Jason Sandefer, who was elected to the Conway School Board in 2022, has resigned, the school district has announced.
In a statement on its website, the district wrote that Sandefer resigned last Friday, May 24, creating a vacancy for his Zone 1 position.
Sandefer was a reliable ally of Superintendent Jeff Collum and a member of the board’s conservative majority.
In 2022, Sandefer vocally defended the district’s temporary tightening of email deletion policies so as to avoid having to fulfill at least some requests under the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. He was also among board members that same year who voted for anti-transgender restroom and book-banning policies in the school district.
In a May 24 email to Collum and board president Andre Acklin, Sandefer wrote: “I want to formally announce my resignation from the school board effective immediately due to personal and family reasons.
“I appreciate the opportunity to serve and I don’t plan to be a stranger,” Sandefer added.
The words “formally announce” suggest that Sandefer already had informally advised at least some others of his resignation.
Contacted by phone Thursday, Sandefer, whose term was scheduled to end in 2027, declined comment.
Arkansas law provides that the school board will appoint a replacement who will serve until the next school board election, said Dan Jordan, director of governmental relations for the Arkansas School Boards Association. The next such election in Conway will be in 2025.