Local Events

  • Thursday, Feb. 27 at 6:30 p.m. - Benton County League of Women Voters Meeting (officially a county chapter now!) at the Arvest Conference Room in downtown Bentonville (201 NE A St. - back side of building);

Community Involvement Opportunities

Alice M. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM)

AWSOM is seeking standardized patients committed to playing an essential role in the education of future physicians. A Standardized Patient (SP) is an individual trained to portray a clinical patient accurately in a simulated medical visit.

They are seeking individuals from all walks of life to bring their experiences to a medical simulation with an AWSOM student doctor. No previous medical health knowledge or acting experience is needed. Each SP will be thoroughly trained. Learn more and apply HERE.

Municipal Government Awareness

Bella Vista

  • Next Council Mtng: Monday, Feb. 24 at 6 p.m. (2483 Forest Hills Blvd)

  • Items of Note:

Bentonville
Cave Springs

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. (134 N. Main St.)

Centerton

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Mar. 11 at 6 p.m. (210 Municipal Dr.)

Gravette

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 5:30 p.m. (202 Main St. NE)

Lowell

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Mar. 18 at 6:30 p.m. (216 N. Lincoln St.)

Pea Ridge

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Mar. 11 at 5:30 p.m. (911 Weston St.) - Committee of the whole

  • Items of Note:

    • Periodic delays expected along Hwy 72 and Hwy 94 on afternoon of 3/1 as bicyclists cross the Hwy for the Lifetime Big Sugar Classic. Peak times expected for Hwy 72 is 1:20-1:40 & 2:30-3:30, but impact to traffic now expected to be minimal if at all..

Rogers

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. (301 W. Chestnut)

Siloam Springs

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6:30 p.m. (400 N. Broadway) - MAKE UP for last week’s meeting!

Springdale

  • Next Council Mtng: Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m. (201 Spring St.)

  • Items of Note:

    • From Tom Sissom in the NWA Dem Gazz, “Officials on Monday [Feb. 17] recommended a master plan for the city's parks and recreation facilities be done with an eye toward making Springdale a regional sports tourism destination. The City Council's Parks and Recreation Committee voted unanimously to send a resolution authorizing a professional services agreement for the work to the full council.” Read full recap HERE.

County Government Awareness

Benton County Quorum Court

Upcoming County Government meetings at the Admin Building in downtown Bentonville:

  • Quorum Court - Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.

  • Election Commission - Mar. 4 at 3 p.m. at the Election Commission office in Rogers

  • Planning Board Meeting - Mar. 5 at 6 p.m.

State Government Awareness

95th General Legislative Assembly:

Arkansas Citizens First Congress released their super helpful 2025 Arkansas Legislature Directory - you can view/download from HERE

If you want to follow along with bills the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families (AACF) are tracking, use this handy link HERE

Recaps from last week’s legislative activity:

Bills of note in committees this week:

  • 👎 HB1192 - Rep. Pilkington (R- Knoxville); from AACF, “This bill would expand the current prohibition to include possessing tobacco, tobacco products, and e-cigarettes on real and personal property owned or leased by a public school district or open-enrollment public charter school. The law applies to anyone, not just students. The bill also adds a tier of fines for parents of students who are found guilty of violating the law, from $100 for the first offense, $500 for the second offense, and $1,000 for a third and subsequent offense. It is scheduled to be heard by the House Select Committee on Rules at noon on Tues., Feb. 25.”

  • 👎 HB1180 - BABY OLIVIA bill is back and will be discussed in the Senate State Committee on Education at 10 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 26 - 🚨  ACTION ITEM!!! 🚨  Call or email Sen. Jim Dotson (R - Bentonville) to vote AGAINST this bill - as a reminder about the bill, read Antoinette Grajeda’s reporting in the Arkansas Advocate HERE

  • 👎 SB266 - Sen. Dotson (R - Bentonville) bill to authorize public schools to allow for school chaplains. Read ACLU’s post about this harmful legislation that has been spreading in red states HERE. The bill will be discussed in the Senate State Committee on Education at 10 a.m. on Wed., Feb. 26.

