14 vie for revived county district School Board

Fourteen people are running for election Nov. 8 to the School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District -- a district that is exiting five years of state control during which it had no elected board.

The board election is the district's first since September 2010. It is also the district's first election to be held in November in conjunction with a general election and the choosing of a U.S. president, a U.S. senator and legislative and city officers. And it is the district's first election without Jacksonville and north Pulaski County -- an area that has become its own 4,000-student district.

Early voting begins Monday at sites throughout the county.

"Essentially this is the first year for PCSSD because there hasn't been a PCSSD like this before," Pulaski County Special district Superintendent Jerry Guess said last week, adding that the board's role in all facets of the district's operation will be critical.

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In June 2011, Arkansas Department of Education leaders replaced the Pulaski County Special district's superintendent with a state-appointed administrator and dissolved the elected board because of failure by the district to address financial mismanagement uncovered by an Arkansas Legislative Audit investigation.

Earlier this year, the state Board of Education concluded that the district had corrected its financial problems and could be returned to local control upon the election and training of a new school board.

The newly elected board will set policy for a 12,000-student district that is smaller in enrollment, territory, campus numbers and funding than the old district of 2011. That is largely the result of the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District as well as anticipated loss of $20.7 million a year in state desegregation money after the 2017-18 school year.

Seven board members are to be elected from among the 14 candidates, one per each of the seven election zones in the district that encompasses Sherwood and Maumelle as well as the south, east and west areas of Pulaski County. Board positions are unpaid. Board members will draw for term lengths after the election.

Shannon Hills Mayor Mike Kemp, who is a radio broadcaster, and Alicia Gillen of North Little Rock, a longtime parent volunteer and Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce executive director, are running unopposed, Kemp in Zone 1 and Gillen in Zone 5.

Mildred Tatum and Tina Renee Ward are running from southeast Pulaski County for the Zone 2 seat. Linda Remele and Gloria Lawrence of Sherwood are seeking the board's Zone 3 seat. Shelby Thomas, Cori Burgett Fetters and Leonard Smith are running from Zone 4, also in the Sherwood area. Samuel Branch and Eli Keller are running from Zone 6, encompassing some of the Maumelle area. Brian Maune, Jim Jolley and Julian McMurray are the candidates for the Zone 7 seat representing west Pulaski County.

Five of the candidates -- Kemp, Remele, Thomas, Maune and McMurray are or were members of the district's Community Advisory Board, a state-appointed group formed to make recommendations to Guess and state Education Commissioner Johnny Key on staffing and other district matters during the state takeover.

Tatum had been on the School Board from 1982 until it was dissolved in 2011. Mileage and travel advances paid to Tatum and some of the other board members were among a wide range of issues highlighted in the audit investigation that led to the state takeover of the system.

Tatum said last week that her past work with superintendents accomplished much for the system and she wants to see that continued in the future. She pointed to her efforts to require the wearing of uniforms as a way to minimize conflicts among students. She also noted her encouragement to individual students to attend and stay in school.

"I believe in education. I believe in helping families and I believe in helping students," Tatum said.

Ward also said children are her passion and she is anxious to give them a strong voice in their education as a way to keep them in school and not drop out.

"I'm concerned about our dropout rate, especially among our African-American children," Ward said. "I know that business has to be taken care of as far as finances -- I understand that. But I also want to collaborate to save the children in the district."

Ward also said she can provide to the board the often-neglected perspective of single parents.

The 2011 takeover of the district ended the recognition of the Pulaski Association of Classroom Teachers and Pulaski Association of Support Staff as the contract-bargaining agents for district employees. Pulaski County Special was one of the state's few districts that negotiated contracts with a union.

The Pulaski Special district employee organizations have remained intact over the past five years, and their possible return to the bargaining table is an issue that now separates the candidates.

Asked about restoring contract-negotiating rights to the unions, Tatum said the associations are mad at her, but in the past they gave her plaques and awards. "I did what they wanted me to do," she said, "but I did it because I knew it was the right thing to do. I have not said one time that I won't help the unions, but I will only do what is right."

Ward, who has been endorsed by the associations in this election, said, when asked her position on union recognition, "I believe that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect."

The election in the district's Zone 3 features Remele, who retired as deputy superintendent, and Lawrence, who retired as a teacher in the district.

"I've given my heart and soul to Pulaski County Special School District," Remele said about her motivation to run. "I care about it and don't want it to slide back to old past practices."

While she is co-chairman of the Sherwood Education Foundation -- which is planning for a Sherwood school system that would be independent of Pulaski County Special -- that separation can't happen until the Pulaski County Special district is released by a federal judge from all court supervision of its desegregation efforts.

Until Sherwood can have its own district, Remele said she will use her breadth and depth of knowledge about public education to do what's best for the Pulaski County Special district.

"I'm not going to do anything to upset the judge," she added.

Lawrence was a recently elected board member when the board was dissolved. She said she wants to continue the job she had just started in 2011.

"I want to make sure that we have transparency with our parents and the people in the state of Arkansas. I want them to see that we can come out of this and be on top," she said. "I want to make sure that our students have everything they need to graduate with the best education possible."

