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Brent Leas
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Brent Leas is the Zone 2 representative on the Bentonville School District school board in Arkansas. First elected in 2012, Leas won a new term in the by-district general election on September 19, 2017.[1]
Leas participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 school board candidate survey. Click here to read his responses.
Elections
2017
One of the seven seats on the Bentonville School District Board of Education in Arkansas was up for by-district general election on September 19, 2017. In his bid for re-election, incumbent Brent Leas defeated challenger Amy Gillespie.[2][3]
Results
| Bentonville School District, Zone 2 General Election, 4-year term, 2017 |
||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Brent Leas Incumbent |
71.83% | 510 |
| Amy Gillespie | 28.17% | 200 |
| Total Votes | 710 | |
| Source: Benton County Clerk, "Schoolboard Election," accessed September 19, 2017 | ||
Funding
Leas reported $3,759.45 in contributions and $3,698.40 in expenditures to the Benton County Clerk, which left his campaign with $61.05 on hand in the election.[4]
Endorsements
Leas was endorsed by Conservative Arkansas, Centerton Mayor Bill Edwards, Zone 3 representative on the Bentonville Board of Education Eric White, and Little Rock School District Superintendent Mike Poore, who previously served as superintendent of Bentonville Public Schools.[5][6][7]
Leas was also endorsed by a number of community members. Click here for a list of his supporters.
Campaign themes
2017
Ballotpedia survey responses
BRENT LEAS participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of school board candidates.[8] In response to the question "What do you hope to achieve if elected to the school board?" the candidate stated on July 6, 2017:
| “ | I look forward to continuing to advocate for our students and teachers and supporting their efforts for an exceptional educational delivery. I, also, look forward to helping oversee the building of future schools to manage the foreseeable growth. In addition, I will strongly push for one (or more) of those future buildings be built on the land purchased just the South of Eastern Bella Vista; located off Ford Springs Rd.[9][10] | ” |
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues based on how they should be prioritized by the school board, with 1 being the most important and 7 being the least important. Each ranking could only be used once.
| Education policy |
|---|
 |
Click here to learn more about education policy in Arkansas. |
| Education on the ballot |
| Issue importance ranking | |
|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking | Issue |
| Balancing or maintaining the district's budget | |
| Expanding school choice options | |
| Expanding arts education | |
| Improving relations with teachers | |
| Improving education for special needs students | |
| Closing the achievement gap | |
| Improving post-secondary readiness | |
| “ | Our district has seen rapid student population growth during my time on the board and our district has managed this growth very efficiently, however this still requires us to be very judicious in our budgeting. Going forward, with the plan to add 4 more school buildings over the next 5 years, we will have to guard against unnecessary expenses. We have always prided ourselves in an excellent educational delivery and I would expect us to continue with that model, as well as manage our future growth efficiently.[10] | ” |
| —BRENT LEAS (July 6, 2017) | ||
Positions on the issues
The candidate was asked to answer eight questions from Ballotpedia regarding significant issues in education and the school district. The questions are highlighted in blue and followed by the candidate's responses. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions. The candidate was also provided space to elaborate on their answers to the multiple choice questions.
| Should new charter schools be approved in your district? (Not all school boards are empowered to approve charter schools. In those cases, the candidate was directed to answer the question as if the school board were able to do so.) |
|---|
| Yes. I am a strong advocate for allowing choice for all students. I believe that there is room for choice in educational delivery in our community. I believe that parents and guardians should be allowed choice for educational offerings for their students. This only affords our district to stay focused on an excellent delivery model; making our schools the ideal choice for families to educate their children. |
| Which statement best describes the ideal relationship between the state government and the school board? The state should always defer to school board decisions, defer to school board decisions in most cases, be involved in the district routinely or only intervene in severe cases of misconduct or mismanagement. |
| The state should defer to school board decisions in most cases. |
| Are standardized tests an accurate metric of student achievement? |
| No. I believe they do allow for a measurement of student educational success but by no means are they the most effective monitoring of that success. There should be multiple metrics to determine success of educational delivery. |
| How should the district handle underperforming teachers? Terminate their contract before any damage is done to students, offer additional training options, put them on a probationary period while they seek to improve or set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district? |
| Offer additional training options. Offer additional training options. Set up a mentorship program for the underperforming teacher with a more experienced teacher in the district. |
| Should teachers receive merit pay? |
| Yes. Educators should be given an incentive to do their very best and I do believe they should be allowed an expectation of benefiting from those efforts. |
| Should the state give money to private schools through a voucher system or scholarship program? |
| Yes. I do believe that this could be a good idea and would allow parents and guardians options for the educational offerings available for their students. |
| How should expulsion be used in the district? |
| I believe explusions should be a resource of last response. I do believe our district staff works very diligently to honor this ideal and does not pursue this course of action unless absolutely necessary. |
| What's the most important factor for success in the classroom: student-teacher ratio, the curriculum, teachers, parent involvement or school administration? |
| Parent involvement I believe the teachers are probably the absolute best resource for educational success, however my selection for parental involvement is the most pressing need for success. Teachers are often times hampered in their success if their is not good reinforcement in the home. I also believe that we can find avenues for connecting with community support systems to help fill gaps in any deficiencies to help all our students find success. |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Brent Leas Bentonville School District school board. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "Leas, Gillespie battle for Bentonville School Board seat," September 4, 2017
- ↑ Benton County Clerk, "2017 Annual School Election Filing," accessed July 12, 2017
- ↑ Benton County Clerk, "Schoolboard Election," accessed September 19, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Taylor Jennings, Benton County & Probate Clerk’s Office Deputy Clerk," November 7, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Brent Leas," July 7, 2017
- ↑ Re-elect Brent Leas Bentonville School District, "Endorsements," accessed September 11, 2017
- ↑ Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, "Leas, Gillespie battle for Bentonville School Board seat," September 4, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia School Board Candidate Survey, 2017, "BRENT LEAS's responses," July 6, 2017
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
| Bentonville School District elections in 2017 | |
| Benton County, Arkansas | |
| Election date: | September 19, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Zone 2: • Incumbent, Brent Leas • Amy Gillespie |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
