Ninth grade student Rylee Remington with, from left, middle school principal Michelle Price, high school principal Courtney Jones, mother Jennifer Remington, and superintendent Mary Ann Spears.
Striving for perfection!
With the beginning of another school year, I’m reminded of an article written by Joyce Meyer, “I’m Okay and I’m on my Way,” in which she states, “The expression ‘nobody’s perfect’ is used or heard almost every day, but it’s true – I’m not perfect; you’re not perfect; nobody’s perfect. Hopefully, though, we’re all getting better and are on our way to perfection. The important thing to remember is that even though we’re not yet perfect, we’re still okay. Just because we haven’t arrived yet doesn’t mean that we’re not on our way.”
Those words contain a great message that can be truly relevant as related to our schools. As board members, we have an awesome responsibility to ensure our students have the necessary tools, resources and environment so they can continue to learn, grow, and dream. There are many major issues facing our students: school safety, bullying, hunger
by Debbie Ugbade ASBA President
and homelessness, and so many more. There are also many positive choices and opportunities for learning that are paving the way for our students to become whoever and whatever they aspire to be.
In my local district, we are revising the mission statement, vision, and collective commitments for our district. We
have been taking a hard look regarding why we do what we do, as well as asking ourselves where we see our district in the future. What we do, we do for the students; we see our schools continuing to get better; and we are on our way.
As school board members, we may not be perfect, but we should ask ourselves, “What are we doing in our local schools to inspire others?” The upcoming 2018 ASBA Annual Conference is a great way to share the most innovative and successful programs happening in our schools. This is a great way to learn from each other and gather ideas that can be used in other schools.
The conference will be held at the Marriot Hotel and Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock December 5-7. Visit arsba.org for more information on the conference as well as how to submit a presentation proposal. I hope to see you all there!
SCHOOLS FOR OVER
18 Rylee Remington is being homeschooled, but his parents also want to take advantage of school offerings like sports and extracurricular activities.
Using a seat time waiver, the Lincoln School District opens its doors to homeschooled students at their convenience and on their timetables.
Cover / Lincoln: A home for homeschoolers 10
With 86 percent of districts choosing May elections, ASBA moves its New Board Member Institute to June while planning a second December event.
Sessions hears one district’s story
U.S. attorney general says there’s “no one-size-fits-all solution” to prevent school shootings; visits to Lake Hamilton to hear it describe its policy of arming staff members. June NBMI: Same truths,
The Lincoln School District took advantage of an Act 1240 seat time waiver to let homeschooled students take classes while getting help and additional resources from school. The student gets a better education. The district gets the state foundation funding.
ASBA News and notes
ASBA introduces new Fall Institute in Fayetteville
ASBA is introducing a new training opportunity for school board members: the ASBA Fall Leadership Institute Oct. 26 at the Chancellor Hotel just off the square in downtown Fayetteville.
Topics will include stakeholder engagement, the Every Student Succeeds Act, legal boundaries of board members, and sexual misconduct in the workplace. Sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. Attendees are asked to bring a copy of their district’s latest ESSA school index reports, or an electronic device so they may access the reports at the My School Info website. School board members will earn six hours of boardsmanship training credit for attending.
The registration fee is $175 per person ($275 non-member) through Oct. 12, and $195 ($295 non-member) afterwards. This fee includes continental breakfast and lunch.
Visit the Fall Leadership Institute registration page on ASBA’s website, arsba. org, to sign up.
Rooms are available for a special rate of $89 per night for either a single or double room at the Chancellor Hotel through Oct. 5. Rooms can be reserved online or by calling 479.442.5555 and referencing the Arkansas School Boards Association.
If you have specific questions about the institute or training opportunities, please contact Dr. Anne Butcher, ASBA board development director, at abutcher@arsba.org. For questions about registration, please contact Kathy Ivy, ASBA bookkeeper, at kivy@arsba.org.
by Dr. Tony Prothro
Letter from the Executive Director
The importance of a balanced curriculum
School districts have made a concentrated effort in the last couple of decades to prepare students for college. That focus has been a worthy national and state goal that carries accountability for schools’ performance.
During my tenure as an administrator at the high school and district level, I have been well acquainted with students who had no desire to pursue a college degree. Many of these students may have had the aptitude to do so, but they did not possess the desire or interest to be a part of the higher education scene. It seemed we were leaving many of these students unprepared for the workforce when they did not fit into the college degree curriculum. Many worthwhile vocations are rewarding both intrinsically and monetarily. We all know that many vocational jobs (plumbing, HVAC, electrical, medical, technology, etc.) have pay scales that surpass many college degree professions.
