Zone 5 in the Pine Bluff School District is not open for the March 3, 2026, election, according to the Jefferson County clerk’s office.
Liza Johnson, a voter registration clerk, confirmed only seats for zones 1, 2 and 3 are open. The seats are respectively held by Jomeka Edwards, Lozanne Calhoun and Ricky Whitmore Jr. No one has attempted to file for Zone 5, Johnson said.
Despite this, the Concerned Stakeholders of the PBSD, a citizen-led group not connected to district leadership, has released advertising for interested candidates to file for Zone 5, which is currently held by Charles Colen. That seat, however, is not open until March 2028, according to an election schedule PBSD Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree released in July.
Act 503 of this year’s state Legislature altered the length of terms and election dates for school board members. The act has also altered Section 6-13-608 of the Arkansas Code, of which subsection (d)(2) now reads:
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“School board members shall initially draw lots for two-year or four-year terms in districts with four-year terms or two-year, four-year or six-year terms in districts with six-year terms so that, as nearly as possible, an equal number of positions are filled in each subsequent school board election no longer than:
“(A) Two (2) school board elections for those with four-year terms; or
“(B) Three (3) school board elections for those with six-year terms.”
Barbaree maintains if the district went with four-year terms, an unequal number of seats would be up for election every two years in a 4-3 rotation, but a 3-2-2 rotation provides for as equal a number as possible.
“If a board loses half its board, it’s hard to maintain continuity,” Barbaree said in September following a board work session. Colen declined comment at the time.
Under subsection (d)(4), election dates have changed for current school board members. Those with terms that were to expire in 2025, 2026 or 2027 would have them expire in 2026; and those with terms that were to expire in 2028 and 2029 would have them expire in 2028.
Charline Wright of the Concerned Stakeholders pointed to the clause in Act 503 that states terms set to expire in 2027 “shall expire in 2026.” Colen drew an election date of November 2027 after the PBSD was granted full local authority in September 2023.
The PBSD board opted to extend its terms to six years. In 2024, Bonita Corbin in Zone 6 was previously elected to serve the remainder of the term previously held by Stephen A. Broughton (until November 2028) and Patrick Lockett defeated Wright for the Zone 7 seat that was originally to expire November 2029. With the six-year terms, Corbin’s and Lockett’s seats are up for election in March 2030.
The seats held by Board President Sederick Charles Rice in Zone 4 and Colen in Zone 5 are up for election in March 2028, according to the schedule Barbaree provided. The zones up for election this year were submitted to the county clerk’s office, according to Johnson.
Guidance from the Arkansas School Boards Association suggests: “The primary determining factor for how many board members will be up for election is based on when a board member’s term is currently set to expire combined with whether the board opts for four- or six-year terms.” Based on the term expiration timeline, according to the ASBA, the initial staggering for a seven-member board with six-year terms “could” be two seats each in the 2026 and 2028 elections and three seats in the 2030 elections.
Asked about advertising for interested candidates to file for Zone 5, Wright said: “I still want it out there because we’re looking for an attorney. They cheated us out of an election in 2023.”
Wright has stated on multiple occasions she believes all seven board members should have been up for election when the PBSD was granted full local authority after five years in state control.
She also said the Concerned Stakeholders are circulating petitions for a vote of no confidence in the district-level leadership.
“We are strongly urging you, as our board of education, to initiate a leadership review and take appropriate action, up to and including termination or nonrenewal of the superintendent’s contract, to restore transparency, accountability and academic progress within the district,” Wright told the PBSD board on Oct. 27.
The nonpartisan filing period ends at 3 p.m. Nov. 12.
This version CORRECTS the spelling of Lozanne Calhoun.