the Bentonville School District election in 2014:[5]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| June 8, 2014 | First day to circulate nominating petitions |
| July 1, 2014 | First day to file nominating petitions |
| July 8, 2014 | Last day to file nominating petitions |
| July 14, 2014 | Last day to file a Statement of Financial Interest form with the county clerk |
| August 17, 2014 | Last day to register to vote in the annual school election |
| September 16, 2014 | General election day |
| October 7, 2014 | Runoff election day, if necessary |
Additional elections on the ballot
The Bentonville School District board of education election did not share the ballot with any other races.
Recent news
This section links to a Google news search for the term "Bentonville + School + District + Arkansas"
See also
- Arkansas
- Bentonville School District, Arkansas
- Arkansas school board elections, 2014
- List of school board elections in 2014
- School board elections, 2014
- Benton County, Arkansas ballot measures
- Local ballot measures, Arkansas
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 United States Census Bureau, "Benton County, Arkansas," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed February 18, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Election Results," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ Bentonville Public Schools, "Board of Education Policies 2013-14," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2014 Election Calendar," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ ArkansasLearns.org, "Run for School Board," accessed July 17, 2014
- ↑ NWA Online, "How We See It: School Board Endorsements Made In Four Races," September 9, 2014
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Financial Disclosure Search," accessed September 13, 2014
- ↑ 5 News, "New Details Emerge After Parent Sues School District In Abuse And Neglect Case," July 16, 2014
- ↑ 5 News, "Bentonville Parent Alleges Abuse, Sues School District And Vista Health" March 11, 2014 (dead link)
- ↑ 5 New, "Parents Of Autistic Boy Sue Bentonville School District," June 26, 2014
| 2014 Bentonville School District Elections | |
| Benton County, Arkansas | |
| Election date: | September16, 2014 |
| Candidates: | Zone 4: • Incumbent, Willie Cowgur • Kirsten Johnston Zone 5: • Incumbent, Lisa Clark • Travis Riggs |
| Important information: | What was at stake? •Key deadlines • Additional elections on the ballot |
