Little Rock School District Directed to Hold New Elections for all Board Members

In the February 8, 2011 memorandum to school board members, superintendents, and co-op directors, Dan Farley, Executive Director of the Arkansas School Board Association, wrote:

"Since December, ASBA has participated in several meetings hosted by the Arkansas Department of Education to discuss the obligations of school districts to implement board zones or redraw zones to reflect the results of the 2010 U.S. Census. Others involved in those talks were the Governor’s office, the Attorney General’s office, the Secretary of State’s office, and the Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators (AAEA).

"As a result of those meetings, Paul Blume, ASBA General Counsel, has outlined what you must do to meet the obligations of state and federal law. Following are the steps for currently zoned districts and the steps for districts to be zoned."

A representative of the Little Rock School District has said Little Rock will not hold new elections, which is in direct contradiction of these instructions:

“STEPS FOR CURRENTLY ZONED SCHOOL DISTRICTS

“1. Upon issuance of new 2010 Census figures, the district should either hire a demographer or use the services of the offices of the Arkansas Secretary of State, if available, for the purpose of establishing new zones, if necessary.

“2. The zones must be drawn so as to be substantially equal in voting age population.(Note: The statute refers to total population, but the Voting Rights Act cases refer only to voting age population in reference to drawing zone lines.)

“3. The zone plan must be filed with the County Clerk so as to enable the Clerk to establish which voters belong in which zones.

“4. At the next school election, or no later than the regular school election of 2012, following the redrawing of the zones, all school board positions must be up for election, including any at-large positions.

“5. Upon the board members being elected, the newly elected board members draw lots for length of terms so that, to the extent possible, no more than two (2) positions are up for election in any subsequent year.”

I call on the Little Rock School Board to immediately assure the public that it will abide by these instructions, including holding new elections for all school board positions no later than the 2012 school election.

Source: http://www.arsba.org/docs/ZONING_MEMO_2011.pdf