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Conway Public Schools elections (2017)
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One of the seven seats on the Conway Public Schools Board of Education in Arkansas was up for nonpartisan general election on September 19, 2017. Incumbent Carl Barger did not file to run for re-election, which left the Zone 1 seat open for a newcomer. Amy Ferdowsian and Ron Hill ran for the seat, and Ferdowsian won the election.[1][2]
With two candidates running for an open seat, the 2017 election mirrored the district's 2016 election. Click here for more election trends in the district.
Elections
Voter and candidate information
The Conway Board of Education consists of seven members elected to five-year terms. Two seats are elected at large, and five seats are elected by district. Elections are held on a staggered basis so that one or two seats are up for election every year in September.[3]
School board candidates had to be U.S. citizens and residents of the school district and electoral zone they sought to represent. They could not be employees of the school district or have been convicted of "embezzlement of public money, bribery, forgery, or other infamous crime," according to the Arkansas Constitution. To get on the ballot, school board candidates had to file nomination paperwork, which included a petition with signatures from 20 registered voters in the school district, with their county clerk by noon on July 11, 2017.[4][5][6]
To vote in this election, citizens of the school district had to register by August 21, 2017.[6] Photo identification was not required to vote in Arkansas.[7]
Candidates and results
Zone 1, Position 4
Results
| Conway Public Schools, Zone 1 General Election, 5-year term, 2017 |
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|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Amy Ferdowsian |
52.58% | 102 |
| Ron Hill | 47.42% | 92 |
| Total Votes | 194 | |
| Source: Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Faulkner County Clerk Margaret Darter," September 20, 2017 | ||
Candidates
Amy Ferdowsian 
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Ron Hill | ||
|---|---|---|---|
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Additional elections on the ballot
- See also: Arkansas elections, 2017
The Conway Board of Education election did not share the ballot with any other elections.
Key deadlines
The following dates were key deadlines for Arkansas school board elections in 2017:[6][8]
| Deadline | Event |
|---|---|
| July 5, 2017 - July 11, 2017 | Candidate filing period |
| August 21, 2017 | Voter registration deadline for general election |
| September 10, 2017 | Voter registration deadline for runoff election |
| September 12, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for general election |
| September 12, 2017 - September 18, 2017 | Early voting period for general election |
| September 19, 2017 | General election date |
| October 3, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for runoff election |
| October 3, 2017 - October 9, 2017 | Early voting period for runoff election |
| October 10, 2017 | Runoff election date (if needed) |
| October 30, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for general election |
| November 30, 2017 | Campaign finance reporting deadline for runoff election |
Endorsements
Do you know of an official or organization that endorsed a candidate in this race? Let Ballotpedia know by email at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Campaign finance
The Faulkner County Clerk does not publish and freely disclose school board candidate campaign finance reports. If you have any information regarding the campaign finance disclosures in this race, please contact the school board elections team at editor@ballotpedia.org.
Reporting requirements
School board candidates in Arkansas had to file two campaign finance reports for the general election. The first report was due on September 12, 2017, and the second report was due on October 30, 2017.[8]
If a runoff election was held for any seat, the candidates who ran in that election had to file an additional two reports. The first report for the runoff election was due on October 3, 2017, and the second report for the runoff election was due on November 30, 2017.[8]
Past elections
- See also: Past elections in Conway Public Schools
To see results from past elections in Conway Public Schools, click here.
What was at stake?
Report a story for this election
Ballotpedia researches issues in school board elections across the United States, but information availability is a challenge for us in many school districts. Please contact us about the issues that impact your local school district. Note that not all submissions may meet Ballotpedia's coverage requirements for inclusion.
Election trends
- See also: School boards in session: 2015 in brief
The 2017 election mirrored the district's 2016 election. In both years, the one seat on the ballot was left open for a newcomer. Two candidates filed to fill that open seat each year.
The 2013 election also attracted an average of two candidates per seat up for election. An incumbent ran and won the seat that year. In the 2014 and 2015 elections, there was at least one unopposed seat.
| School board election trends | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Candidates per seat | Unopposed seats | Incumbents running for re-election | Incumbent success rate | Seats won by newcomers | |
| Conway Public Schools | ||||||
| 2017 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% | N/A | 100.00% | |
| 2016 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 0.00% | N/A | 100.00% | |
| 2015 | 1.50 | 50.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| 2014 | 1.00 | 100.00% | 0.00% | N/A | 100.00% | |
| 2013 | 2.00 | 0.00% | 100.00% | 100.00% | 0.00% | |
| Arkansas | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.11 | 31.58% | 36.84% | 85.71% | 68.42% | |
| 2015 | 1.45 | 54.55% | 81.82% | 77.78% | 36.36% | |
| 2014 | 1.45 | 54.55% | 72.73% | 62.50% | 54.55% | |
| United States | ||||||
| 2016 | 1.90 | 34.05% | 71.31% | 82.39% | 41.04% | |
| 2015 | 1.72 | 35.95% | 70.37% | 82.66% | 40.81% | |
| 2014 | 1.89 | 32.57% | 75.51% | 81.31% | 38.24% | |
Candidate survey
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About the district
- See also: Conway Public Schools, Arkansas
The Conway school district is located in Faulkner County in central Arkansas. The county seat is Conway. Faulkner County was home to an estimated 122,227 residents in 2016, according to the United States Census Bureau.[9] The district was the eighth-largest school district in the state in the 2014-2015 school year and served 10,051 students.[10]
Demographics
Faulkner County outperformed Arkansas as a whole in terms of median household income, higher education achievement, and poverty rate between 2011 and 2015. The median household income in the county was $51,223, compared to a statewide median income of $41,371. The Census Bureau found that 28.3 percent of county residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree, compared to 21.1 percent of state residents. The poverty rate in Faulkner County was 14.8 percent, while it was 19.1 percent for the entire state.[9]
| Racial Demographics, 2010-2016[9] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Race | Faulkner County (%) | Arkansas (%) |
| White | 84.3 | 79.4 |
| Black or African American | 11.7 | 15.7 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native | 0.7 | 1.0 |
| Asian | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander | 0.1 | 0.3 |
| Two or More Races | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| Hispanic or Latino | 4.0 | 7.3 |
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.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Conway Public Schools Arkansas election. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
| Conway Public Schools | Arkansas | School Boards |
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Abbey Smith, "Phone communication with Faulkner County Clerk," July 13, 2017
- ↑ Abbey Smith, “Email communication with Faulkner County Clerk Margaret Darter," September 20, 2017
- ↑ Conway Public Schools, "Meet Our School Board," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ Arkansas School Boards Association, "School Board Members: Board Candidates," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 2015 Arkansas Code, "§ 6-14-111 - Candidate filing procedures," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Arkansas Secretary of State, "2017 Annual September School Board Election Dates," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ Arkansas Secretary of State, "Voting In Arkansas," accessed July 10, 2017
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 2016 Arkansas Code, "§ 7-6-208 (2016)," accessed July 24, 2017
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 United States Census Bureau, "QuickFacts: Faulkner County, Arkansas; Arkansas," accessed July 11, 2017
- ↑ U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Common Core of Data, file ccd_lea_052_1414_w_0216161a, 2014-2015," accessed November 16, 2016
| Conway Public Schools elections in 2017 | |
| Faulkner County, Arkansas | |
| Election date: | September 19, 2017 |
| Candidates: | Zone 1: • Amy Ferdowsian • Ron Hill |
| Important information: | What was at stake? • Additional elections on the ballot • Key deadlines |
