Bentonville School Board Rejects Charter Proposal

BENTONVILLE -- The School Board on Thursday nixed a proposal to convert R.E. Baker Elementary School into a charter school.

The board debated the proposal for about 90 minutes before voting on a motion made by Rebecca Powers to permit the administration to move forward on the process. The vote ended in a tie, which is the same as a failed vote.

Powers, Brent Leas and Willie Cowgur voted for the motion. Lisa Clark, Wendi Cheatham and Grant Lightle voted against it. Board member Matt Burgess was absent.

District administrators formed a committee early this year to explore the charter idea. That committee proposed converting Baker into a school for kindergarten through fifth grade focus on science, technology, engineering and math, all explored through the arts.

The board had several discussions of the topic before being asked to vote Thursday. The district was facing a July 21 deadline to submit its letter of intent for the charter license from the state. Administrators were hoping to open the charter school in August 2015.

Clark said she appreciated the work done on the proposal and called the idea "inspiring and exciting," but added she was concerned how the charter fit into the district's plan.

Lightle said he wondered how the district would manage to fit a couple of hundred more students into Baker, as the district proposed. He also said he worried the school would draw away from the schools whose teachers who are most knowledgeable about implementing technology in their classrooms.

Powers said she doubted the administration would allow such a thing to happen. Powers also criticized board members for seeming to lack faith in administrators and for micromanaging.

"What I'm hearing is a mistrust for our administration. It bugs me as an educator, but it bugs me more as a School Board member," she said.

Clark said what might seem like micromanaging is merely an attempt to ask good questions.

"I'm not sure I understand how you think asking lots of good questions is micromanagement," Clark said to Powers. "That word gets thrown around a lot."

"It happens a lot," Powers said.

"I would say that's your opinion," Clark said.

Cheatham, the board president, said she would like to take more time with the proposal and look at it "in a broader sense."

Lightle said the impression he had from administrators was there are two main reasons to pursue the charter: to get $850,000 in grant money and to provide another choice for families. He argued using Baker, one of two schools on the nontraditional calendar, effectively would remove a choice for parents.

Judy Marquess, district director of instruction, emphasized repeatedly the district wanted the conversion charter school because "it's about the kids" -- not for the money or the choice.

Marquess questioned Lightle's persistent opposition to the proposal. After administrators revised it earlier this year in response to board members' questions, she said Lightle told her twice he liked the changes they made.

"I don't understand now how you say we didn't answer your questions and that we're only after money and choice," she said.

Cowgur noted a recent district survey showed nearly 90 percent of parents said they would consider enrolling their children in the proposed charter school.

"I think we need to take into consideration what the community told us," Cowgur said.

Michael Poore, superintendent, said the charter school idea wasn't about the technology involved. It was about changing the teaching and learning environment.