11 file to run for county district's board

Each of 7 open seats draws at least 1 candidate as system returns to local control

Eleven people have filed as of Friday for election to the School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District, which has been operating under state control and without a locally elected board since 2011.

The deadline for filing in the Pulaski County clerk's office to be a candidate for one of the seven open board seats is noon Tuesday.

The School Board election, in a change from the past, will be held in conjunction with the Nov. 8 general election.

Mildred Tatum, a longtime member of the district's School Board before it was dissolved in June 2011, is one of the candidates. Four other candidates are current or former members of the district's state-appointed Community Advisory Board.

So far, there is at least one candidate for each of the seven open seats. Three are running for a west Pulaski County position and two each are running for seats in the Gravel Ridge area north of Sherwood and in the west Maumelle/Roland area.

The board election zones, which have been altered significantly since the previous election in September 2010, and candidates running for election from each zone are:

Zone 1

Mike Kemp, mayor of Shannon Hills in southwest Pulaski County. He works part time as a radio news announcer for the Arkansas Radio Network and KARN.

Zone 2

Tatum, who lives in southeast Pulaski County and is a small-business owner.

Zone 3

Linda Remele of Sherwood, a retired district administrator. She is a current member of the Community Advisory Board as well as co-chairman of the Sherwood Education Foundation.

Zone 4

Shelby Thomas of Sherwood, a member of the Community Advisory Board. He works for Irby Electrical Distributors as an energy specialist.

Cori Burgett Fetters, who has a North Little Rock mailing address in a zone that is west and north of Sherwood. The daughter of two former members of the Pulaski County Special School District board, Fetters is a former store owner who is now a stay-at-home mom.

Zone 5

Alicia Gillen of North Little Rock. The zone encompasses areas east of Maumelle Boulevard, including Crystal Hill and Oak Grove. She has been the executive director of the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce.

Zone 6

Samuel Branch of Maumelle, a retired 35-year teacher and principal. He is now an agent for the Keller Williams realty company.

Eli Keller of Maumelle, a sergeant in the Maumelle Police Department and supervisor of the agency's school resource officers.

Zone 7

Brian Lawrence Maune of Little Rock, who is a current member of the Community Advisory Board and an account manager at ChemTreat, a specialty chemical company.

James Jolley of Little Rock, who administers the forest legacy grant program and geographic information system coordinator for the Forestry Commission.

Julian McMurray of Little Rock, a former member of the district's Community Advisory Board. McMurray is president of One Spine @ A Time, a chiropractic practice.

Metro on 08/27/2016

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