Deadline nears for school board seats
Dorothy Williams has filed as a candidate for re-election to the Zone 1 position on the North Little Rock School Board, making her the only person to file last week for either of the two open seats on the board.
The deadline for filing with the Pulaski County/Circuit Clerk's office as a candidate for the Zone 1 and Zone 4 seats on the North Little Rock board is noon Tuesday. The terms are for three years. They are unpaid.
Williams, a retired teacher and assistant principal in the district, has been on the board since her appointment in January 2006 to fill an unexpired term. She was elected to the board in September 2006, and re-elected to three-year terms in 2007, 2010 and 2013.
Zone 1 encompasses the southeast section of the North Little Rock district.
The Zone 4 seat, representing the northwest part of the city including the Amboy and Levy neighborhoods, is also open for election.
Taniesha Richardson-Wiley, a public-health section chief at the Arkansas Department of Health, was appointed to the position last month to fill the vacancy created by the death of board member Ron Treat.
Richardson-Wiley is eligible to serve only until the Sept. 20 election unless she files as a candidate, runs for election and is elected, over any opponents, to a full three-year term.
State taps new head of policy, projects
Tina Smith has been named the Arkansas Department of Education policy and special projects director by Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key.
Smith replaces Susan Harriman, who is now the executive director of ForwARd Arkansas.
As the policy and special projects director, Smith will research education policy initiatives. She also will manage special projects, including methods to improve efficiency and the development of Arkansas' Every Student Succeeds Act plan.
Prior to joining the department, Smith was a leadership coach for the Arkansas Public School Resource Center. She served from 2008 to 2013 as a curriculum administrator in the Ozark School District. She was a high school counselor at Ozark High School from 2005 to 2008; and a junior high school counselor at Ozark Junior High School from 2002 to 2005. She began her career as a social studies teacher at Ozark Junior High School.
Smith earned a bachelor's degree in history and political sciences from Arkansas Tech University, a master's degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. She has a counselor certification from John Brown University at Siloam Springs, and a curriculum certification from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.
Her salary is $90,000.
Metro on 07/10/2016