FAYETTEVILLE — A resolution incorporating the School Choice Act of 2013 in district policies was adopted by the Fayetteville School Board, one of 13 student policies the board acted on Thursday.
Policies on absences, conduct to and from school, school health, emergency drills and graduation requirements for 2014 and beyond received board scrutiny for revisions that ranged from a single word or two to major wording changes, based on recommendations of the Arkansas School Boards Association or changes approved during the 2013 legislative session, said Greg Mones, human resources director.
At A Glance
New Hires
Two positions were filled by Fayetteville's School Board to fill vacancies on the district leadership team.
• Matt A. Morningstar, an assistant principal at Prairie Grove Middle School, was hired as principal at Holt Middle School. He replaces Mike Mason who retired at the end of the school year.
• Gene (Morgan) Stout Jr. will be the district food service director to replace Adam Simmons who resigned to move out of state. Stout has been the director of operations for Chartwell’s at the University of Arkansas since 2003.
Source: Staff Report
The most significant change, according to Superintendent Vicki Thomas, deals with concurrent credit for students who enroll at the University of Arkansas or NorthWest Arkansas Community College while still attending Fayetteville High School.
Thomas said the concurrent credit policy change allows a student to take a three-hour college-level English Composition I course for one semester which counts as a full-year fourth-year English credit at the high school. If the student takes the college-level English Composition II course the second semester, he or she will end up with three hours of college credit when they graduate high school.
The most popular concurrent courses are English composition and college algebra, said Kay Jacoby, executive director of curriculum, instruction and assessment.
The student can get a year of credit for fourth-year high school English in one semester, Thomas said.
The number of high school students who were concurrently enrolled last year or the number who may take advantage of the new policy weren't immediately available during the meeting.
The new policy states freshmen through seniors who successfully completes a college-level course shall be given credit toward high school grades and graduation at the rate of one full year’s high school credit for three hours college credit. Certain stipulations apply such as approval by the principal before enrolling in the college course.
The school choice resolution sets in motion the steps the district will take to release or admit students under the school choice law adopted by the General Assembly earlier this year.
Mones said the new law removes the racial barrier but caps the number of students who can leave or enter the district at 3 percent. For Fayetteville, that number is 270 students who can leave or enter.
By the June 1 deadline, Fayetteville received 47 applications for students to leave the district and 33 from students who want to enter, Mones said. Both numbers are well within the cap.
On the absence policy delineating excused and unexcused absences, Tim Hudson, school board president, said, “Go to school everyday and you won’t have to worry about this.”
Other policies allow students to ride an alternative bus rather than the one he is assigned with written permission from an administrator; forbids the use of electronic cigarettes along with all tobacco products on school grounds; bans electronic devices, such as cellphones, during standardized state exams; and requires active shooter drills to the list of emergency drills schools are suppose to do.