Thankfully, education has taken a different approach in recent years with a renewed focus on a more balanced curriculum. Educators, local legislators, and stakeholders have all seen a need for preparing students for a diverse workforce that may not require a college degree. Arkansas should be applauded for its renewed efforts through legisla-
tively enacted bills, workforce education efforts, and aligning curricula to enable students to more readily access highpaying career and technical vocations. The state has taken on the mission to meet the needs and desires of all students while simultaneously providing for a better transition into a productive workforce.
The federal government has also recently made strides in career and technical education. On July 31, 2018, the President signed the Strengthening Career and Technical Education for the 21st Century Act into law. This bill reauthorizes the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006. The reauthorized act creates greater alignment with other initiatives to leverage more collaborative partnerships with increased apprenticeships and other forms of work-based learning. We should applaud and thank our federal lawmakers for this educational support.
So what does this mean for today’s schools? Administrators, board members and other stakeholders need to assess their schools’ curriculum. We need to assure that students have a strong base of learning that is complemented with curriculum choices to match their needs and interests – to include both college and career technical pathways.
The Journal of The arkansas school Boards associaTion
Vol. 11, Number 3 September 2018
P.O. Box 165460 / Little Rock, AR 72216
Telephone: 501-372-1415 / 800-482-1212
Fax: 501-375-2454
E-mail: arsba@arsba.org / www.arsba.org
Board of Directors
President: Debbie Ugbade, Hot Springs
President-elect: Neal Pendergrass, Mtn. Home
Vice President: Randy Goodnight, Greenbrier
Sec.-Treasurer: Rosa Bowman, Ashdown
Past President: Sandra Porter, Bryant
Region 1: Jerry Coyle, Prairie Grove
Region 2: Randy Rogers, Lead Hill
Region 3: Dr. Tad Margolis, Valley View
Region 4: Kyle Cannon, Mena
Region 5: Allan George, Russellville
Region 6: Keith Baker, Riverview
Region 7: D’James Rogers, West Memphis
Region 8: André Acklin, Conway
Region 9: Joey Astin, Forrest City
Region 10: Mark Curry, Lake Hamilton
Region 11:Jeff Lisenbey, Sheridan
Region 12: Willie Buck, Hope
Region 13: Mike Waters, Magnolia
Region 14: Katie Daniel, McGehee
Staff
Executive Director: Dr. Tony Prothro
Communications Director: Jennifer George
Member Services Director: Abby Cress
Administrative Assistant: Angela Ellis
Board Development Director: Dr. Anne Butcher
Advocacy Director: Boyce Watkins
Staff Attorney: Kristen Garner
Policy Director: Lucas Harder
TIPS-TAPS Project Manager: Mickey McFatridge
Finance Director: Deborah Newell
Administrative Assistant: Tina Cates
Bookkeeper: Kathy Ivy
Risk Management Program & Workers’ Comp. Program:
Shannon Moore, Director
Krista Glover
Amanda Blair
Dwayne McAnally
Ashley Samuels
Jennifer Shook
Misty Thompson
Melody Tipton
Tiffany Malone
LaVerne Witherspoon
General Counsel: Jay Bequette
TO CONTACT THE MAGAZINE
Please contact Steve Brawner, Editor
501.794.2012 brawnersteve@mac.com
Report Card is published quarterly by the Arkansas School Boards Association. Copyright 2018 by the Arkansas School Boards Association and Steve Brawner Communications. All rights reserved.
Dates, districts set for ASBA fall regional meetings
Dates have been set for this year’s ASBA’s fall regional meetings Oct. 4Nov. 6.
Check-in begins at 5:30 p.m. each evening, dinner will be served at 6 p.m., and the meetings will end at 8:30 p.m.
Board members earn three hours of training credit for attending. Those who have earned at least 25 hours of boardsmanship training credit are recognized as Outstanding Board Members. ASBA Board of Directors elections are conducted in regions where a board member’s term has ended. Board members who cannot attend the meeting scheduled in their region may attend any of the others.
Dates, host districts and locations are as follows.
