Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Challenger eyes Cowgur’s seat
Early voting for race begins Tuesday
BENTONVILLE — Voters will decide next week who should represent residents of Zone 4 on the School Board for the next five years.
Willie Cowgur, 42, has held the position since 2011 and is seeking his third term. He said he’s proud of what the School District has accomplished during his time on the board.
“I just feel like we have a lot of momentum with what we’re getting done and want to continue to be a part of it, continue to serve the community and ensure our kids are getting the best quality education,” he said.
Amanda Deegan Winters, 38, is challenging Cowgur. Winters moved to Bentonville from Washington, D.C., three years ago with her husband and son, who’s now 8.
She believes she offers a different perspective as someone who’s relatively new to town.
“Sixty-four percent of Bentonville residents aren’t from here. That’s a lot,” Winters said. “Why not have someone on the board who understands what it’s like to be a new family and to have a child move into the district?”
Winters said she moved around a lot growing up. She was born in Florida, moved to Kansas, then to Alabama, back to Kansas, to Iowa for five years before returning to Florida, where she spent her high school years.
She noted the seven-member board has only one woman and said she wants to make sure the board has diversity in thought and perspective. She has no agenda other than helping the district become one of the best in the country, she said.
Winters started working for Walmart in April as its director of global public policy. She previously spent six years with a startup called Evolent Health. She’s spent most of her career in the health care industry.
Cowgur, 42, said experience is valuable to the board. He would become the board’s longest-serving member if re-elected.
“You’re not going to learn everything you need to learn about this position overnight. I’ve been on this board for eight years, and I continue to learn,” he said.
Cowgur and his wife, Martha, have three kids in the district. He works for Sam’s Club as senior director
of health and wellness operations. He was born and raised in Bentonville.
The district has established the Ignite career education program for high school students, has set up a virtual school and has expanded its use of alternative learning environments for students during his current term on the board, he said. The board also hired Debbie Jones as superintendent in 2016.
“The fund balance is healthy. We’re set up to continue to succeed,” Cowgur said.
Perhaps no issue looms larger than growth. District enrollment was 17,848 on Oct. 1, a 3.6% increase from last year and a 36% increase from a decade ago.
The district has assembled and implemented a strong facility plan, Cowgur said. Voters approved a tax increase the board pitched in 2017 to pay for several additional schools.
Winters expressed satisfaction with the way the district has handled growth, especially with the locations chosen for new schools.
Cowgur and the board have dealt with numerous issues during his tenure that stirred controversy, from whether to build a second high school to the recent decision to eliminate busing to the Lochmoor Club neighborhood.
Cowgur was one of the majority who voted in 2017 to put nearly $2 million into finishing the stadium at West High School, a project completed last year. Some in the community criticized that decision, saying the money could have been better spent on other needs. The vote also came just two months after the successful millage election, proceeds from which were not intended for athletics.
“It’s a lot of money to spend on a football stadium,” Winters said, but stopped short of criticizing the board’s decision. As an athlete in high school and college, she said she appreciates the importance of athletics.
Cowgur stands by his vote on the stadium. It was vital to making the student experience at West High equal to the one at Bentonville High School, he said.
Zone 4 consists mainly of northeast Bentonville — north of Central Avenue and east of North Walton Boulevard — and southeast Bella Vista. Only those who live in the zone are eligible to vote in this election.