School Board election on the horizon

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As the end of a school year approaches, some members of the Eureka Springs School Board have earned low marks in attendance.

Since July 2018, the board has held nine regular meetings and one special meeting. With two meetings remaining in the 2018-19 calendar, the board as a whole has compiled a 70 percent attendance record. Board President Chris McClung had only one absence this year, and none the previous year. Al Larson also had one absence this year. In contrast, Tina Johnson and Jason Morris each missed five out of 10 meetings, and Travis Holloway missed four. Johnson missed four meetings the previous year, and Morris missed three.

The school board’s bylaws allow six absences per year. Those bylaws are modeled after the Arkansas School Board Association, although local districts can adopt more stringent standards for attendance.

In the 2017-18 school year, the board as a whole compiled a 78 percent attendance record. McClung, Joe Hill, and former board member Debbie Davis, as a group, posted a 32-4 record. The others collectively added up to 34-14, or 70 percent.

Hill is unopposed for re-election in the May 21 school board election. Johnson did not file for re-election, and Candace Spaulding, Stephanie Lynn Rains and Bob Grudek are running for that position.