Bentonville's Baker Elementary School Targeted As Charter Site

BENTONVILLE -- A plan to convert R.E. Baker Elementary School into a charter school for grades kindergarten through eight drew a lukewarm response from the School Board on Thursday.

School District administrators shared more details at the board meeting about their plans to convert one of the school's into a charter school that would open in August 2015. The school would focus on science, technology, engineering and math, but there would also be an emphasis on the arts.

At A Glance

Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools that operate without some of the regulations traditional public schools must follow. There are two kinds of charter schools in Arkansas:

• Open-enrollment charter schools: run by a governmental entity, an institution of higher learning or a tax-exempt nonsectarian organization. They can draw students from anywhere in the state.

• Conversion charter schools: traditional public schools converted to a charter by a school district. They can draw only students from within the host district’s boundaries.

Source: Staff Report

A committee of 32 administrators and teachers began studying the concept in January. Judy Marquess, district director of instruction, said the committee decided Baker was the best site for the charter. Thomas Jefferson and Sugar Creek elementary schools also were considered.

"(Baker) is a downtown school. It has a great location as far as the other partners in the community we hope to be working with," Marquess said. "You could fairly easily get to Crystal Bridges, Amazeum, Trike Theatre."

Baker's connection with Old High Middle School presents another advantage because of the ability to share spaces there, including its auditorium, she said.

The committee has proposed renaming the school "R.E. Baker Learning Studio."

Board members expressed several concerns. One was how the change would affect student currently attending Baker, one of two Bentonville schools that operate on the "year-round," or nontraditional, calendar. The committee has recommended Baker be put on the traditional calendar if converted to a charter.

Students would be enrolled through an online application process early next year. Any student in the district would be eligible, meaning many of Baker's current students would be displaced.

That would have the same effect as rezoning, said Grant Lightle, board vice president.

"It feels very disruptive at the K-4 level," Lightle said. "Rezoning is one of the biggest frustrations I've heard of. Parents hate it."

Marquess said another elementary school could be converted to the nontraditional calendar, which some families prefer.

Wendi Cheatham, board president, noted how much change would be involved in the move, not only in terms of displacing students but also shifting staff members.

Marquess admitted it would be a challenge, but added, "Just because change is difficult and people don't want to get out of their comfort zones, we can't say we're never going to do anything different."

The area is seeing an increasing number of private schools and charter schools and the district must be prepared to compete, Marquess said. The district lost 200 students to Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy when it opened last fall.

"There is competition for students," Marquess said. "Parents want choices for their kids. Students need choices. We need to give kids options or they will find them somewhere else."

Cheatham said parents associated with the year-round schools would be disappointed to hear the district might do away with one.

Lightle said he wasn't as concerned with the competition as he was about the district maintaining a steady financial situation.

"If you can predict your (enrollment) numbers, it's OK to have 1 percent growth instead of 3 percent," Lightle said. "Market share, to me, shouldn't be driving our decision."

Lisa Clark, board member, said she loved the charter idea, but wasn't comfortable with the timing of it.

"How does this fit in with our five-year plan?" Clark said. "I feel like we're putting the cart ahead of the horse with change here and change here, but we don't have the vision of where we're going."

If the board endorses the idea and the state agrees -- a decision that probably would be announced in early 2015 -- the district likely would receive a $600,000 startup grant from the federal government. The district also would pursue a $250,000 Walton Family Foundation grant for the same purpose. That money would pay for technology for classrooms.

Sterling Ming, finance director, said he would have recommended the district not pursue the charter school idea without that potential money. He also said if the charter's opening coincided with opening Bentonville West High School in 2016, "I would say no."

Thursday's discussion was the continuation of an earlier discussion the board had on the charter school topic during a special meeting March 31, during which a panel of education experts spoke about the logistics of opening a charter school.

The board didn't take any action on the proposal Thursday. If administrators go forward with the proposal, they likely will present it to the board for approval in June.

Board members Willie Cowgur and Rebecca Powers did not attend Thursday's meeting.

NW News on 04/25/2014

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