Region 1: Oct. 4; Prairie Grove School District; Prairie Grove High School
Region 2: Oct. 18; Lead Hill School District; Building B, Lead Hill School Cafeteria
Region 3: Oct. 16; Pocahontas School District; Pocahontas Junior High School
Region 4: Nov. 1; Mena School District; Mena High School Performing Arts Center
Region 5: Oct. 9; South Conway County School District; Morrilton High School Cafeteria
Region 6: Oct. 23; Bald Knob School District; Administrative Building
Region 7: Oct. 15; Truman School District; Truman Elementary
Region 8: Oct. 30; North Little Rock School District; North Little Rock High School Library
Region 9: Nov. 1; Helena/West Helena School District; Eliza Miller Building, J.F. Wahl Campus
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Region 10: Nov. 8; Hot SpringsLakeside School District; Lakeside High School
Region 11: Oct. 29; Watson Chapel School District; Watson Chapel High School Cafeteria
Region 12: Nov. 5; DeQueen School District; DeQueen High School Cafeteria
Region 13: Oct. 29; Bearden School District; District Cafeteria
Region 14: Oct. 30; Crossett School District; Crossett High School
Detailed meeting information and registration links are posted at asba’s website, arsba.org.
Proposals sought for Conference breakouts
ASBA is seeking presentation proposals from school district personnel, school board members and other organizations for breakout sessions at the 65th Annual Conference Dec. 5-7.
ASBA’s goal is for all conference participants to leave this event empowered with new ideas, information, and skills that will improve outcomes for students. This year’s conference theme is Student-Focused Leadership.
Proposals should target board members as the primary audience; enhance their skills with an emphasis on improving student outcomes; share promising strategies and practices that can be replicated by other districts of all sizes; and provide solid, practical, how-to information and tips that board members can take back and apply at the board table. Presentations should include a school board member as a participant, but it is not required.
ASBA is seeking presentations related to the following categories:
• Student Achievement. Presentations will center around the implementation of unique practices that have a positive
Pro administrators
ASBA’s Workshop for Administrative Professionals trained 61 administrative assistants, school secretaries, bookkeepers and others whose job duties intersect with their school boards. The annual event was June 21 at the Hot Springs Convention Center and coincided with the New Board Member Institute held just down the hall. Training that day included “Keeping Your Boss and District in the Right Lane”; “How to Help Your Superintendent by Learning How to Handle Difficult People”; and “Board Election Changes.” Next year’s event will be at the same location on June 24, 2019.
impact on student achievement. This track offers an opportunity for districts to celebrate their successes with a “we did it and so can you” approach.
• Governance and Leadership This category includes facets of board leadership and governance principles including topics such as advocating earnestly, leading responsibly, governing effectively, planning thoughtfully, evaluating continuously, communicating clearly, and acting ethically.
• Advocacy. This category focuses on how advocacy makes a difference both in your community and in the legislative process. Attendees will learn skills to become more effective advocates for public education as well as how to organize at the grassroots and legislative levels.
• Technology. This category demonstrates how a district can best utilize technology for learning and leadership.
• Finance. Sessions in this category will show how districts allocate resources to support their mission and goals. This track can include solutions for better budgeting, financial issues affecting school districts, and practical advice on surviving difficult economic times.
• Legal Issues. Presentations here will focus on legal issues including laws and regulations, best practices, ethical issues, court decisions, and hot topics.
• Stakeholder Involvement Presentations will focus on processes and activities used to increase involvement and collaboration with parents, families, educators and communities to enhance school and student success.
Visit the ASBA session proposal form at asba’s website, arsba.org, to submit a proposal. All session proposals must be submitted by Friday, Oct. 12.
Four named semifinalists for Teacher of the Year
Four teachers were named the 2019 Arkansas Teacher of the Year state semi-finalists Aug. 16 at the Governor’s Mansion.
The teachers were Chrystal Burkes, a third grade literacy teacher at Parkway Elementary School in the Bryant School District; Stacey McAdoo, a grades 9-12 AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) and communication instructor at Little Rock Central High School; Vanessa Stewart, a fourth grade teacher at Monitor Elementary School in the Springdale School District; and Candace Wilson, an eighth grade science teacher at Sheridan Junior High School.
The four state semi-finalists were chosen from among the 14 regional finalists, who were recognized at the ceremony. A selection committee conducts site visits that will include classroom observations and interviews with the semi-finalists and school administrators. The Teacher of the Year will be announced later this fall.
The semi-finalists received a medallion and certificate and a $1,000 award sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation.
The awards were presented by Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Education Commissioner Johnny Key.
FOCUSED ON
HONORED TEACHERS. Pictured left to right are Gov. Asa Hutchinson, Candace Wilson of Sheridan, Chrystal Burkes of Bryant, Vanessa Stewart of Springdale, Stacey McAdoo of Little Rock, and Education Commissioner Johnny Key. Photo courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Education.
