Bentonville School Board Fires Worker Accused Of Rape

BENTONVILLE -- The School Board agreed Monday to fire the Adventure Club employee arrested last week in connection with raping a 5-year-old girl at R.E. Baker Elementary.

Ali M. Matar Jr., 21, had worked as an Adventure Club leader for the district since October. He was arrested Wednesday after police investigated a report forwarded to them May 10 from the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division.

At A Glance

Charter School Meetings

The School District intends to host two public forum meetings within the next few weeks to discuss the plan to convert R.E. Baker Elementary into a charter school. Those meetings are at 5:30 p.m. May 27 at the district Administration Building and 5:30 p.m. June 3 at R.E. Baker.

Source: Staff Report

The School District placed Matar on paid leave May 12, the day officials learned of the allegations, according to Michael Poore, superintendent. The allegations were serious enough to warrant Matar's termination, Poore said.

"We tried to make sure we knew as much as we could about the situation" before the administration sought Matar's dismissal, Poore said.

The girl was interviewed at the Children's Advocacy Center of Benton County. She said she was alone in the library with "Mr. Ollie." She was playing on a computer when he "tickled" her, according to the probable cause affidavit. The girl said everyone else was in the bathroom, and "Mr. Ollie" touched her inappropriately.

Matar, whose bond was set at $75,000 on Friday, was still being held in the Benton County Jail on Monday. His arraignment is scheduled for June 23.

Adventure Club is a program run by the district that offers child care before and after school at each elementary and middle school.

In other business from Monday's board meeting, administrators and the board continued their discussion of the proposal to convert R.E. Baker Elementary into a charter school.

Judy Marquess, director of instruction, who has led a committee that's developed the proposal, addressed numerous questions and concerns that had been raised by the board when they last discussed the issue.

A "grandfather" clause could be applied, she said, meaning current R.E. Baker students could have first choice at enrolling in the school.

"We had a legal opinion that said yes, you can do that," Marquess told the board.

The committee also decided to scale back the proposal from a school for grades kindergarten through eighth to kindergarten through sixth. But Marquess said administrators would consider expanding the school down the line.

"Maybe someday we'll even be K-12," she said.

The committee's proposal calls for the charter school to focus on science, technology, engineering and math, with an added emphasis on the arts.

Marquess also addressed concern that the district's 21st Century Technology program teachers -- those who have received district grants to get enough laptops or iPads for all of their students -- would be concentrated entirely in the charter school because of its emphasis on technology.

"That's just not true," she said. "The committee felt comfortable saying if (21st century) teachers come to the school, their equipment goes back into the pool."

Charter schools have the option of applying for waivers of rules traditional public schools must follow. One of the options charters can apply for is to hire teachers that are not certified.

Marquess said the district wants to use existing staff members for all teaching positions, but would like the option of having a professional from a particular field teach a class for a semester.

"That would give us that ability to have those professionals on a temporary basis," she said.

Lisa Clark, board member, asked why the educational concepts that would be emphasized in the charter school couldn't be rolled out across the district in the schools as they are. Clark also expressed concern the charter would be viewed as an "elite" school compared to the district's other buildings.

"We know kids have different learning styles and if we can provide a learning environment for kids who have this learning style, then we should offer it," Marquess said. "The reason we bring it together in one school is it's not something we can do in isolation. We're talking about having some blended grade levels, integrated curriculum, bringing together a group of teachers who have a very common vision of what this school looks like."

Grant Lightle, a board member, said converting R.E. Baker -- one of two elementary buildings that operate on the district's nontraditional calendar -- would merely substitute one kind of school choice for another.

"We really haven't added a choice, we've just changed one," Lightle said.

The committee decided upon R.E. Baker because of its proximity to downtown Bentonville and the organizations, such as Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, with which it could partner.

The board will be asked to approve the charter school proposal at a meeting next month.

NW News on 05/20/2014

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