In regard to union recognition, Lawrence said teachers "have been left out of everything. Morale is so low and teachers are barely surviving because they don't feel like they have a voice anymore," she said. " If I can, I will make sure they do. Teachers and support staff need to buy in to this district. And if they can't speak, they are not going to buy in."

In Zone 4 in the Sherwood area, candidates Smith and Thomas said they are open to considering union recognition for employees. Fetters, the daughter of two career teachers, said teachers and support staff have the right to union representation and a right to negotiate their contracts.

"PCSSD has had a long history working with PACT and PASS," Fetters said. "I fully expect this new board to work with these unions in a positive way."

A desire to support employees, promote accountability at all levels and establish "a budget that makes sense" are the reasons why Fetters wants to be on the board, she said.

"I would like the School Board to have a new respectful attitude toward teachers in the classroom," she said. "I don't want teachers to be first in line for budget cuts. These people spend more time with children than their parents do."

Smith, the son of a 30-year teacher, said he understands the needs and demands of teachers, and that unions could be beneficial. He said he wants the district to retain teachers and not make them feel they have to leave the district because of money or treatment.

"I'm open to options and I would like to sit down and see what is going on from both sides," Smith said.

Smith said the Pulaski Special district is uniquely diverse in the state and "I would love to be part of the rebuilding process. It is certainly a match for the range of skills I have obtained over the years," he said about deciphering contracts and documents.

Thomas said the matter of union recognition has been dealt with, but he will consider it if it comes up again. He will look at it and all other issues through the lens of whether it promotes student improvement.

A member of the Community Advisory Board, Thomas said he wants to continue what he sees as the panel's good work. A top goal is to be completely released from federal court supervision of the district's desegregation efforts, Thomas said. "We're almost there," he said.

He also cited the district's equipping every student with Chromebooks or iPads. "I want to see us continue to lead in that area in our state," he said. He also said he wants to push for more career preparation for students who don't go to college.

In Zone 6, candidates Branch and Keller will draw on different education-related experiences.

Branch, the eighth of 15 children, said his experiences as a 35-year educator and 10 years as a Realtor have prepared him to make good decisions for students while keeping the district fiscally sound.

Keller sees School Board service as a way he can help Maumelle and district schools thrive, which will in turn open greater opportunities to students. His work as a supervisor in the Maumelle Police Department's school resource officer division will be an asset to the board, he said.

Describing himself as an advocate for good teachers, Keller said he was uncertain about recognizing the employee associations as contract-bargaining agents.

"I think if you have a solid school board that is unbiased, it would protect the teachers," Keller said. "It would provide the same level of support that a teachers union would provide" and save the teachers from paying association dues.

"I'm not saying I'm against the union and I'm not saying I'm for it," he added. He noted his own membership in the Fraternal Order of Police in Maumelle, which does not bargain for salaries but does work for just treatment of the officers.

Branch said the employee organizations should be recognized.

"I worked in the Little Rock School District that has a union," Branch said. "I was a school administrator there. I didn't have a problem with the union. If I had been a teacher I probably would have joined. We had a contract and we just followed the contract," he said. "If you are doing what you are supposed to do, it shouldn't be a problem with the teacher or the administrator."

Maune and McMurray were motivated by their Community Advisory Board membership to run for the School Board in a three-man race with Jolley from the growing western side of the Pulaski County Special district.

"I feel like I've seen the needs of the students and the district," Maune said. "And ultimately, I've been very encouraged about where the district can go if the elected board will go down the path the district is on now and not return to where it seemed to be more negative and somewhat stalled in getting things done."

Improving academic achievement to at least the state averages is his goal, Maune said, as is remaining fiscally responsible and "being smart" in adjusting for the loss of the special state desegregation aid.

McMurray said his more than two years on the advisory board "Let me see how great our district can be, and it also let me see a lot of weaknesses and the areas that have the potential to get better."

Ensuring responsible financial oversight, bringing innovation to both the curriculum and infrastructure of the district and reinvigorating respect and excitement for schools in the western part of the county are McMurray's goals.

"This district means a lot to me," he said. "To be a part of something -- kind of like a rebirth of the district -- means more than words can express," he said.

Jolley described himself as a hard worker who is willing to put in the hours to process information and establish goals to move the district forward.

His experiences as a software engineer for a satellite communication system, a cryptology officer in the Navy and his leadership roles at the Arkansas Forestry Commission and in state government will be an asset to board membership, he said.

Jolley said one of his priorities is to recruit and keep the best teachers.

"I prefer to work directly with the teachers to be able to meet their needs on compensation, benefits, leave and work environment," he said when asked about union recognition. "I want to hear their input on effective curriculum."

Maune said he realizes that the union issue is one that will have to be discussed by the new board.

"I wouldn't take it up immediately," Maune said, adding: "I am for teachers. I just don't know that that has to be one of the initial issues addressed."

McMurray, the son of two career educators, said "students are the priority and you have to take care of the people who are taking care of the students" and those are the teachers as well as support staff.

"I am all for PACT and PASS. I feel that they are necessary," McMurray said. "Teachers need a voice, and I feel they have done a great job in the past. Absolutely, that is something that I promote."

SundayMonday on 10/23/2016