Regional finalists this year were Renée Bailey, Magnolia; Jennifer Biggers, Walnut Ridge; Juanita Harris, Texarkana; Heather Hite, McCrory; Marcus Luther, Wynne; Rob Plant, Mineral Springs; Liz Richey, Hermitage; Blair Rogers, West Memphis; Margie Towery, Greenbrier; and Erica Walters, Alma. COMMITTED TO YOUR
June NBMI: Same truths, new faces
With 86 percent of districts choosing May elections, ASBA moves its New Board Member Institute to June while planning second December event
The moving of most school board elections this year to May meant ASBA needed to move its New Board Member Institute to June, plus plan a second training session for December.
So far, so good.
“I think it was very successful,” said ASBA Executive Director Dr. Tony Prothro of the NBMI, which was held June 21 in Hot Springs. “We were really worried about attendance due to the fact that it was in the summer months when families are so busy. However, the turnout was better than expected, and the participants gave us good feedback on the quality of the conference.”
Lawmakers in 2017 voted to move school board elections from September, with districts given the choice of
Winner of the Architectural League of New York’s 2018
timing them to coincide with May party primaries or November general elections starting this year. Out of 235 districts currently holding elections, 202, or 86 percent, chose May while 33 chose November.
Despite occurring in the middle of the busy summer season, the June event attracted 186 registrants, including 79 newly elected school board members. A New Board Member Boot Camp will be held Dec. 5 alongside the Annual Conference for new board members who were unable to attend the June meeting and for those who will be elected in November.
This year’s NBMI included familiar topics for those who have attended the events in the past, including the role of the school board, school finance, and the Freedom of Information Act.
But unlike in the past, this year’s speakers included a school board member and superintendent who were relatively new to their positions. Eric White is a Bentonville School Board member in his third year of service. Wonderview Superintendent Jamie Stacks recently completed her first year in that position, though she previously served as a superintendent in Alaska and before that served on the South Side Bee Branch School Board.
Those choices were no accident. Prothro said organizers wanted fresh speakers who could relate to the new board members. And while White and Stacks are new to their positions, they had already impressed ASBA staff with their dedication to service and dynamic speaking skills. Dr. Anne Butcher, ASBA’s board development director,
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION. Attorney Cody Kees explains the state’s Freedom of Information Act while attorney Jay Bequette listens.
said Stacks had presented a three-hour preconference session at last year’s Annual Conference. White had quizzed Prothro, Butcher and veteran board
BENTONVILLE SCHOOL BOARD member
Eric White shares some of his insights gained in less than three years of board service. ASBA’s organizers wanted a relatively new board member who could relate to the newly elected ones, and White previously had impressed them with his dynamism and dedication to improvement.
members about how to be a better public servant. “We knew his personal experience, enthusiasm, and communication skills would be well received – and they were!” she said.
White: Focus on results
During his presentation, White described the duties of school board members, which include setting the district’s mission and direction, hiring and evaluating the superintendent, and making and following policies. He encouraged attendees to stay focused on the results, not the process. Fixing problems is the superintendent’s job.
“If you only asked this question in every board meeting, you’d be doing it right, and that is, ‘How are we progressing in improving our academics in our school district?’” he said.
White said that when he first was elected, he believed he had a mandate from the voters after a competitive campaign, but he learned that he represents the entire district. Asked about his greatest failure that taught him the most, he pointed to a disagreement with another board member over whether district funds could justifiably be used for an athletic facility. Without describing the dispute in detail, he said he was disappointed in his own reaction.
White related how his district had handled the March 14 March for Life where students across the United States walked out of class for 17 minutes to protest gun violence in schools. Bentonville, like other districts, had to decide how to react to an issue that was con-
Continued on next page
troversial in the community. Should the school support a protest with gun control undertones? Because it was going to happen anyway, the district decided to ensure the students were safe while leaning on its policy of marking absent any student not in class for 10 minutes.
“The middle does not house the majority of people,” he said. “The middle in a decision like that housed the fewest amount of people. There were people on both sides of that fence. The community backlash … was strong. There wasn’t, like, people knocking on my door, but I got a ton of emails about it, and so you’ll face those decisions going forward.”
He advised board members to work closely with their superintendents on those issues. Rely on policy, he later said.
“Your meeting is driven from an agenda. Your conduct is driven from policy,” he said. “If you’re outside of policy, you have to ask yourself, ‘Do I need a policy, or do I need to not do what I’m doing?’ Because it’s one or the other. You shouldn’t do things that are outside of policy. You should stop and say, ‘Does our policy need to be rewritten?’ – i.e., does Bentonville’s policy need to be if you miss class more than 10 minutes, you (are marked) absent?
