Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Thursday appointed a former teacher and former school board member to fill vacancies on the Arkansas Board of Education -- his sixth and seventh appointments to the nine-member board.
The governor tapped Sarah Moore of Stuttgart to fill the seat left vacant by Joseph Black of Newport, and Kathy McFetridge of Springdale to replace Mireya Reith, also of Springdale. Former Gov. Mike Beebe appointed Black and Reith.
Moore and McFetridge were given seven-year appointments, to be completed in 2025.
With the new appointments, the state Board of Education will be made up of six women and three men.
The state commissioner of education is Johnny Key, a former Republican lawmaker from Mountain Home.
"With Mrs. McFetridge's decades of experience on the Springdale School Board and Dr. Moore's extensive knowledge of education policy and elementary teaching experience, I am confident that these two new members of the State Board of Education will provide a well-rounded perspective to the board that oversees one of our most critical responsibilities -- the education of our children," Hutchinson said in a statement.
Moore formerly worked as an education policy adviser in the governor's office and before that worked at the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. She also was an elementary-school teacher in Stuttgart. According to the governor's news release, she received her doctorate in education policy from the University of Arkansas.
Her brother, Chris Burks, is an attorney who represents the state Democratic Party.
McFetridge resigned from the Springdale School Board on Tuesday to take an "unspecified opportunity." Her appointment was announced by the governor two days later.
According to the governor's news release, McFetridge had served as the president of the Arkansas School Boards Association between 2006 and 2007. She is the co-owner of Ozark Film and Video Productions in Springdale. She graduated from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, according to her LinkedIn page.
Neither appointee could be reached for comment Thursday.
The Arkansas Education Association, the state's largest teachers' union, released a statement Thursday saying it was looking forward to working with the new board members.
"Our Springdale members are especially happy to see a former member of their school board, Mrs. McFetridge, bring her decades of experience to the state level where she will undoubtedly continue working to increase opportunity for all Arkansas students," Cathy Koehler, the union president, said in a statement.
Reith, one of the outgoing board members, had been one of the board's most outspoken voices questioning the expansion of charter schools in the state. Outside of her position on the Board of Education, she has also led the Arkansas United Community Coalition, a group that held a series of demonstrations against the federal government's treatment of immigrants and Hispanics.
Metro on 07/06/2018