Washington County school board races set

Correction: Mark Beaver is a school board candidate in Prairie Grove. His name was incorrect in this story.

SPRINGDALE -- A three-person race in Fayetteville is one of several school board contests Washington County will see this summer.

Tuesday was the deadline to file to run for a school board seat in Arkansas. Elections will be held Sept. 15. There are 24 seats up for election in Benton and Washington counties.

The candidates

The following candidates have filed for school board positions, according to the Washington County clerk. School board elections will be Sept. 15.

Fayetteville

Zone 2

Phil Jones

Robert Maranto

Jeanne Champagne

Zone 3

Justin Eichmann*

Elkins

Position 3

Laren L. Vaught*

Farmington

Wade Cash

Tony Parsley*

Greenland

Zone 1

Todd Bohannan*

Zone 2

Paula Schoonover*

Lincoln

Zone 2

Lisa D. Reed

Zone 3

Nicholas Brewer*

Prairie Grove

Mark Brewer

William Dick*

Casie Ruland

Springdale

At large, Position 1

Mike Luttrell*

Zone 5

Danny Dotson*

West Fork

Deborah Harnish*

Kelley (Haley) Oliver

*denotes incumbent

Springdale's two board seats up for election this year drew no candidates other than the incumbents: Danny Dotson for Zone 5 and Mike Luttrell for an at-large position.

Fayetteville's Zone 2 and Zone 3 seats are up for election this year. Justin Eichmann, who holds the Zone 3 seat, filed for re-election. He didn't draw any challengers.

Bryn Bagwell opted not to seek re-election to her Zone 2 seat. Jeanne Champagne, Phil Jones and Robert Maranto are running to replace her.

Jones, 58, served on the Benton School Board for five years before moving to Fayetteville in 2006. He owns Joshua Consulting Group, which advises firms in design and construction on business development strategy. He's also an adjunct faculty member in the College of Engineering at the University of Arkansas.

He's interested in strengthening the School District's workforce development program.

"Fayetteville does, hands down, the best job of preparing kids for a four-year college," Jones said. "I want to be sure we're also talking about those students who may not necessarily be college-ready."

Maranto, 57, is the 21st Century chair in leadership at the university's Department of Education Reform. He has two children in the school system.

"I see some things in the schools we do really well. I see some things we could do a little better," Maranto said.

He said the relationship between the district and the university could improve. No one on the board has a strong link to the university, he said.

"It's the major employer in Fayetteville and the best university around for a ways, and we need to build some links between those institutions. I think I can help do that," Maranto said.

Champagne didn't return a phone message Tuesday seeking comment.

The Farmington, Prairie Grove and West Fork school districts also have school board races this summer.

In Benton County, the Bentonville and Rogers school districts will each have one contested race.

Rebecca Powers, who represents Zone 1 on the Bentonville School Board, filed to run for re-election. She will be opposed by Eowyn Francis-Moore.

Powers, 46, is a Centerton resident and mother of five. She ran unopposed for the Zone 1 seat in 2012. She has an Arkansas teacher's license and a master's of arts in teaching. She is a manager in programs and processes talent development for Walmart.

"For over a decade my children have been part of this school district," Powers said, in an emailed statement. "I have seen, first hand, the need for a school board which listens and is responsive to its constituents. I believe in a school board that puts aside its own personal interests and puts the needs of the community first."

Francis-Moore, 36, has three children in the Bentonville schools and one who has graduated. She has been a detention worker at the Benton County Juvenile Detention Center for about a year. She earned an associate of arts degree from Northwest Arkansas Community College last year and is pursuing a master's degree in juvenile justice from Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Mo.

Francis-Moore was encouraged to run by one of her sons. She said she agrees with board member Grant Lightle's proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected classes under the School District's Equal Employment Opportunity policy. That proposal has been debated heavily over the past few months in the community. The board is still considering it.

Powers has been a vocal opponent of the proposal.

In Rogers, Paige Sultemeier and Dulce Aguirre are running for the Zone 5 board seat. Board president Jerry Carmichael, the incumbent who has served since 1999, decided not to run for re-election this year.

Kristen Cobbs, the Zone 3 representative on the Rogers board, is running unopposed for her third term.

NW News on 07/08/2015

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