That’s the question. Not whether or not we enforce the policy.”
In response to a question about expulsion and employment hearings, White encouraged board members to “Remember how it got there.” With regard to an expulsion, an assistant or a dean decided on a punishment, the principal agreed, a higher level administrator affirmed that decision, and ultimately the superintendent agreed. By the time the board is hearing the case, multiple school employees have approved the decision. One sophomore student who had never been in trouble obtained drugs from a dealer at school and didn’t know what to do with them, so he called his mother. She came to school and informed the principal that her son had the drugs, which led to his expulsion. It was a tough vote, but White based his on the fact that the decision had traveled up the chain and had been affirmed by all concerned.
board packets already read. He encouraged board members to “pull back from social media” and remember that they can’t separate their school district from their online persona. Even “liking” an inflammatory post can lead to trouble. And he warned board members not to make unannounced visits to a school to check on an issue. Instead, they should work through the superintendent. Otherwise, they become a “gotcha board member.”
For the Lincoln School Board’s Tera Thompson, the NBMI was a chance to reinforce some of the lessons she’s already learned since being appointed last October and being elected in May. White’s speech rang true to her.
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Among his other insights, White said board meetings are private meetings held in public. While board members may feel like they are on a stage, the meeting is for them and the superintendent. In Bentonville, members of the public may speak at the beginning of a meeting for three minutes but are not allowed to speak afterwards. He also encouraged them to be prepared with For more information
“I wish I would have heard those things when I got on the school board,” she said. “The first meeting, I had no clue what I was doing.”
A nurse practitioner, she’s learned that you never stop being a school board member; she’s had to respond to questions about school business while performing an examination. She’s learning how to deflect complaints about coaches and teach patrons about using the school district’s proper chain of command.
Find the money for priorities
Wonderview’s Stacks told attendees that a budget reflects an organization’s values and culture and keeps it “relatively on track.” She said new school board members should consider questioning last year’s financial performance, personnel requirements, and growth or declines in property taxes. Her district, for example, is seeing a $185,000 assessment drop because of a loss of value in the Fayetteville shale area. She warned board members to avoid overstaffing, which can land the district in fiscal distress quickly. While isolated numbers are meaningless, trend data is the most important, with the most important number being the unrestricted legal balance.
LINCOLN SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER Tera Thompson was appointed in October and elected in May.
“All your numbers lead to this one, and every number impacts this number,” she said.
Stacks said schools must make do with scarce resources, but if something is a priority, the money ultimately can be found. She referenced a comment by Dr. Greg Murry, Conway superintendent, who said he can look at a person’s checkbook and calendar and know their priorities. The same is true of a school’s finances.
“Don’t use that as an excuse or even as an obstacle for you if you have something your kids need, your students need. Don’t use that as an out,” she said.
Arkansas’ FOIA far-reaching
Attorneys Jay Bequette and Cody Kees with the Bequette, Billingsley & Kees law firm provided an overview of the state’s Freedom of Information Act and open meetings. Bequette serves as ASBA’s general counsel.
Kees called Arkansas’ law one of the country’s most far-reaching. Any public record of a school function is subject to FOIA, and there is no time limit for how far back in history a request can be made, as long as the record exists in storage or on electronic devices. Text messages are subject to disclosure, even on a personal phone, if related to school business. There is no attorney-client privilege unless a matter is involved in litigation. School districts cannot refuse a duplicate request or one based on impure motives. They cannot ask why the request is being made, although they can ask for clarification in order to expedite compliance. Parents can obtain any official education record concerning their own child, and one divorced parent can’t veto the other parent’s request.
Because of the law, Bequette said the only email or letter he would send would be one he would feel comfortable appearing above the fold on the front page of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Kees said school districts should take literally the law’s requirement that they can charge the requester only for the actual cost of reproduction, not the cost of labor. One “serial FOIA requestor” determined through multiple requests that it only cost the district 6 cents to reproduce a page, but it was charging
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15 cents. Now, he’s suing the district for violating the act.
Bequette said FOIA lawsuits are becoming more common. He’s been involved in this area of the law 30 years and until the last three or four hadn’t seen any lawsuits. In the past few years, however, there have been five or six –typically bloggers and activists.
There are limits. The law applies only to Arkansas citizens, so any request from out of state can be ignored. Job evaluation records are not subject to FOIA, and documents that don’t already exist don’t have to be created. Student records are exempt because of federal law. Personnel records are exempt when they constitute a performance or evaluation record, or when releasing them would be an invasion of privacy, such as Social Security numbers, phone numbers and addresses. Vendors’ confidential or proprietary information is also exempt.
