Carlson to run for Bentonville School Board

Kelly Carlson
Kelly Carlson

BENTONVILLE -- Kelly Carlson announced Monday he plans to run for Bentonville School Board's Zone 5 seat this fall.

Carlson, 37, is a senior vice president and commercial banking team leader for downtown Bentonville at Arvest Bank. He and his wife, Cortney, have a child entering the first grade at Baker Elementary School and another child in preschool.

Travis Riggs, the board's current Zone 5 representative, doesn't intend to run for re-election. Riggs has served on the board for 16 of the past 17 years.

Zone 5 covers part of the School District's east side, including much of downtown. Bentonville High, Jones Elementary and Barker Middle schools are in the zone.

Carlson lived in Texas and Phoenix before moving to Bentonville as a teen in 1997. He graduated from Bentonville High School in 2000 and obtained a bachelor's degree in marketing from Harding University in 2004. He also received a master's degree in leadership and ethics from Harding in 2011.

He has served on the Scott Family Amazeum board for three years and on the Downtown Bentonville Inc. board for two years.

Carlson said he was inspired to run for the board because of the experience his family had during their oldest child's first year in the district.

"She had a great year in kindergarten. She had a great teacher and administration," he said. "I realized I'll have kids in the school system for the next 13 or 14 years, and I could run for this seat and hopefully have a positive impact on the growth and direction of the schools."

He'd like to see the board remain focused on three goals: ensuring each student receives the best education possible, investing in teachers and administrators and expanding the district's innovative learning opportunities, according to a news release announcing his candidacy.

No one else has announced for the Zone 5 seat. The period for candidates to file starts at noon July 25 and ends at noon Aug. 1. The election will be Nov. 5.

School board members serve five-year terms, and the work is voluntary.

NW News on 07/17/2019

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