Education notebook

District challenges dismantling decree

The Stephens School District is challenging in federal court the Arkansas Board of Education’s April 10 order to split the legally undersize district among the Camden-Fairview, Magnolia and Nevada school districts, effective July 1.

Clay Fendley of Little Rock, an attorney for the Stephens district, has asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas to enter a temporary restraining order and an injunction that would stop the dismantling of the Stephens district until a full court hearing can be held.

That hearing would focus on whether the state Board of Education’s action complies with the state’s duty to remedy interdistrict and intradistrict constitutional violations. The Stephens district is a party in a pre-existing school desegregation lawsuit. The state Board of Education’s order splitting the district among its neighboring school systems was contingent upon court approval.

The Stephens district became subject to an involuntary merger with one or more school districts after its enrollment fell below 350 students in both the 2011-12 and 2012-13 school years, and it was unable to reach a voluntary merger agreement with a neighboring district.

Desegregation case updates scheduled

U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. has scheduled a couple of status conferences for later this year on the Pulaski County Special School District’s efforts to meet desegregation obligations and to be released from court monitoring.

Those status conferences with attorneys for the district and for the black students known as the Joshua intervenors will be at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 14 and Dec. 18.

The district remains under court scrutiny in six areas of its operation. Those areas are the condition of school buildings, student discipline, special education, student achievement, staffing and monitoring.

In the short order issued April 14, Marshall also directed Margie Powell, who heads the federal Office of Desegregation Monitoring, to submit to him a written report about the six areas, including information on the history, current status, progress and deficiencies.

Marshall appointed U.S. Magistrate Judge H. David Young to assist both the district and the Joshua intervenors in resolving any disputes that develop in the one area of special education.

Schools celebrate volunteers’ service

The Little Rock School District celebrated 870,289 hours of volunteer service at its annual “Evening for the Stars” last week at the Shrine Scimitar Temple.

Debbie Bass received the highest honor established by the district’s Volunteers In Public Schools program. That is the Jane Mendel Award named for the program’s founder.

Some of the others singled out during the celebration included Lee Ann Matson, who received the Lifetime Service Award, and Little Rock School Board member Leslie Fisken, who received the Leadership Award.

Annie Fortune received the elementary student award. Natalie Doris received the secondary student award. The Partners in Education Award went to Second Baptist Church, and the Champion Award was presented to Forest Park Elementary School’s Centennial Committee.

Rod Paige to speak at anniversary event

Former U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige will be the keynote speaker at the LISA Academy’s 10th anniversary celebration next month at the Robinson Center in Little Rock.

LISA Academy is a public charter-school system with a campus in west Little Rock and a slightly newer campus in Sherwood.

Paige served in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001-2005. He was a leader in the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act.

He is a former superintendent of the Houston Independent School District and was named National Superintendent of the Year in 2001 by the American Association of School Administrators.

Quest school names founding director

Chris Stevens will be the founding campus director for Quest Middle School of West Little Rock, Responsive Education Solutions, the charter-school’s sponsoring organization, has announced on the school’s Facebook page.

Stevens was most recently the middle school headmaster at Providence Christian School of Texas in Dallas. He will be available to meet with Little Rock families at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Embassy Suites hotel.

The Quest school is scheduled to open in August, although the state has not yet given final approval to a change in locations for the campus. School planners have asked to locate at 400 Hardin Road, which is a cul-de-sac just west of the Interstate 630 and Shackleford Road intersection.

The state Board of Education is planning to hold a hearing on the location at its May 8 meeting. Responsive Education Solutions has asked for a special board meeting to consider the issue before that meeting.

About 180 children have registered to attend the school that will serve grades six, seven and eight. There is a waiting list for the sixth grade seats, according to the Facebook site.

Arkansas, Pages 19 on 04/20/2014

Upcoming Events