The NBMI concluded with a series of role-playing exercises. In one, Sheridan School Board member and ASBA Region 11 Director Jeff Lisenbey played a board member arriving late and obviously unprepared as he opened his packet. In another, a discussion about closing an elementary school veered off course when a district patron portrayed by Cutter Morning Star Superintendent Nancy Anderson complained about the cheerleading coach.
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Stacks discusses school finance during a New Board Member Institute session.
Sessions hears one district’s story
U.S. attorney general says, ‘No
one-size-fits-all solution’
to school shootings; Lake Hamilton describes policy of arming staff members
“The fundamental duty of government is to keep its people safe, and that includes our most precious citizens, of course. That’s our children.”
That comment was in the opening statement made by U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions at Lake Hamilton High School Aug. 1 as part of a series of field visits by the Federal Commission on School Safety.
President Trump created the commission in March after the February school shooting in Parkland, Florida, where a student killed 17 students and faculty members. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s website, it is tasked with “quickly providing meaningful and actionable recommendations to keep students safe at school.” It is chaired by
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and also includes Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Kirstjen Neilsen, secretary of Homeland Security.
“We want to make sure that no child lives in fear, no parents are in fear for
their children at school,” Sessions said. “And (President Trump) knows that to make that happen, we have to listen to the men and women who’ve committed their lives to achieving that goal. That is what we’re about today.”
DeVos, Azar and Neilsen did not attend the Lake Hamilton event, but their departments were represented by other officials. Gov. Asa Hutchinson and U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman also participated, as did two sets of panelists. The field visit lasted more than two hours.
Since 1993, Lake Hamilton has implemented a policy of arming staff members. Superintendent Steve Anderson said he became licensed as a commissioned security officer in 2006 and then changed that designation in 2015 after Arkansas created a statewide commissioned school security officer program. Commissioned school security officers undergo 60 hours of initial training and then 24 hours of additional training annually. Anderson said teach-
HIGH-LEVEL DISCUSSION. Top photo, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, left, speaks while U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Dr. Mick Zais, center, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson listen. Below, Lake Hamilton Superintendent Steve Anderson reviewed his district’s commissioned school security officer program. The district has been arming school personnel since 1993 but does not arm teachers or principals.
ers and principals are not among the armed personnel.
“We know we’re not United States Navy Seals,” he said. “We know we’re not professional law enforcement officers. But by golly, we’re a long ways from Barney Fife, too, and we’re willing to do whatever it takes to protect our babies.”
Lake Hamilton is the 20th largest school district in Arkansas, but Anderson said the last two sheriffs have told him the school could expect 20-30 minutes of wait time before deputies could arrive in an active shooter situation.
“There was a time when I said that our number one goal at Lake Hamilton was to provide a very strong academic experience for our children,” he said. “That is still very important, but unfortunately after having to attend the funerals of some of our kiddos, I understood very quickly that our responsibility first and foremost was to take care of the children of our patrons, and we take that very seriously. As a young … school teacher 38 years ago, as a history teacher and a coach, I would have stood up and argued with you that there should never be anyone in the public schools armed, and that included law enforcement officers. … My views changed. Changed drastically.”
A survey of teachers at the school found 98 percent of teachers supported the policy. Another survey of patrons a couple of years ago reflected 80 per-
cent support. Karl Koonce, a longtime teacher and track and field coach, expressed support for the program, as did middle school teacher Mandy Hopkins. School board member Mark Curry said he receives many inquiries from patrons about various issues such as who makes the cheerleading squad, but no patron had ever complained about the policy.
Sounding a note of caution was Dr. Jay Barth, chairman of the Arkansas State Board of Education, who said, “While this program is so thoughtful, so responsible in terms of arming some personnel on campus, I do think there is a line when it comes to classroom teachers and arming classroom teachers.”
Barth said arming personnel will not necessarily solve the problem. He pointed to the school shooting in Parkland, where an armed professional law enforcement officer failed to engage the shooter. Educators and policymakers also must focus on prevention and mental health, and Arkansas has a shortage of school counselors, he said. A Hendrix College professor, he said student instruction requires 100 percent of a teacher’s attention.
“I do think that taking on that role of physical protector of students does change one’s mindset as a teacher and does alter that relationship in a way that I think is problematic,” he said.
