Hanesworth, Gilkey defeat incumbents in Fort Smith School Board election

It was not a good night for incumbents running for re-election to the Fort Smith School Board. Bill Hanesworth bested incumbent Rick Wade Jr., and Wade Gilkey defeated incumbent Russell Owen by wide margins.

The only incumbent reelected was Yvonne Keaton-Martin who ran unopposed for the Zone 4, Position 3 position.

With 100% of the votes counted, Hanesworth, a former plant manager at Rheem’s Fort Smith operation, received 2,333 votes, or 71.54%. compared to just 928 votes for Wade. Gilkey received 900 votes, or 75.3%. compared to 295 votes for Owen.

Voter turnout was 5.09%.

The election had glitch early in the day. At least 21 voters in the Fianna Hills precinct were given the wrong ballots. According to the Sebastian County Election Commission, the ballots issued between 7:30 and 9:30 a.m. did not have the correct candidates. Election officials were working to contact voters who received the incorrect ballots.

Some voters were aware of the problem while still at the polling site. Initially, Sebastian County Clerk Sharon Brooks refused to allow a few voters to vote again with correct ballots. When those voters challenged that decision, Brooks eventually changed course and provided paper ballots and the voters using those ballots were promised they would be counted.

Two primary issues in the Fort Smith School Board election was the recent Board vote to change the Southside High School mascot and fight song, and an effort by a local group to establish the Future School of Fort Smith.

The Fort Smith Public School Board voted 7-0 on July 27 to change the mascot and end use of the “Dixie” fight song that has been associated with the school since it opened in 1963. The vote was a culmination of a process that began June 23 when a committee of the School Board voted 6-0 to discontinue use of “Dixie” as the Southside High School fight song in the 2015-2016 school year and to drop the Rebel as the Southside mascot in the 2016-2017 school year.

The Future School of Fort Smith, which has been planned for an August 2016 opening, has an application pending with the Arkansas Department of Education. The Board has been hesitant to show support for the charter school.

Wade said prior to the election that he was “hesitant and cautious” about the idea of a charter school that could “take away a million or more tax dollars from an already accomplished and recognized school district.” Hanesworth said he is open to the idea, acknowledging that “the speed of change in educating children is about to undergo a dramatic paradigm change.”

“Change is inevitable. We can be impacted by it as bystanders or we can actively participate and mold our future,” Hanesworth said in a recent interview with The City Wire.

The two Greenwood School Board positions on the ballot also drew only single candidates. Kelli Griffith-Henning was elected to Position 6 and Jeff Turner was elected to the Position 3 position on the Greenwood School Board.

Fort Smith voters also approved renewal of the school’s millage with 57.52% voting to keep the millage rate and the present level.