Court backs firing of district leader
The Arkansas Court of Appeals last week upheld former Dollarway School District Superintendent Bettye Dunn-Wright's firing.
The state Board of Education removed Dunn-Wright from the position in June 2012 after the school district didn't meet accreditation standards for two consecutive years. In the 2010-11 school year, the district was placed on probation for allowing a teacher to instruct classes for which the teacher wasn't certified. The next academic year, the district violated rules again when it allowed some students to graduate with insufficient transcripts.
Because of the consecutive state violations, the Education Board removed the Dollarway School Board and fired the superintendent. Among Dunn-Wright's arguments on appeal, she said the transcript violations actually happened in the 2010-11 school year but were discovered in 2012. Because of that, Dunn-Wright contended the district did not have consecutive violations and she should not have been fired.
But, the appeals court judges said, the school district never appealed to the Education Board.
"The avenue for the School District and Superintendent to challenge the Department's finding of a violation for the 2011-12 school year was through an appeal to the State Board," appeals court Judge Kenneth Hixon wrote in an opinion. "Because there was no appeal of the violation to the State Board, Dr. Dunn-Wright's challenge before both the circuit court and the court of appeals comes too late."
Advisory panel's formation delayed
The formation of a Little Rock School District Civic Advisory Committee has been delayed by bouts of inclement weather in recent weeks.
State legislators living within the Little Rock School District boundaries are now scheduled to convene at 3:30 p.m. March 16 to select seven parents and/or community members from the pool of more than 80 applicants to serve on the committee.
Additionally, the lawmakers will choose a representative of a philanthropic organization to serve on the advisory committee.
The committee membership will also include two teachers and two students who will represent the six Little Rock schools that are labeled by the state as academically distressed. Those school representatives will be selected by the principals of the six schools.
The academically troubled schools were the primary basis for the state Board of Education's 5-4 vote on Jan. 28 to take control of the district by removing the elected school board and putting Superintendent Dexter Suggs under the supervision of the education commissioner on an interim basis.
The state board at the same time authorized the establishment of the civic advisory committee as a way to retain public engagement in the 24,000-student district, the state's largest.
The committee will meet from 5 to 6 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month at the district's administration building, 810 W. Markham St.
The 12-member committee will make recommendations for the communication of data to the public. The superintendent of the district and his staff will make presentations to the committee. The agenda and minutes of each meeting will be posted on the district's website.
Service on the committee will be unpaid.
Multiple meetings planned this week
Public education-related meetings and activities abound this week in central Arkansas.
The Little Rock School District will host a Town Hall meeting at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Centre at University Park, 6401 W. 12th St.
While Little Rock Superintendent Dexter Suggs has periodically presided at public forums over the past 1½ years, Monday's forum will be the first one since the Arkansas Board of Education voted Jan. 28 to immediately dismiss the School Board and make Suggs an interim superintendent under the direction of Education Commissioner Tony Wood.
The Pulaski County Special School District's Community Advisory Board is set to meet at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Agenda items include action on a proposal to place a 5.6-mill tax increase on the ballot in September and decisions on the possible closing of Scott Elementary and Northwood Middle schools as a way to save money and address enrollment declines. The advisory board's recommendations will go to Education Commissioner Tony Wood for final decisions.
The Arkansas Board of Education will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday and at 9 a.m. Friday.
Live video streaming of both meetings will be available at http://flash.aetn.org/adeplayer.html?source=rtmp://flash.aetn.org/live/adelive&type=live.
Thursday's agenda includes the possible consolidation of the tiny Hughes School District to one or more other districts and the proposed removal of the Lee County School District from state control for academic distress. Also on the agenda are decisions on whether to retain the Pulaski County Special and Helena-West Helena school districts under state control for a fifth year.
The Education Board Special Committee on Academic Distress will meet immediately following the Thursday meeting. Then, the full board will convene for a dinner work session at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the Natchez Restaurant in downtown Little Rock.
The state Education Board's Special Committee for the Study of Pulaski County School district boundaries is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Arknsas Department of Education auditorium, 4 Capitol Mall.
Metro on 03/08/2015