ROGERS — The Benton County School of the Arts board will spend its next meetings creating a new process for selecting board members, board members said Tuesday.
The board will also consider implementing staggered terms for board members.
Craig Brown, board president,said the board may vote on a policy early next year.
Superintendent Paul Hines distributed copies of bylaws Tuesday before a brief discussion of board elections and term limits.
He recommended the board table the item until the December meeting so members would have time to review the bylaws and think about what changes should be made.
“That will be a long night, but we can hammer out what we can,” Hines said.
The issues have been unresolved since two charter schools - the Benton County School of the Arts, an elementary school, and the Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts, a high school - merged during the summer.
The schools were created with separate charters and separate school boards by the BentonCounty Charter School Organization. That organization’s board, known as the founding board, now serves as the board for the two schools.
Members of the founding board are nominated and appointed by the board, as opposed to being elected by students’ parents, which was the practice for the elementary and high school boards.
Charter schools are not required to have school board elections, Julie Johnson Thompson, an ArkansasDepartment of Education spokeswoman, said Monday.
Board members said Tuesday they would like to keep board member Allison Scott-Williams involved,although perhaps as an adviser. Scott-Williams is a member of the founding board and at The Julliard School in New York City.
Board member NancyBrach-Rogers said Scott-Williams’ expertise makes her a good resource for the school, even if rule changes make her ineligible to serve on the board.
News, Pages 1 on 11/04/2009
Comments
To report abuse or misuse of this area please hit the "Suggest Removal" link in the comment to alert our online managers. Please read our comment policy.
Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.
Registration is required to make comments. Click here to LOGIN.
You can register for FREE to post comments and receive alerts.