Blackwell, Person enter Fort Smith School Board races

Fort Smith attorney Dalton Person has announced his candidacy for the Fort Smith Public School Board at large position 2 seat held by Greg Magness. Dee Hughes Blackwell has announced her candidacy for the zone 3 position 7 held by Jeannie Cole. Cole nor Magness are seeking re-election.

Blackwell announced Oct. 29 her bid for the board.

“Fort Smith Friends, I have decided to run for the the Zone III Position 7 seat of the Fort Smith Public Schools Board of Education. This is an exciting and dynamic time for Fort Smith schools and community. I look forward to being able (to) contribute and serve,” she noted in the announcement via her Facebook page.

The school board election is set for March 3, 2020, and is held with the state primary election.

“This is an exciting time for the Fort Smith Public Schools District,” said Person. “With the passage of the millage in 2018, we are positioned to not only provide the highest level of quality education to students, but do so with safe, up-to-date facilities and infrastructure. Having the opportunity to be a part of that effort is exciting.”

Person and his wife, Claire, live in Fort Smith and are graduates of the Fort Smith Public Schools. Person has worked since 2017 as an associate attorney with the Jones, Jackson, Moll, McGinnis & Stocks firm in Fort Smith. He practices law in areas of business, real estate, contracts, employment, and civil litigation. He served as law clerk for U.S. District Court Judge P.K. Holmes, III, from 2016-2017. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Arkansas School of Law with a law degree in 2016 and served as managing editor of the law review. Person earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Chicago in 2013.

Person is the vice president of the Sebastian County Bar Association, and a board member of the United Way of Fort Smith Area, Fort Smith Boys and Girls Club, Western Arkansas Community Foundation, and Prime: River Valley Young Professionals Summit. He is also a member of the Fort Smith Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Education Committee.

Person also was a team leader for the Career Planning Action Team of the school district’s Vision 2023 effort, and was a member on the Friends of Fort Smith Public Schools millage executive committee.

“I look forward to the chance to serve the families, students, educators and staff of the Fort Smith Public Schools,” Person said in his statement. “I’m a product of FSPS and I’m motivated to be able to give back to the system that played such a pivotal role in my life.”

The filing period began Nov. 4 and ends Nov. 12, at noon.