Board OKs $10.8M allotment to district
The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday quickly and unanimously approved a proposal for dividing assets and liabilities between the Pulaski County Special School District and the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
The 15-page proposal setting July 1, 2016, as the detachment date for the independent operation of the new district -- apart from the Pulaski County Special district -- now goes to U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. for his consideration and final approval.
Marshall is the presiding judge in a long-running Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit. Marshall has scheduled a status conference with attorneys in the case for Thursday on the detachment plan and other matters.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key called the agreement a solid one that will allow both districts to operate effectively. He said reaching the agreement -- which was negotiated over about seven months by representatives of the two districts and the state -- "was like separating Siamese twins."
The plan will provide the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski district with about $10.8 million, a 26 percent share, of the $41.6 million in state desegregation aid that was originally earmarked for the Pulaski County Special district over 2016-18 school years.
The division of school buildings, school buses, computer tablets, a pre-kindergarten center, building funds and carryover financial reserves between the two districts are addressed in the proposal. Staffing plans and the transfer of student and employee records from one district to the other are also components of the draft plan.
The proposed plan calls for the new district to purchase 10 schools and a school bus lot that are in the new district from the Pulaski Special district for $10,809,050.
That payment by the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district will enable the Pulaski County Special district to comply with federal tax requirements that apply to the sale and disposition of property financed with money from the sale of bonds.
Board OKs changes by charter planners
The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday accepted the decisions of the state's Charter Authorizing Panel on proposed amendments to operating plans submitted by four charter school operators in Springdale, Lincoln, Pea Ridge and Warren.
The state Board of Education has the authority to review the Charter Authorizing Panel's decisions on charter schools and either accept the panel's decisions -- which makes the decisions final -- or conduct its own hearing on charter school proposals.
As a result of the panel and the state board actions, the Lincoln High School New Tech Charter School will drop its affiliation with the national New Tech Network. However, the school will continue to offer a hands-on, project-based curriculum.
Another of the newly approved amendments is the increase in enrollment, from 120 to 140 pupils, at the new Ozark Montessori Academy in Springdale.
Also approved are waivers of a state-required media specialist position for the Pea Ridge Manufacturing and Business Academy and a waiver of the traditional gifted education program requirement for Warren Middle School. Both the media specialist and gifted education services are being provided in alternative ways.
Metro on 08/14/2015