Recently filed bills to be aware of for future activity:

  • HB1503 - Rep. Clowney (D - Fayetteville); from Rep. Clowney’s newsletter: “[Bill is] aimed at removing barriers to building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). ADUs—sometimes known as granny flats or mother-in-law suites—provide an affordable housing solution by allowing homeowners to build smaller, secondary homes on their property. ADUs allow home-owners to make the most of their own property. Further, they can help families stay close together, offering affordable housing for young renters as well as a solution for seniors to live independently as they age. In short, ADU’s have the potential to ease our state’s housing affordability crisis by increasing housing availability and variety.“

  • SB282 - Sen. Penzo (R - Springdale) - The Senator is at it again with Water Fluoridation… This time the bill is focused on allowing voters a manner to put the question of water fluoridation to ballot locally.

Bills of note signed by the governor:

  • Act 16 - Blue Envelope program; for more information read Alex Golden’s coverage in Axios NWA, “Arkansas' new "blue envelope" law aims to ease police encounters with people with autism”

  • From Tess Vrbin in the Arkansas Advocate, “Free school breakfast, maternal health Medicaid, school cellphone ban all become Arkansas law”

  • For civic awareness nerds like me, Act 120 was signed by the governor and will require all school districts to add to their websites a listing of all current school board members and agendas for upcoming meetings

  • SB3 (now Act 116) was signed into law last Tuesday as well. As a reminder from AACF, “This new law prohibits state agencies from providing programs targeted toward historically excluded groups, including on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin. It specifically excludes veteran status in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement. This will result in the elimination of scholarships to Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native Americans who commit to teaching in the Delta; as well as university retention programs for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students, faculty, and staff. It will also prevent programs designed to recruit more diverse staff in state government. This new law also allows a person to bring a civil action if the person believes his or her rights have been impacted as it relates to discrimination or providing preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in matters of state employment, public education, or state procurement.”

Attorney General’s Office:

From Talk Business & Politics, “AG Griffin hires Autumn Hamit Patterson as new Solicitor General” And Sonny Albarado at the Arkansas Advocate, “Arkansas attorney general names new solicitor general”

Education Bill

Highlights (or lowlights) of the new education omnibus bill: The ACCESS ACT (HB1512/SB246)

As of time of publish, this bill has not been added to the agenda for either Education Committee yet.

  • Throughout the bill, existing commissions, councils, etc. memberships have been decreased and changed - the trend is an elimination of representation from educational agencies and associations:

    • School Leadership Coordinating Council goes from 17 members to 5 (Senate and House Education Committee chairs and 3 commissioners from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE))

    • Safe Schools Committee removes all required members and now will only consist of members appointed by the Commissioner of DESE with no min/max number of members

    • Professional development schedule for licensed educators collaboration process removes specific members and replaces with “relevant stakeholders”

    • Advisory Committee on Public School Academic Facilities removes requirements for membership to be pulled from licensed organizations/agencies/associations

    • Public School Americans with Disability Act Compliance Committee eliminates rep positions from AAEA and Arkansas Public School Resource Center, Inc.

    • Rules development for the Arkansas Financial Accounting Handbook and Tier II Training now excludes educational agencies/associations

    • Arkansas Dyslexia Resource Guide Committee membership stripped from AAEA, AEA, ASBA and ASPA

    • Arkansas Higher Education Board shrinks from 12 members to 7

    • Child Health Advisory Committee membership stripped from ASNA, AAEA, ASBA, AASCD, among others

  • “Accelerated Learning” phrasing replaces Advanced Placement

    • Defined as an organized method of learning that enables a student to meet individual academic goals and graduation requirements while pursuing higher levels of skill development, including without limitation the following coursework:

      (1) A College Board pre-Advanced Placement and Advanced Placement course;

      (2) An International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme course;

      (3) A Cambridge Advanced International Certificate of Education

      (4) A concurrent credit course; and

      (5) A substantively similar course or program approved by the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.

