Conway School Board President Sheila Franklin Deletes All Of Her Emails….Refuses To Answer Why
Sep 21, 2025
If you played that old drinking game where you took a shot every time Franklin said the word “transparency” during a school board meeting you would never make it to the end before passing out.
The fact is Franklin is anything but transparent and statements from the District’s Chief Legal Officer Shasta Wagner, on behalf of Superintendent Jason Black, prove that….Let me explain.
During the August 12th School Board meeting, Franklin referenced an email she stated the Arkansas School Board Association (ASBA) sent her concerning the search for a new Superintendent.
That very night after that Board meeting ended, I began planning a lawsuit against the Board for violating laws pertaining to an Executive Session they held during the meeting.
The email from the ASBA to Franklin was pertinent to the lawsuit so on the morning of August 14th I sent interim Superintendent Jason Black an FOI request for all email communications between Franklin and the ASBA from July 1st of this year to date.
That very afternoon Wagner replied on his behalf with “No records exist that are responsive to your request.”
That means either Franklin lied about getting the email or that she deleted it….One is just as bad as the other.
Now this immediately raised a suspicion that Franklin was deleting emails she did not want the public to ever see….So, me being me, on August 29th I sent Black an FOI Request for all emails sent and received by Franklin from July 1st of this year to date.
I knew for a fact there were many emails to and from Franklin because I had already obtained many from the District that they had retrieved from email accounts belonging to others such as the now infamous email Franklin had sent fellow Board member Dave Naylor personally attacking him….I myself had sent multiple emails to Franklin and the rest of the Board.
On September 2nd Wagner again replied on Black’s behalf stating “No records exist that are responsive to your requests.”….Sadly that is the very response I expected.
The next day I sent Black an FOI Request for all emails sent and received by Franklin since becoming a Board member. On September 8th Wagner tried to cover for Franklin by sending some emails she had retrieved from email accounts belonging to others but could produce none from Franklin’s account.
I would say, nice try Shasta….however it was actually a pathetic attempt to cover for Franklin.
The records from the District prove that Franklin has deleted every email she has sent and received while on the Board….But why ?
I have reached out twice to Franklin with that question and true to her non-transparent form she has refused to answer.
What Franklin fails to realize is that those emails don’t belong to her….They belong to the public….But then again maybe she does realize and just doesn’t care.
The reality is there is only one reason for Franklin deleting all the emails and that is to conceal them from the public which is called Tampering with Public Record.
AR Code 5-54-121 states –
(a) A person commits the offense of tampering with a public record if, with the purpose of impairing the verity, legibility, or availability of a public record, he or she knowingly:
(1) Makes a false entry in or falsely alters any public record; or
(2) Erases, obliterates, removes, destroys, or conceals a public record.
Tampering with Public Record is a Class D Felony and is punishable by up to 6 years in prison and fines up to $10,000.00.
Now to be clear I am only talking about Franklin and not the rest of the Board. To date I have seen no reason to suspect other Board members are concealing emails….That does not relieve them of their duty to fix the problem though.
The Board needs to put in place a Policy that none of them will delete any emails or at the very least pass a Resolution to that effect with all members signing it.
The fact is the Public has little to zero trust that the District is transparent….Who can blame them?
If the Board wants to earn that trust, then this would be a start….Let’s see who on the Board is willing to take that step.
#FactsNotFiction
Professional Bully Fighter I investigate and report on issues around the State of Arkansas with an emphasis on Government. I am strong conservative however I bring Truth and Facts regardless of Party affiliation….My hashtag is #FactsNotFiction
Why would someone do this if they know it is against the law? Is she thinking she will not get caught? I never knew Conway had such shady characters in its midst.