I'm not a lawyer. But I can read.
And Act 633 of the 94th General Assembly clearly states:
"(d) A public school district classified as in need of Level 5-Intensive support that demonstrates to the state board that the public school district meets the criteria established by the state board under subsection (c) of this section to exit Level 5 -Intensive support shall be returned to full local control as soon as:
"(1) The state board determines that the public school district meets the criteria established by the state board under subsection (c) of this section to exit Level 5-Intensive support, but in no case longer than five (5) years after the assumption of authority of the public school district; and [emphasis added]
"(2) A democratically elected public school district board of directors has been elected during a school election."
Citizens of Pine Bluff, by law, your district is not in "full local control."
Yes, on Sept. 15, the state Board of Education voted to return the Pine Bluff School District to "full local control." But it did so with the stipulation that Pine Bluff will not elect its school board as prescribed by law and precedent. Instead, it directed that full control would be given to an appointed board, and that the district would only hold an election for one board member in 2024, one in 2025, one in 2026, two in 2027, and two in 2028.
Here's the problem: The law says full local control requires that a board be elected in "a school election," not over five school elections.
This is what happens when the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) staff invites the Arkansas School Boards Association (ASBA), a private 501(c)4 advocacy group, to advise the appointed Pine Bluff board members on its proposal, which will keep most of them in power the longest without an election. You see, the ASBA is not run by former school board members, but by former school district administrators who believe boards should be rubber stamps for whatever the administration wants, instead of executing the will of the people the board members are sworn to represent.
The ASBA has long been the chief opponent of holding school board elections when most people vote, preferring low-turnout, odd-year elections, dominated by district employees. In other words, the opposite of Empowerment and Accountability--one-third of Arkansas LEARNS.
Just like all tyrants, those presenting argued that consistency of leadership was more important than representative government. For the record, Pine Bluff had over 30 members of the community apply to serve on its appointed board, to which seven were named.
If allowed to stand, the citizens of Pine Bluff will not have the opportunity to elect its full board for five years. It will not even elect a board majority for four years. When you add on the years of state control, that's a full decade without electing its entire board.
Further, because Pine Bluff is a zoned board, there will be a great disparity in the community between those members accountable to voters and those accountable only to themselves, the board's majority until 2027.
As for precedent, in November 2016, the Pulaski County Special and Helena-West Helena school districts were returned to local control by electing their entire seven-member boards. In November 2020, the Little Rock School District returned to local control by electing all nine of its members. In every case, the districts shattered voter-turnout records for school board elections.
Never in Arkansas history has "full local control" been returned to an appointed board without the requirement to hold all new elections in the next school election.
We are told that the ADE staff's tortured plan was not presented to members of the state board until they sat down for their Sept. 15 meeting. In public comments before the vote, many Pine Bluff citizens, including some who applied but were not appointed to the local school board, implored the state board to compel all-new elections.
Though the state board relies on the objective counsel of department staff, at no time did any ADE attorney raise the possibility of the proposal's illegality. To the contrary, the chief counsel, though not asked, inappropriately weighed in on the proposal. But when his statement was challenged by Jeff Wood, one of two attorneys on the board, he admitted he was wrong.
"State education board, secretary sued for denying elections" is not a headline anyone should want.
The only reasonable solution is for the state Board of Education to immediately expunge its vote and abide by the law. It could still return all power to the appointed board, then hold all-new elections in 2024, as the filing deadline for school board elections in 2023 has passed.
Then, the state board, with its own independent attorney, should investigate how and why the ADE staff, in concert with the Arkansas School Boards Association, put it, the secretary of Education, and the state of Arkansas in such legal peril.
When government denies elections for any reason, it will constantly come up with any reason to deny elections.
But in Arkansas and Pine Bluff, the people rule. Regnat Populus.
Gary Newton is the president and CEO of Arkansas Learns, the voice of consumers for student-focus, transparency, accountability, rewards, and choice in education. For more information, visit ArkansasLearns.org.