Jami Cook, director of the Arkansas Commission on Law Enforcement Standards and Training, said the state
faces a critical shortage of law enforcement officers. Pay is low, and officers are asked to do more and more, she said. It’s hard to recruit and retain officers, and turnover is high. She said one chief of a law enforcement agency in south Arkansas had a vacancy for a year that had attracted zero qualified applicants.
“So while the idea of having (school resource officers) in every school is great in theory, I don’t know how realistic that is because the turnover’s too high,” she said. “We have to have options. We have to have other ways to secure and protect our children. Law enforcement cannot do that alone.”
The state is engaged in its own process for developing best practices with the help of the Arkansas School Safety Commission, which Hutchinson appointed after the Parkland shooting.
Hutchinson said 66 percent of Arkansas districts have a school resource officer, which means many don’t. Moreover, schools need “layered” school security. He pointed to Bentonville, where a room is set aside for officers to complete their paperwork, encouraging an extra presence during the day. Hutchinson said districts must create their own polices based on factors such a district’s culture and school architecture.
Sessions also emphasized the need for local decision making.
“I think one of the things we’ve really learned is, is no one-size-fits-all solution can prevent school shootings,” he said.
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WITH A CREATIVE APPROACH, STEPHENS HELPS FORT SMITH GET
THE COMMUNITY BEHIND A LARGE INVESTMENT IN ITS EDUCATION.
Not since 1987 has the Fort Smith School District benefited from a citizen-voted millage increase to fund capital improvements. As a result, the average age of school facilities in the district is 63 years old. Addressing the infrastructure with additional millage would require the approval of voters. In order to receive their assent, civic leaders took extraordinary measures to receive the community’s buy-in, a plan that required considerable financial analysis from a seasoned public financing partner.
With deep experience in and knowledge of educationrelated bond financing, Stephens Public Finance was able to help district leaders specially tailor decisions on specific projects. This would allow the district to present to voters a thoughtful ballot issue with the best chance of success to pass and enhance the area’s public education – a school system that comprises 26 public schools, including 19 elementary schools, with some 14,000 students.
Normally, when a district comes to Stephens with funding needs for capital improvements, the request comes in the form of a list of projects composing a single total cost that is assigned a millage rate, explains Kevin Faught, Senior Vice President of Stephens Public Finance. But in the case of the Fort Smith School District’s recent litany of projects, each received an individual analysis and its own millage rate. The detailed attention given to all the possible improvements was the result of the district’s 57-person citizen committee established to make recommendations to the school board on which projects to tackle and prioritize.
With a decades-long relationship, Stephens and the Fort Smith School District had begun discussing the initiative back in late 2016, with the work beginning in earnest in January this year to be ready for a May vote. “It was quite an undertaking,” Faught said. “We started with about 30 different projects to assign a millage rate, and there were multiple iterations. Typically that analysis is not all that
complicated, but when you take into account all that the district required, it became complicated.”
Throughout the process, Stephens worked closely with Fort Smith’s seven-person school board as well as Superintendent Dr. Doug Brubaker, Chief Financial Officer Charles Warren and Deputy Superintendent Dr. Terry Morawski.
We are happy to get creative and roll up our sleeves for the client’s benefit.
Likewise, the citizen committee put forward considerable effort to give each project its due attention, logging more than 900 collective hours evaluating the different possibilities. “It is unusual to have a bond initiative like this where so many citizens are involved,” Faught said. “The committee pulled in civic leaders, parents, folks from a lot of different backgrounds. Their approach went a long way in securing the community’s buy-in. This was a really good way to go about it, even if it did require a lot of work on our end. We are happy to get creative and roll up our sleeves for the client’s benefit.”
The citizen committee made its recommendations to the school board, who with the help of Stephens wrote the ballot initiative, which went to Sebastian County voters in May. With 63 percent of the total voting yes, voters approved $121 million in school bonds, which received an Aa2 rating from Moody’s.
The district will first issue $90 million of those approved bonds to fund school security upgrades, enclose open classrooms at four elementary schools, renovate and make additions at a junior high school and the district’s two high schools, and develop a career and technology center at an existing facility.
With student safety in mind, secure entries and additional exterior lighting will be added to Barling, Cook, Morris and Woods Elementary schools, along with Americans with Disabilities Act improvements, totaling more than $10 million. Construction is planned to begin early next year and be completed in the 2019-2020 school year.
Likewise, Darby Junior High will receive security upgrades in the form of a secure entry, fencing and the enclosing of outdoor hallways and lockers. Second- and third-floor classrooms in the school’s main building will also be renovated. Construction on nearly $10 million in improvements is targeted to begin early next year and planned to be completed by the third quarter of 2020.
