State certifies results in school elections
The Pulaski County Election Commission certified, or made official, the results of the Sept. 15 school board elections in the North Little Rock and the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski school districts.
The certified vote totals clear the way for the successful candidates to be sworn into their positions.
In the new Jacksonville/ North Pulaski School District, all seven board seats were open for election, and three featured contested races.
The official results in the contested, at-large Jacksonville/ North Pulaski Position 2 race between Ronald McDaniel and Celeste Williams are: McDaniel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 980 Williams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Complete and official results in the Zone 1 race between Marcia Anne Dornblaser and interim School Board member Richard Moss are: Dornblaser. . . . . . . . . . . . . 280 Moss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Complete and official results in the Zone 3 race among Jim Moore, Jerald Reichenbach and write-in candidate Barry Roper are: Moore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .310 Reichenbach . . . . . . . . . . . . .69 Roper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Daniel Gray was elected without opposition to the at-large Position 1 seat on the Jacksonville board. Carol Miles was unopposed and elected to the Zone 2 seat, and unopposed LaConda Watson was election to the Zone 4 position. Dena Toney was elected to the Zone 5 spot in an uncontested race.
North Little Rock In the North Little Rock School District, Tracy Steele won election over Alicia Walton from the district’s Zone 2, which is being vacated by School Board President Scott Miller.
Complete and official results are: Steele . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .254 Walton. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Incumbent North Little Rock School Board member Darrell Montgomery was re-elected from Zone 3 without opposition. Incumbent Luke King also was re-elected from the district’s Zone 7 without opposition.
Millage rates Millage questions on the ballots for the Jacksonville/ North Pulaski, North Little Rock and Little Rock school districts received support from a majority of voters, although none of the districts sought tax increases.
The Arkansas Constitution requires that a district’s tax rate be on the ballot annually. No matter how the vote turned out in the three districts, the existing millage rates would be unchanged.
Jacksonville/North Pulaski district voters acted on a 40.7-mill property tax rate that is the same rate they have paid for many years as part of the Pulaski County Special School District. The affirmative vote allows the new district to issue bonds to raise money to purchase the Pulaski County Special district campuses that are within the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district boundaries.
The complete and official results for the 40.7 mill rate are: For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,025 Against . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .305
In the North Little Rock district, voters cast ballots on the existing 48.3-mill property tax for the school district.
The complete and official results are: For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .256 Against . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189
In the Little Rock School District, which is operating under state control and without a locally elected school board, the existing 46.4-mill property tax was the only item on the ballot and could only be voted on in absentee or early voting.
The complete and official results for the Little Rock tax rate are: For. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .189 Against . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
There was no vote on candidates or the tax rate in the Pulaski County Special School District. That’s because the Pulaski County Special district is operating under state control without a locally elected school board.
The district had a special election in May on a proposed tax increase. Although the tax increase was not successful, that vote fulfilled the district’s legal obligation to have an annual election on its taxes.