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New Little Rock School District board sworn in; Norma Johnson elected president
Summary
Seven directors were sworn in March 19; the board elected Norma Johnson president, Greg Adams vice president and Anna Camille Strong secretary. The board will choose legislative and dispersing officers and completed a lot-draw to assign multi-year terms.
Seven newly elected directors took the oath of office and the Little Rock School District Board of Directors elected its officers during a March 19 meeting. Judge Cara Connors of Pulaski County administered the oath required under Arkansas Code Annotated section 6-24-101.
Norma Johnson was elected board president after nominations that also included Director Greg Adams. After being declared the winner, President Johnson said, “It is an honor and I have finally arrived,” and asked the board for support in focusing on student outcomes.
Why it matters: seating a new board and choosing officers determines the leadership that will set meeting rules, committee assignments and the district’s governance priorities for the coming term. The board followed LRSD policy 1.2 for officer elections, which lists president, vice president, secretary and legislative liaison as positions to be filled at the first regular meeting after election certification.
What happened: Vice President Anna Camille Strong called the meeting to order and opened nominations. Celandria Lanise Jackson nominated Norma Johnson. After a second nomination for Greg Adams, the board voted by voice/hand and President Johnson was declared elected. Greg Adams was later selected as vice president, and Anna Camille Strong was nominated and confirmed as secretary. The board also selected or nominated a dispersing officer and considered nominees for legislative liaison; Director Anthony Nichols was nominated for the dispersing officer role.
The board conducted a draw of lots to determine which directors would serve two- and four-year terms as permitted by statute and local practice; members discussed continuity and the statutory requirement that some seats begin on different term lengths.
What’s next: The board will finalize committee assignments and the legislative liaison choice, and staff sign-in paperwork and continuity details were handled immediately after the swearing-in. The newly seated board indicated it will focus on student achievement, community engagement and internal governance work in coming months.
Provenance: Topic introduced SEG 019; topic last discussed SEG 376.
