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people would say, well, then there was great community input and engagement. In 2019 we did the rally at Central, and over 2,000 people came. I was a part of that as well as another one of my colleagues, and I was honored to be that voice for what was going on on the ground in Arkansas.

“We lost a level of connection. We rarely talk about the emotional trauma that happened, not only from a parental standpoint, but also, I think, from just the industry of education, that trauma that happened, watching educators and families try and figure it out, searching to have that voice.”

What did you gain during those six years?

“We gained community connection while at the same time losing it. Since 2019, people have become more engaged that weren’t necessarily engaged from across I-630, that line, even the second line of Markham Street. I think that is what we gained. I think we gained a level of community coming together very strongly. I remember an elder was at Central on the Central line, and he had a sign, and he said, ‘I was here in ’57. I can’t believe we’re still doing this.’ And that, I think, touched me in a very different way, but it also showed a level of unity, particularly from 2019 forward. And then of course there are faith groups like Rabbi Barry Block and Pastor [Preston] Clegg, and how all these different interfaith groups came together. I think that that was very powerful.”

You own a part-time conflict resolution consulting firm. Why do you think the United States is so conflicted right now?

“Oh, my gosh. That conflict is multi-tiered. It’s coming from people’s personal beliefs and possibly limiting beliefs. I’m also a life coach, and we talk about limiting beliefs and how people’s personal experiences make up that. The overall divisiveness is coming from a place of fear, and some of that fear is manufactured. It’s not even real. And we have people in a general sense that play into those fears to push agendas, whether it’s for a level of control or to create a centralized thinking. I think that level of fear and what we’re seeing in general is just compounded with COVID and people believing that they are losing something that is not being lost. We have a level of trauma that has happened over the last few years that we haven’t even decided or haven’t even touched on. We haven’t even seen how that will affect us later. We look at school boards across the nation. Whether I’m talking to school board colleagues in different states or different areas of Arkansas, and what they’re dealing with, it’s not OK. [Critical race theory] is not being taught in the K-12 system, but yet there’s this whole orchestrated, manufactured fear around something that’s not taught. We teach U.S. history up to 1877 and after 1877, and a lot of history has happened, and a lot of experiences have happened. And then, too, the divisiveness around COVID and how somehow it has landed on the shoulders of public school systems across the nation to solve, when it’s going to take all of us doing our part.” When our superintendent Mike Poore came in, that’s how we met. I’ve been involved the entire time. He’s been here six years, and we’ve worked together. We’ve disagreed, we went neutral, and then we have agreed. He used to get calls and emails about the schoolbook policy from me, and then of course about what’s happening in our community, and right when our duly elected school board was taken from us, that was a sore spot for us. … I was asked multiple, multiple, multiple times to run, so I got in the race and I ran.”

What are the biggest areas of conflict in the district, and how can they be resolved?

“You know, we always talk about communication. … Communication is just a source of conflict because we are communicating with a minimum of 22,000 students’ families. … No matter the means of communication, somebody is going to be missed, and so just constantly figuring out how to better communicate and how to better tell the story … because we are a very dynamic district.

“We’re a very forward district in many ways. For instance, our board passed the most attractive COVID leave plan and pay in the state. And being ahead of issues, particularly on the mask mandate, which also lent our force and pressure that we bring to a parental suit as well as having smaller districts come on board. We led that way as far as on masks, and I just think that that’s just the spirit of the district and the spirit of the city – not being afraid to tackle hard things.”

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This is a new board, right? All of us, we have to learn at the same “ time, but then we came into a system, an engine, that was full speed ahead. Each of us had to learn how to be a board member, and we had the opportunity to learn in the public eye under scrutiny. I’m very proud of my colleagues as well as myself for not breaking under the level of pressure that we get that’s warranted and ”unwarranted.

How big was the millage election?

“Yes! I’m so happy you asked that question being someone who helped organize against the last one, and that was defeated. This one was major. This was historical because the voters … came together and roared so loud about their commitment and investment and the commitment with their dollars. Even though it did raise their taxes, they committed to lean in, pay a little bit extra a little bit longer so we could do the needed improvements within our district. That was a historic moment, not only for our district, Little Rock School District, but also for our voters and then our families and our students to where we’re able to do very much, much, much needed capital improvements to our district. … When we sold our bond, it’s Class A bonds. I mean, Stephens, I’m sure, is happy.”

Why do you think it passed?

“Because we have a duly elected school board. We have members on our board that were on the ground with the community, organizing, speaking to legislators, writing articles. I think about my colleague Ali Noland on the ground right at the takeover, and we were saying, ‘Hey, you’ve had us. You can only have us for five years. Whacha gonna do? You can only do a few things, and we are Little Rock, so … your options are few in what you can do with us.’ …

“And so, that is why that millage passed. It is because they saw that we have nine very capable and smart members on the Little Rock Board of Education that are committed to accountability, committed to student achievement, committed to social, emotional or trauma-informed learning, committed to teachers’ salaries. And so each member, they have their commitment, but added together we are a beautiful drum line.”

How important was getting the high school into west Little Rock?

“West Little Rock is expanding. People are moving out west, so that is a big win for west Little Rock. My colleague, Jeff Wood, that was something that he really had been fighting for back when he was on the [Community Advisory Board]. So that is a good win.”

Otherwise, you have two cities: This part of Little Rock served by the public schools, and that part of Little Rock served by private schools.

“Well, you know, Little Rock, we do have a tale of two cities if we’re being most authentic. We do have that. I do think that we have families making their choice regardless of where they live right in the city. At the end of the day, Little Rock School District, we still service a lot of those families who are in a non-Little Rock School District school, but if their school doesn’t have AP classes, they come to us while still enrolled at their other school.”

Just as you have this great accomplishment, you find out Mike Poore is leaving. What are you looking to replace him with?

“We just came off the block of finding a search firm. We are working to put together … the profile and what does that look like. That is something that the board will work through because this is our first time going through this process, and this process, it is not for the faint. We’re all committed.”

What do you hope happens in the district in the next five years?

“I think every day, every month, leading up to five years from now, 2027, is going to be pivotal. I think that we will have a leaner or hopefully stronger district serving our city. We will have that as we have hopefully in 2027 a very strong board that understands governance, that understands what it means to be a school board member. Because being on a school board is not like being on a nonpolitical board. It is literally the legislative body of the district. Understanding the pillars of curriculum and instruction and facilities, and then understanding our fiscal responsibility, understanding governance and policy writing, and utilizing our Arkansas School Boards Association and making sure that trainings are being done and collaborations to strengthen each member.

“Not only doing the professional development but also the needed personal development to where you’re able to marry the two more evenly is going to be really, really important. I know I’ve done a lot of self-development. When I was president of the school board, I would go back and watch our meetings the exact same way that an athlete would watch their performance because it was just that serious to me. …

“When we were all elected onto the school board and we had to choose officers, it was a proud moment that my colleagues chose me to lead basically an inaugural board because we’re nine members and not the seven members, and to be that first president to set the tone and to lead us the first year through a pandemic, through getting out of state takeover July 8, 2021, through the millage, through everything that was seen above ground and all of the stuff that happens with governance below the ground while learning what is it to be a board member, while going through my own mindset shifts and getting through the forest.