Hernandez ready to join Rogers School Board

ROGERS -- Edgar Hernandez said becoming the first Hispanic to serve on the Rogers School Board will be a great honor, but added he won't let that distinction define his tenure.

"I want to be a voice for the children and the community, regardless of what color they are or what religion they are," he said.

Hernandez was the only person who filed to run for the board's Zone 1 seat, which is up for election this year. Sterling Wilson, who holds the seat, opted not to run for a second term. Hernandez will be sworn in after the Sept. 19 election, assuming he gets at least one vote. His term will last five years.

Hernandez, 40, was born in Mexico City and moved to the U.S. when he was 3 years old. He's a U.S. citizen, he said.

He grew up in western Ohio, where his father was a college professor and his mother was a nurse's aide. His father's English "wasn't the greatest" and his mother didn't speak any English when they arrived. He sees many similar family situations in Rogers, and the School District seems to be supportive of them, he said.

"To me, it's just, wow. The community and public schools really care about everybody, not just certain aspects of public schooling. It's great to see that," he said.

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Brig Caldwell, a community liaison at Heritage High School, said having a Hispanic on the board matters "a tremendous amount." He said he tries to identify opportunities for Spanish-speaking students at Heritage to connect with people of their own culture in professional leadership roles.

Hernandez moved to Rogers from Utah with his wife, Patricia, and their four children in 2015. The couple welcomed their fifth child in February. A job opportunity with Sealed Air Corp. in Rogers attracted him here.

"My wife and I came to visit a couple of years ago, and we fell in love with the area," he said. "I think it's a great location, a wonderful, diverse community, which we did not expect when we first found out about the opportunity."

Hernandez had been involved in a school community council -- a principal-led committee of teachers and parents -- at his children's school in Tooele, Utah.

When he heard about the Rogers School Board opening, he saw it as a chance to get involved in the community.

"Either you go big or you go home, right?" he said. "I told my wife, I don't know what my chances are, but I'm just going to throw my hat in the ring and see what happens."

The School District reported an enrollment of 15,399 last fall. Forty-five percent identified as Hispanic, up from 37 percent 10 years earlier, according to Arkansas Department of Education data.

Carlos Chicas, a Hispanic resident of Rogers who made unsuccessful bids for City Council in 2012 and 2014, said he's happy to see Hernandez on the verge of joining the board.

"I think that is a tremendous opportunity," Chicas said. "I don't know (Hernandez) personally, but I know of him and I think this is something that was due."

He hopes Hernandez's presence on the board will inspire other Hispanics to get involved in politics.

"That's the only way we'll have a voice, is if we have representation," Chicas said.

The City Council doesn't have a Hispanic member. Two other Hispanics have run for the School Board since 2009; neither one received more than 20 percent of the vote in their races against one opponent.

Hernandez will be the fourth new person to join the board since 2015. He said he's talked to U.S. Sen. John Boozman, a former Rogers board member, for some advice.

"I'd really like to soak it all in at first," Hernandez said. "From my view and my wife's view, the Rogers Public Schools are great. I think it needs to continue."

He said the approach he takes as a board member will be similar to the one he takes as quality manager at his company.

"You have to make sure the data is correct. You have to step back and look at it from several different angles," he said.

NW News on 08/31/2017