School board seeks applicants for post being left by Miles
The Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board is seeking applicants to fill a board vacancy created by the resignation of Carol Miles this week.
Miles, who cited health concerns as the reason for her resignation, represented the district’s Zone 2 on the seven-member board.
The School Board accepted the resignation at a meeting Monday night in which it also agreed to form a site selection committee to identify property for construction of a new middle school and a new elementary school.
Anyone interested in the temporary appointment to the board has until 5 p.m. Oct. 16 to mail or email a letter of intent and a resume to Amy Arnone at the district’s administrative office building, 1414 W. Main St., Jacksonville, Ark. 72076 or to aarnone@jnpsd.org.
Additional information about School Board service is available by calling Superintendent Bryan Duffie at (501) 241-2080 or School Board President Daniel Gray at (501) 960-3181.
Candidates will be invited to address the School Board at a special board meeting at 7 p.m. Oct. 23 in Jacksonville City Hall. The board’s remaining six members anticipate voting on the appointee after those presentations.
The appointee will serve until the 2018 School Board election. At that time, the appointee can run for election to the seat. The district’s 2018 School Board election will either be in May or November. The board will decide on the time of that election in the coming weeks. A 2017 change in state law has eliminated the annual September school election. School elections will, instead, be held at either the time of preferential primaries in May or the general election in November.
The district’s Zone 2 encompasses the area between the Pulaski County/Lonoke County line, J.P. Wright Loop Road, Graham Road, Military Road (Arkansas 294), and the Union Pacific Railroad. Maps of the zone are available at the district headquarters or on the district’s website: jnpsd.org.
All school board members are required by law to participate in annual training and are required to complete an annual financial disclosure report.
Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board terms are for four years and are unpaid.
Miles has served since the school district was formed in 2014. She was initially appointed by the state Board of Education as an interim board member for the new district that was carved out of the Pulaski County Special School District. Miles was unopposed in her election to the Zone 2 seat in the district’s first election in September 2015.
The Jacksonville district is building a new elementary school to replace Arnold Drive and Tolleson elementaries. The school will open next August.
A new Jacksonville High School will open in 2019, and the district is in the early planning stages for construction of a middle school to replace Jacksonville Middle School.
The middle school is currently the former North Pulaski High School.
One potential site for a new middle school and a new elementary school to replace Pinewood and Dupree elementaries is the site of the existing Jacksonville High School on Linda Lane.
The site committee that will include Jacksonville North Pulaski School Board member Jim Moore will report to the board later this year on its findings and recommendations.