The state Board of Education on Thursday granted traditional school districts the first waivers that were previously reserved for charter schools.
The board had granted the Batesville School District one of its requested three waivers and denied the Armorel School District its four requested waivers. It granted all five of the Bentonville School District's requests. The Rogers School District also received approval of its request. Osceola withdrew and Forrest City postponed their requests.
The districts were the first asking to be exempted from a variety of requirements, including duty-free lunch for staff members, alternative learning environments for students unsuccessful in regular classrooms, and educator licensure.
Act 1240 of 2015 -- sponsored by Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, and others -- allows the traditional school districts to apply for and receive the kinds of waivers to laws and rules that have been granted to independently operated, open-enrollment charter schools. Only traditional school districts that lose students to charter schools can apply for the waivers, under the new law.
Charter schools are public schools run in accordance with the terms of a charter or a contract with the state. They are exempt from some of the rules and laws that govern the traditional districts but are supposed to be held accountable for their student achievement rates.
Currently, there are 21 charter schools or charter school systems in the state, including Arkansas Virtual Academy that serves students online throughout the state.
On Thursday, representatives from five school districts made their case for the waivers before the Education Board.
Many of the Education Board members expressed concerns about the permanency of the waivers for the traditional school districts. While charter schools are exempt from some rules and laws, they have additional checks and balances, and the state could take several actions regarding those schools, including pulling the charter, some board members said.
Harvey Howard, deputy superintendent at the Batesville district, had requested waivers for the district's planned instructional days, class size and teaching load, and educator licensure. District officials want to offer more career and technical pathways for their students through partnerships with nearby Lyon College and the University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville, along with local industry.
The new offerings would meet curriculum requirements but could be provided in less than 30 hours per week, Howard said. Administrators also want to bring in professionals from the community to teach in their area of expertise, even though they might not be licensed to teach in public schools.
"It really will help level the playing field for public schools that are traditional public schools that are trying to compete with charter schools," Howard said.
Regarding a welding course for the district, he noted that welding in community colleges isn't up to par to provide what's need at Bad Boy Mowers.
Also, the district wants to partner with Entergy, which Howard said had a good program to prepare students for that industry. The unlicensed teachers, who the district expected would be highly credentialed, would still be vetted through the Child Maltreatment Registry.
"We're not going to bring anybody into our district that may potentially cause harm to our students," he said. "Some of the times it might be an adjunct deal, like someone from UACCB or Lyon College who is not licensed as an Arkansas teacher."
The panel looked favorably upon the district for coming up with creative learning methods.
"This progressive school district is being threatened by this charter [Arkansas Virtual Academy]," Education Board member R. Brett Williamson of El Dorado said. "I don't understand why ... we can't go the extra step and help this district."
Still, some were concerned about the long-term effects of granting a waiver.
Education Board member Mireya Reith of Fayetteville said it wasn't about trying to impede "progressive education or innovation."
"Some of these things just feels too risky," she said, adding that the waivers for the traditional districts were permanent. "There's so many different things that can happen under these circumstances."
She said she was excited about the district's new moves but that the district could still bring in professionals without a waiver.
Education Board member Susan Chambers of Bella Vista said there was no question of trust or integrity. Rather, she said, it is about ensuring good intentions over time when today's administrators would be long gone.
The panel granted one of the district's waivers, allowing for class offerings to be less than the required 30 hours a week.
For Armorel, some of the waivers concerned the state's requirements for alternative learning environments for struggling students.
Superintendent Sally Bennett said the small district has been able to intervene early for struggling students and hasn't placed any students in the alternative learning environments for the four years she's headed the district. Still, district officials do the paperwork for it, she said.
"We want to meet the needs of all students," she said. "But we think we can meet the students' needs without separating them."
Education Board member Jay Barth of Little Rock said the waiver was "troubling" to him.
"We have a responsibility to educate all students," he said. "We know that ALE [alternative learning environment] students do require extra funding and extra energies. Because it's a permanent waiver, I find it troubling that it would lock the district in in not addressing the needs of ALE students moving forward."
Information for this article was contributed by Shea Stewart of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 08/14/2015