2 charter schools
awarded funds
The Arkansas Public School Resource Center has awarded Charter School Program Expansion Subgrant funding to two open-enrollment charter schools.
The center announced Friday the selection of Future School of Fort Smith and Maumelle Charter High School.
The Future School will receive $1,222,233 and Maumelle Charter High will receive $618,420.
The Arkansas Public School Resource Center uses the money to help in three ways:
• Increase the number of high-quality charter schools and conversion charter schools with an emphasis on the ones that serve educationally disadvantaged students.
• Improve outcomes for students, particularly educationally disadvantaged students.
• Share best practices.
Rob McGill, CEO and president of Academics Plus Charter Schools Inc., said the funding will be used to offset costs associated with building a new school, such as new furniture and a new bus.
Academics Plus, the state's oldest charter system, plans to break ground in June on a two-story, $20 million high school building on nearly 40 acres on White Oak Crossing. The site is next door to the Maumelle baseball fields on a flat stretch between Interstate 40 and the city.
The 700-student new school will enable the Maumelle-area enrollment to grow from the current 1,300 cap to 2,000 students by 2025-26, McGill has said.
Trish Flanagan and Boyd Logan, co-founders of Future School of Fort Smith, said, "Our team is on a mission to transform high school by being more responsive to kids while connecting them to the local economy. This CSP Subgrant will allow us to open more doors for more students, create additional capacity for educational leadership within our community, and help our local economy through building local talent."
The Future School of Fort Smith charter school's plans include adding ninth grade to what is currently a 10th-through-12th-grade school.
The subgrants are available on a competitive basis to support school planning and implementation.
Fort Smith Board
to meet Tuesday
FORT SMITH -- The Fort Smith Board of Directors will hold a regular meeting Tuesday, beginning at 6 p.m.
The meeting will be held at the Fort Smith Convention Center, 55 South Seventh St., Exhibit Hall A1 and A2. The meeting will be telecast at this link: https://ibm.co/3gASubs.
The agenda and agenda book are available at this link: https://bit.ly/3eJOmEr. Once the information on the webpage is downloaded, go to the link that has the Tuesday meeting listed, and click on "A" to access the agenda and agenda booklet.
School Board set
for meeting today
FORT SMITH -- The Fort Smith School Board will meet at 5:30 p.m. today at the Service Center Complex auditorium, 3205 Jenny Lind Road, as well as virtually for board members and Fort Smith School District staff.
The public will be able to watch the meeting using this YouTube link: https://youtu.be/QOoK6GK2h_w
The agenda can be accessed at this link: https://bit.ly/2M8TLbP.
District to return
to summer hours
FORT SMITH -- The Fort Smith School District will resume regular summer office hours beginning June 8.
The summer hours will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday until July 6. At that time, the district will resume Monday-Friday services for the public.
District employees who work over the summer will report to their traditional work locations so that the school system can resume full on-site services for employees and patrons.
Following guidance set by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, employees will be encouraged to wear face masks to and from their work stations. Also, they will be required to self -screen for a body temperature higher than 100.4 degrees and other covid-19 symptoms before their arrival each day. Thermometers and sanitizer will be available in each building.
The school district said it will continue to monitor and assess the situation due to covid-19 and make adjustments as necessary to make the work environment safe for employees and visitors.
State Desk on 06/01/2020