Four candidates are running for election May 18 to three seats on the School Board for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
Lauren Martin is running unopposed for the Zone 1 seat now held by Richard Moss.
Incumbent Jim Moore is running unopposed for reelection to the Zone 3 seat.
Laura Walker and Theresa McClendon are vying for the Zone 4 seat now held by LaConda Watson.
The election is taking place just as a federal judge last week declared the 3,800-student district unitary, or desegregated, in the areas of teacher incentives, student achievement and student discipline practices. The judge is requiring the district to proceed with building all new campuses and to continue to report to him annually on that effort.
Additionally, the district as of July 1 will have a new administrative team made up of Superintendent Jeremy Owoh and assistant superintendents Janice Walker and Bobby E. Lester. The team will oversee the district's receipt of some $17 million in federal covid-19 relief money.
All board terms are for four years and are unpaid.
Early voting starts Tuesday and can be done at the following places:
• Pulaski County Regional Building, 501 W. Markham St., in Little Rock, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, and May 17.
• Jacksonville Community Center, 5 Municipal Drive, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.
ZONE 4
The contested race for the board's Zone 4 seat features McClendon, 47, a 14-year special-education paraprofessional in Milwaukee before moving to Jacksonville about a year ago, and Walker, 37, a Jacksonville native and co-owner and operator with her husband, Allen Walker, of the Get A Grip countertop resurfacing company.
Walker is the mother of four children, the two oldest of whom attend Pinewood Elementary School that will be replaced by the end of this year with the new Jacksonville Elementary.
"We drive by the new school at least once a day and we are so excited about a new school and making new friends and having new teachers," Walker said, adding that her family is also thankful for being part of the Pinewood family.
She said she is running for the board because she has such a vested interest in the district and that the decisions made in the district have a direct impact on her family.
"I want to see our city grow, to continue to grow. So many people fought to create our district out of the Pulaski County Special School District. I want to see that what they fought for turns out to be the very best that it can be."
Walker was raised in Jacksonville, graduated from Jacksonville High, and has a psychology degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. She previously worked for the Chamber of Commerce and the Jacksonville Boys and Girls Club.
McClendon, a mother and grandmother to a 4-year-old who will be starting in the Jacksonville district, said reading and math achievement must be priorities in a district where the majority of students do not score at a "ready" or "exceeds" level on state-mandated exams. She also said the district must keep its commitments to the federal court to build new schools, two of which have been completed, two are underway and two more in the early planning stages.
"Not only do I have a passion for children but I have experience in the community and in a public school system, at city government meetings and in working with teachers unions. I can work both inside and outside the public school system.. My knowledge and skills and my passion together make me a smart choice in this Zone 4 election."
McClendon is a graduate of Milwaukee Area Technical College with an associate degree in human services. She said she is a member of the National Education Association, an alumni of AmeriCorps, and has been affiliated with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Children's Defense Fund organizations. In Arkansas, she has joined the NAACP and signed up to be an AR Kids Read organization tutor.
McClendon said she is not related to Emily McClendon, a named representative of Black students who are intervenors in a long-running federal school desegregation lawsuit involving the Jacksonville and Pulaski County Special school districts.
ZONE 1
Martin, who is unopposed for the Zone 1 seat, is 36 years old, and works at Double R Florist in Jacksonville. She and her husband, Jacksonville firefighter Justin Martin, have two children who attend the district's Bobby G. Lester Elementary School.
"I'm very passionate about being involved in my community and with my kids, especially," Martin said about running for the School Board.
She wants to improve teacher retention in the system.
"Our teachers deserve the best. Our students deserve the best. It is my goal to create a district that teachers want to work for. The more we pour into our teachers, the more they will pour into our children."
Martin said she is pleased with the selection of new administrators for what will be the sixth year of operations for the system that separated in 2016 from the Pulaski County Special School District.
"I'm looking forward to a restart, a reset. We've been in it five years and we are looking forward to building something that everyone can be proud of and want to be a part of."
Martin is a graduate of Central Arkansas Christian Schools and has a degree in business marketing from the University of Central Arkansas. She is a member of the board for the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce and a city Parks and Recreation Department commissioner.
ZONE 3
Moore, 74, who has held the Zone 3 seat since 2015, is a 26-year U.S. Air Force veteran, retiring as a chief master sergeant. He is president and chief executive officer of the Stonewall Homeowners Association and is a member of the Jacksonville Planning Commission. He has worked as a youth pastor and youth Sunday School teacher.
"I am dedicated to helping children and teenagers become the very best educated in whatever career they want to obtain," Moore said about his reasons for board service.
He highlighted the district's "enormous building project," and said he has the experience and interest to ensure that the campuses "are built in a way to provide the very best environment for learning" and are worthy of the sacrifices taxpayers make to provide them.
"I also want to ensure that we have the very best teachers and staff in all areas and that they are receiving salaries commensurate with their experience, degrees and licensure. That will, in turn, benefit the scholars of this district."
Moore and his wife, Ivis, have two sons and two granddaughters. He has college degrees in human resource management and in social psychology.