The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday teetered on the brink of removing the superintendent of the state-controlled Lee County School District but settled for the time being on requiring increased reporting from the 880-student system in Marianna.
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The state board's unanimous votes calling for an initial report in October and then quarterly reports starting in January from Lee County were prompted by Lee County High School's failure to meet state accreditation standards in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.
The board also voted Thursday to require extra monitoring of the Horatio School District by Arkansas Department of Education staff members over the next two years because of violations of accreditation standards in that district.
State laws require the Education Board to take action against a school or district that has been placed on probation in each of two consecutive years for violating the accreditation standards, which establish maximum class sizes, minimum course requirements and other matters related to the operation of schools. Education Board actions against a district or school on probation can range from requiring increased reporting to closing the school or removing the school district's superintendent and/or school board.
The standards violations in Lee County -- dealing with the failure to provide the required time for instruction and improperly licensed teachers -- come on top of the district's classification by the state as being in academic and fiscal distress.
The state Education Board designated the Lee County district as academically distressed last year and then voted to take over the district in the spring because of the district's failure to show sufficient improvement in academics. The Lee County School Board was immediately dismissed, but Superintendent Willie Murdock was retained to work under the supervision of the state.
State Education Board member Toyce Newton of Crossett asked whether the standards violations need to be considered in the broader context of the district's academic and fiscal distress classifications.
Tony Wood, serving in his first meeting Thursday as the state's education commissioner, told the board that two of the five districts now operating under state control are going to be released to new, locally elected school boards in October, allowing the state agency to focus greater attention on Lee County.
"We realize there are challenges in Lee County," Wood said. "We want to be even more of a partner there."
Board member Vicki Saviers of Little Rock said that the district is the first in the state to be in academic distress, fiscal distress and violation of state standards, and that the board's response will set a precedent for future board decisions.
"The question is, does the present structure do more harm than good? I don't know," Saviers told her board colleagues. She then noted that about 50 percent of students in the district are not making sufficient academic progress and are in jeopardy of never catching up.
"If the consensus of the board is to not act today [on the district's leadership], we need to give ourselves a time certain for action. Don't send the message to Lee County and the rest of the state that we are willing to live with this," Saviers said.
Saviers and other board members said the district is receiving a great deal of assistance and support from different sections of the state Education Department as well as from outside school improvement consultants. Saviers called the allocation of resources, time and energy devoted to the district "amazing" and said it appears those advisers are running over each other.
Murdock, who became superintendent in her hometown school district in January 2012, told the board that the problems in the district developed over many years and are aggravated by high poverty, lack of industry and racial segregation in the community. She said the district problems will take time to correct and will require the support of the community for its public schools.
She also told the board that if she is dismissed as superintendent, she hopes that the new superintendent is someone who cares about the district's students.
"This happened because for years people didn't care," she said about conditions in the district. "I want to do what is best for the kids. It is not about me."
In regard to the violation of standards, Murdock said an earth science teacher was assigned to teach physical science but did not have the proper state license to do that. Another violation included using an English teacher to teach a reading intervention program. The teacher did not have the right state credential. Another problem she cited was that the eight periods that make up the high school class day were each a minute short, causing the school to violate minimum time requirements for instruction over the course of the school year.
Since the close of the school year, the district has laid off seven certified staff members -- including two of its four school principals -- and 10 noncertified staff members, all in an effort to reduce its expenses by about $750,000.
Board member Joe Black of Newport asked Andrew Tolbert, director of the Education Department's Office of Intensive Support, whether he was optimistic that conditions in Lee County can be corrected.
Tolbert said that after getting through the employee layoffs, he can see some hope of improvement for the system. He said people in the district are working hard.
Tolbert also said the district has a history of frequent principal turnover and stability is needed in the system.
Education Board member Jay Barth of Little Rock made the motions for an October report on the accreditation status of the school district and for regular quarterly reports to the board on conditions in general in the Lee County schools.
"In January, after the first semester is over, we would have more clarity about where we stand in the district," Barth said. "I do feel we would do more harm than good if we made a leadership change at this point."
In regards to the Horatio School District's accreditation violations, in 2011-12 the district employed a high school band director who did not meet state certification requirements or the requirements for obtaining the necessary license.
The teacher did meet the certification requirements the second year, but the district's gifted and talented education coordinator failed to take required coursework in a timely manner for obtaining additional licenses in her field.
The two districts that will return to local control are Dollarway and Mineral Springs. The state runs the Pulaski County Special, Helena-West Helena and Lee County districts.
Metro on 07/11/2014