Incumbent Mike Kemp faces a challenge from Stephen Delaney for a five-year, unpaid term on the School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District.
The winner for the Zone 1 seat will represent southwest Pulaski County and a portion of Saline County around Shannon Hills, as well as part of the west Little Rock neighborhoods of Woodlands Edge and Brodie Creek.
Early voting ends Monday at the Pulaski County Regional Building at 501 W. Markham St. in Little Rock.
Polls will be open 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
KEMP
Before his election to the School Board, Kemp served on the Citizens Advisory Committee for the Pulaski County Special School District. He is in his third term as mayor of the Saline County town of Shannon Hills.
Kemp has been involved in numerous district building projects during his time on the board and is a proponent of school choice.
"I know this is only the beginning of many great things to come for the students, parents, teachers, and workers of PCSSD," he said.
Kemp, 62, lives with his wife, Penny, in Shannon Hills.
He previously served as a justice of the peace on the Saline County Quorum Court and he is a former member of the Shannon Hills City Council. He is on the Metroplan board of directors. Metroplan is a five-county planning agency in central Arkansas.
Kemp is a graduate of Mineral Springs High School and attended Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia.
DELANEY
Delaney, Kemp's opponent, is a lifelong resident of Arkansas, with the exception of four years he spent as a student at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wis., where he earned a bachelor's degree in government.
He spent 12 years as a student in the Pulaski County Special district, graduating from Mills High School in 1999.
Delaney, 38, is single and lives in Little Rock.
Since 2003, he has worked for KVTN, a Christian-programming television station in Arkansas, working in information technology and engineering.
Delaney said he acquired an interest in school matters and politics from listening to his grandfather, who raised him.
"I would sit at the table, doing my homework, and I'd listen to him talking about things going on in the schools and stuff like that," Delaney said. "So, I always had an interest in it. Then, in 2010, I was really fond of my high school and I wanted to check in on things, so I started going to school board meetings."
Delaney said he renewed his interest in school affairs and again began attending board meetings of the Pulaski County Special district when the district emerged from state control in 2016. He has attended the meetings ever since.
"At some point, I realized, I can do this," he said. "I do have something to offer, so I decided to run."
Metro on 11/03/2019