State handing over district

Dollarway schools will revert to local control Oct. 1

Monday, June 23, 2014

PINE BLUFF -- When the Arkansas Board of Education voted unanimously to release the Dollarway School District from two years of state control, Dollarway Superintendent Bobby Acklin said it felt like a heavy weight was lifted from his shoulders.

"It was a great moment, not only for me and our community, but especially for our students," Acklin said. "I was not surprised, but I was more hoping than expecting this outcome. Now, it's up to us to prove to [the state] that we can maintain the effort that has been put forth."

Acklin, 57, is in the second year as Dollarway's state-appointed superintendent in the 2013-14 school year.

The state will hand control of the district back to the community on Oct. 1. He told the state Board of Education on June 12 that he hopes to continue as superintendent until he retires, depending on the will of the School Board that will be elected Sept. 16.

The state board voted in June 2012 to assume authority over the 1,296-student district in Jefferson County after concluding that the district had violated state accreditation standards.

Violations included failing to ensure that all teachers held proper state licenses and inaccurate record-keeping in regard to student transcripts, putting some students in jeopardy of not graduating on time.

State officials reported that the district committed no violations of state accreditation standards in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 school years.

Acklin said he has also taken steps to ensure that Dollarway's teachers "have nothing but the best interests of our students as a top priority," adding "we are going to keep our records and transcripts up to the standards they need to be at.

"I have every intention to monitor these things as closely now as I did when we were in state takeover."

Though the district will soon be back under local control, Dollarway High was recently named as a school in academic distress because fewer than half of its students scored at proficient or better on state exams in recent years.

A district with a school in academic distress is in jeopardy of a state takeover if corrections are not made. State board member Diane Zook of Melbourne questioned whether the state would be treating Dollarway and Acklin like yo-yos if it were to release the district and then take it over again for academic distress.

Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell said the state lacks the legal authority to retain control of a district that has corrected its accreditation violations.

Despite the high school's academic distress, former Dollarway School Board member Gene Stewart said the district has the potential to be one of the best small school districts in southeast Arkansas, if not the state.

He also praised Acklin's work.

"I really think this superintendent has good intentions and good thoughts, and it looks to me like he is the kind of person you can work with," Stewart said. "Dollarway can be a good school [district], there is no doubt about it. I don't know of any small school with a better location, number of students and history."

Stewart, who served on the board from 2005 until the state takeover, said he plans to run again in September.

Many parents and patrons are celebrating the district's return to local control, although others said they think it's too soon for the state to let go.

Donna Canton, whose daughter is about to enter fifth grade at the district, said she has prayed for local control since the state seized the district in 2012.

"We pay for this school, and we should have community representatives in control of it, not the state," Canton said.

"I do understand that the state has to step in when things get bad, but I really feel like this time we can do what it takes to make this the best school district it can be."

Devon Taylor doesn't have any children but pays taxes in the Dollarway district.

He said he and others he has spoken with have been unhappy with the district's performance over the past several years and believe state control should continue until "a marked improvement is shown."

Taylor added, "Look at us now, we are in academic distress. What does that say? It tells you things are not right. The state is just dumping this all back on us, and clearly we are not able to handle it.

"Who is going to step in and make sure kids around here get a quality education? That's what folks around here want to know."

State Desk on 06/23/2014