  • Significant Changes:

    • School Rating System grading formula eliminates almost all reporting requirements except annual academic achievement on statewide assessment, student growth on the assessment and graduation rates; leaves new grading formula creation to DESE (see more on p. 30)

    • Sets tuition rates for concurrent academic credits (Like NWACC classes taken during HS at Bentonville/Rogers)

    • Defines new unexcused absences for elementary and secondary: political protest, social/public policy advocacy, attempts to influence legislation at the local, state, or federal level

    • Addition of annual faculty performance review reports submitted to the state with information such as tenure status

  • Repealed programs:

    • Arkansas Traveling Teacher

    • Arkansas Smart Core Incentive Funding Program

    • Arkansas Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate Diploma Incentive Act of 1995

    • Dual Licensure Incentive Program

    • Scholarships:

      • Children of Law Enforcement Officers, Etc. (§§ 6-82-501 - 507)

      • Children of Veterans, Prisoners of War, Etc. (§§ 6-82-601 - 602)

      • Arkansas Concurrent Challenge Scholarship Program

  • New programs:

    • Creation of a “Purple Star School” and “Purple Star Campuses” designations - rules for designation to be developed by DESE

    • 👎🚨 Creation of rules “Rejecting Discrimination and Indoctrination in Postsecondary Education” (p. 61 for all the details)

    • Creation of the Arkansas Direct Admissions Program (p. 66 for details) - effective for HS graduating class ‘26-’27

    • Requirement of state-sponsored higher ed institutions to accept scores from applicants using the Classic Learning Test in addition to ACT/SATs - wondering what that is… Read NPR’s reporting from similar legislation in Florida <gasp> from 2023, “What to know about Florida's 'classic' alternative to the SAT”

    • Residency Classification for Scholarships at State-Supported Institutions of Higher Education - clarifies eligibility to a graduate of an Arkansas public, private or home school, and legal residency (physically present) for at least 6 continuous months with the intent to remain

    • Creation of the “Arkansas Heroes Scholarship Act” (p. 99)

Additional reporting:

Election Information

From Tess Vrbin in the Arkansas Advocate:

“Arkansas Secretary of State Cole Jester on Monday declared Arkansas has “the most secure elections in the country” but cast doubt on the security of absentee voting and the integrity of citizen-led ballot initiatives.

Jester, who took office Jan. 2, called for a “top-to-bottom security review” of Arkansas’ election procedures on Jan. 24 and presented his findings at a press conference Monday. The report his office released Monday labeled four of its seven focus areas — in-person voting, county outreach, cybersecurity and physical security — with an “A” grade. The report labeled voter registration “B+” and absentee voting “B-.”

The initiative petition process received the lowest grade with a “D,” and Jester said the review found “thousands of fraudulent signatures” on petitions for ballot measures.”

Read the remaining reporting HERE.

<CEJ Commentary: If you’re asking yourself what criteria (not described in the report) was used to “grade” the election-related components, and how thorough was the review of our statewide election process if a report was produced just six weeks after the review was originally requested? These are the correct questions to ask. In other words, this “report” is partisan garbage trying to push a narrative.>

Political Training Opportunities

Tues., Feb. 25 from 7 - 8 p.m. - From Run for Something, “Candidate Introduction Call” - You’ll hear directly from Run for Something leaders and former candidates about: - Recommended first steps for exploring a run for office - Online resources from Run For Something and our partners to build your skills and knowledge - First-hand experience about what it is like to be a candidate and local elected official.

In the Ear

  • In this episode of I am Northwest Arkansas, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Brittany Johnson, the visionary behind Ambivert Books, an independent bookstore dedicated to Spanish language literature in Springdale. Brittany shares her inspiring journey of launching this unique venture, the challenges of operating in a digital age dominated by major retailers, and her passion for promoting literature originally written in Spanish.

  • Watch and listen to Sen. Clarke Tucker (D-Little Rock) interview with Roby Brock discussing the ballot initiative bills on Capitol View from this weekend HERE

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