Longtime educator advances in Montgomery school board race

MONTGOMERY, AL (WSFA) - Voters in 41 counties across the state made their voices heard in Tuesday's runoff election.

One of those races was between Democratic candidates for the Montgomery County Board of Education District 7 seat. The district encompasses portions of central and southeastern Montgomery County.

Many have been eying the race since it was held by longtime, revered school board member Beverly Ross, who passed away last year.

Both women running on the Democratic side in the runoff looked to continue Ross' tremendous legacy and on Tuesday, the voters weighed in on who they think should get the chance.

It was close in last month's primary with only 44 votes separating the challenger Arica Watkins-Smith and the incumbent Roberta Collins. On Tuesday, Watkins-Smith won with 58% of the votes, beating Collins.

After the results were in, Watkins-Smith thanked voters, supporters, family and friends at a watch party at the COD Center on Highland Avenue.

"I got in this race because I said this is about the children and my motto for this race has always been and will continue to be "Leadership focused on the students." That's what I'm about," she said. "This is the momentum that I needed. This is the change that we wanted."

Watkins-Smith is the wife of City Planning Director Robert Smith and has 15 years of teaching experience at Montgomery Public Schools. Her specialty is special education and she now teaches at a small private school. This was her first time running for elected office.

Roberta Collins had been chosen to serve out the term of her best friend, Beverly Ross, following Ross' death.

Collins is a former longtime educator with close to 40 years in the classroom and pledged to continue her quest for the betterment of the system, helping students.

Watkins-Smith commended her opponent and says she plans to continue Beverly Ross' strong leadership. She got to know Ross during different engagements from her time as an MPS teacher.

"Ms. Ross was a beautiful woman. For Ms. Collins, I just thank her for letting us have a very clean race… I know this is probably a little disappointing for her because that's her best friend's seat. But I want to assure her that I'm going to do a good job and uphold the legacy of her friend," Watkins-Smith said. "But I'm also going to bring some of my own ideas and beliefs but I want to have the same impact she did, standing firm in my beliefs and being about the business of the children."

Watkins-Smith will face off against Republican candidate Anthony Evans in November's general election.

Roberta Collins' term on the board is up in November and she will continue her efforts to enrich the lives of young people.

"I appreciate the voters who voted for me. A lot of people didn't know there was a runoff," Collins said. "I would like to congratulate Arica and I wish her well in the general election. I think she will do well on the board. I will keep working for students in and out of the classroom throughout the River Region because I have a passion for children."

Officials say voter turnout for the election was only four percent.

Watkins-Smith says if she gets the opportunity to serve on the school board, she will focus on getting any struggling Montgomery schools removed from the list of failing schools.

"Let's address the issues that are holding some of our schools back and discuss using proven strategies that will help enhance the curriculum," she said.

Copyright 2016 WSFA 12 News.