It's the election day before Election Day.
The presidential election is still two months away, but voters today will decide the outcome of contested school board races in the Bentonville, Farmington, Fayetteville and Rogers school districts. Voters in the Gentry School District will determine the outcome of a proposal to raise the district's millage.
Where to vote in school elections
Polls open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today.
Benton County
The following polls are open to any voter in the county for school elections in the Bentonville, Gentry and Rogers school districts:
• Christian Life Center, 301 Commercial St., Centerton
• First Baptist Church of Gentry, 221 W. Main St., Gentry
• Southside Church of Christ, 919 S. Dixieland Road, Rogers
• Lowell First Baptist Church, 405 Johnson Ave., Lowell
• Northeast Benton County Community Building, 17823 Marshall St., Garfield
• Bentonville Church of Christ, 708 N. Walton Blvd., Bentonville
• Benton County Election Commission office, 1204 S.W. 14th St., Bentonville
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Washington County
The following polls are open to any voter in the county for school elections in the Fayetteville and Farmington school districts:
• The Awakening Church, 5763 E. Mission Blvd., Fayetteville
• Baldwin Church of Christ, 4399 Huntsville Road, Fayetteville
• Central United Methodist Church, 6 W. Dickson St., Fayetteville
• Covenant Church, 4511 W. Wedington Drive, Fayetteville
• Farmington Baptist Church, 49 W. Main St., Farmington
• Goshen Community Building, 346 Clark St., Goshen
• Sang Avenue Baptist Church, 1425 N. Sang Ave., Fayetteville
• Sequoyah Methodist Church, 1910 Old Wire Road, Fayetteville
• Trinity Fellowship, 1100 Rolling Hills Drive, Fayetteville
Source: Staff report
Early voting began last Tuesday and ended Monday. Polls are open from 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. today.
"School board elections usually bring out very few voters," said Kim Dennison, election coordinator for Benton County. "They're never as busy as other elections are."
In Benton and Washington counties, county clerks offices counted only 1,100 early votes Monday afternoon even though more than 123,300 voters are eligible to participate in this year's school elections, officials from both offices said.
Benton County
In Benton County, early voting drew participation of 763 residents from across the county, where a total of 58,170 are eligible to vote in contested races in Bentonville and Rogers, as well as on a millage increase in Gentry, said Dana Caler, Benton County elections administrator. Caler did not yet have a breakdown of voting in each election.
Three candidates are running for the Zone 3 seat on the Bentonville School Board: incumbent Grant Lightle, Eric C. White and former board member Beth S. Haney. The zone is home to 8,664 registered voters and includes parts of north and central Bentonville and east Centerton.
Lightle, associate general counsel for corporate legal at Wal-Mart, has been on the Bentonville board since 2012. Haney, a homemaker, previously was on the board from 2000 to 2012. White is a Wal-Mart relationship team leader for Tyco.
The Rogers School District has a three-man race for the at-large, Position 6 seat with Caley B. Vo, a civil trial lawyer with Wright Lindsey Jennings law firm in Rogers; Mitch Lockhart, a financial advisor and certified financial planner with Wells Fargo Advisors; and Bob White, a retired Elmwood Middle School principal. The ballot lists Mark S. Sparks and Nathan Gairhan as candidates for the at-large, Position 7 seat, but Sparks announced late last month he was dropping out of the race. There are 45,569 eligible voters in district.
Voters in the Gentry district, where 3,937 people are registered, are weighing a proposed 3.1-mill increase. If approved, the total school millage on property in the district would go from 42.9 mills to 46 mills, with a mill representing one-tenth of a penny. The higher millage is expected to cost an additional $62 per year on real and personal property valued at $100,000.
The money would support a $9.5 million bond for an addition at the intermediate school, a career and technical education building, electrical upgrades at Gentry High School and at the vocational agriculture building, and for lighting and sound upgrades in the auditorium, according to the school district.
Washington County
In Washington County, the county clerk's office counted 314 early votes Monday afternoon for two seats up for election on the Fayetteville School Board, said Becky Lewallen, county clerk.
In Fayetteville, 57,367 voters are eligible to vote for the at-large, Position 1, seat. The race is between Megan T. R. Hurley, the owner of Barre3 fitness studio; and Maria Baez de Hicks, a category adviser and category manager for Samsung Electronics.
The tally of early votes included 94 votes from Zone 1 in Fayetteville, where 13,108 voters are registered, Lewallen said.
School Board member Nika Waitsman, a homemaker, and Farla Steele-Treat, an education administrator for Northwest Arkansas Children's Shelter, are running to represent the zone that covers north and far west parts of Fayetteville and reaches into Goshen.
In Farmington, where 7,824 voters are registered, just 21 early votes had been counted Monday, Lewallen said. Jay Moore is challenging incumbent Amy Hill for the Position 4 seat on the board.
NW News on 09/20/2016