As a former incompetent, freeloading Jessieville employee of 34 years, I was a member of the culture that the former superintendent and evidently some of the current board members felt needed to be fundamentally transformed. With the school election fast approaching, the voters of the Jessieville School District (JSD) will have to decide if the current focus of time and resources of the current board is correct.
The surprise over the last month was the apparent outrage expressed by elected public officials over the compensation package of the superintendent. Also, the Arkansas School Board Association (ASBA) felt the need to comment. Paraphrasing the school board president, this is like buying a car; when you get a lemon, it's going to cost you to sell it to the next sucker. But was the outrage misguided?
Was the real tragedy the JSD posting the wrong information concerning the vacant board positions? The voters of the JSD that have lost faith in the current board members have lost the opportunity to make a change through the democratic process. Had Sen. Bill Sample or Rep. John Vines been removed from the ballot by a similar error, would they focus on a law with no penalty? In the last month, I have not heard of one call by an elected official or from the ASBA to address the situation. It is a sad day when the election process can be circumvented by incompetence or malice.
Again paraphrasing the board president, according to the law, we will find someone to fill the vacancy. But will the school board locating another clone begin to restore the confidence in a board that has been so divisive?
While the majority of the school board has been silent on the controversial issues, I was relieved when Mr. Semmler read from a prepared statement concerning the election fiasco. Paraphrasing, everyone can be assured that there was not a smidgen of corruption in the filing screw-up, but I thought it would have been better to blame it on a computer crash rather than a clerical error or oversight on his part. That would fit the pattern of blaming others a little better. Who knows, maybe the blame Bush tactic might have worked.
What is a solution? I would propose a vigorous effort to change election laws to allow for mistakes or malice in filing for various elected positions. The circuit clerk should maintain a current list of all positions, terms with expiration dates, and occupants of all elected positions. Jack Wells, the only nonincumbent to file that didn't make the ballot, should be appointed to the school board due to the failure to be provided the correct position number by the JSD. This would also demonstrate the board's desire to begin the healing process and quell conspiracy theories.
Finally, I believe Sam Ault, Nicholas Sarver and Jack Wells would be good board members in the JSD. They will make mistakes, but as former students, they were fast learners.
Steven Frost
Hot Springs
Editorial on 09/07/2014