At the district’s two high schools, Fort Smith Northside and Fort Smith Southside, upgrades include secure entries and front offices, cafeteria and kitchen improvements, classroom and media room remodels and additions, new centers for ninth-graders, and the addition of four storm shelters, two for each school. (Infamously, in 1898 the town was completely devastated by a tornado that killed 55 and injured more than 100 while nearly destroying its newly built high school, which was barely a year old.) The construction work, totaling nearly $50 million, is planned to commence during the 2019-2020 school year with an eye
to a late 2021 completion. Another $29 million has been earmarked to provide each of the high schools with 2,500seat gymnasiums, large enough for school assemblies, athletic tournaments and special events, as well as new locker rooms.
An existing district facility will see $13.7 million in renovations for a new career and technology center, with specialized lab spaces and classrooms for health care, information technology, manufacturing and other programs. It will provide an education that caters to some of the area’s largest employers, including Sparks Health Systems (2,200 employees) and Mercy Medical (about 1,500 employees), as well as Baldor Electric Company (1,800 employees) and Rheem Manufacturing (700 employees).
The community’s investment in public education mirrors Stephens’ own. The firm has been serving public finance clients in the state since 1933, emphasizing a high level of integrity and sustained success. Decades of long-term relationships, putting clients’ interests first and providing unparalleled expertise have made Stephens an ideal partner for the state’s school districts – a partner with a vested interest in education excellence in Arkansas, the place the firm has always called home.
Kevin Faught Senior Vice President (479) 718-7444 kfaught@stephens.com
FOR EVERY CLASS a homeschooled student takes, school districts receive one-sixth of the state foundation funding they would receive for full-time students. Homeschooler Rylee Remington took Algebra I at home in the eighth grade last year through Virtual Arkansas but came to the school whenever he needed help with a lesson. Because of a seat time waiver, the school district still receives the state funding. With him from left are middle school principal Michelle Price, high school principal Courtney Jones, Rylee’s mother, Jennifer Remington, and superintendent Mary Ann Spears.
Lincoln: A home for homeschoolers
The Lincoln School District took advantage of an Act 1240 seat time waiver to let homeschooled students take classes from home and come in and out of the classroom whenever they need help or additional resources. The student gets a better education. The district gets the state foundation funding.
By Steve Brawner Editor
Many towns in Arkansas have public school and homeschooled students. In Lincoln, some of them are both.
The Northwest Arkansas school district on the Oklahoma border welcomes homeschooled students who can take public school classes at home and then
walk through the schoolhouse doors when they need extra instruction or want to participate in extracurricular activities.
The arrangement came about as a result of an Act 1240 waiver obtained by the school district in 2016. Those waivers, created by 2015 legislation, allow public schools to obtain the same flexibility as charter schools. Lincoln received a seat time waiver that it used to start an online program. It started at the high school and now can include students as young as the fourth grade. The district provides students with a laptop, and they can take public school courses at home that are supplemented with whatever help and tutoring they need at school. Then they take state tests through the school.
“They can choose to be completely online and never set foot on our campus, or … we’ve had some that want to be in band or want to be part of our chess club or want to be in athletics, or maybe come up and take an art class,”
Superintendent Mary Ann Spears said. “They can choose, and we personalize it. We’re trying to do that with all of our students anyway. The whole point of getting these waivers was to do a more personalized education and better serve our students.”
The arrangement is a win-win for homeschooling families and for school districts.
For families, it enables them to continue their education primarily at home while they take advantage of the school district’s resources and expertise –
which, after all, the families have helped fund through their tax dollars.
“I think that one important piece of this is, and what the parents have talked to me about, is the fact that they can come and go on the high school campus as they want and as they please,”
Lincoln High School principal Courtney Jones said. “So if a kid gets stuck in geometry, they can come in, sign in to the office and go to the teacher and get help. If they want to come in for an hour a day and just work, they can do that, and we want it to be like that for those kids.”
Where the money comes from
The district, meanwhile, receives state funding in proportion to the stu-
– Mary Ann Spears, superintendent
dent’s use of public school resources. Act 173 of 2017 codified into law that for each class homeschooled students take, the district receives one-sixth of the foundation funding they would receive for a full-time student.
The law allows public schools to set their own policies regarding homeschoolers and does not require districts to enroll them.
Actually, schools could access state funding before that law was passed thanks to two commissioner’s memos sent in 1999-2000 by Education Commissioner Ray Simon, said Lisa Crook. Crook served 10 years as the Arkansas Department of Education’s homeschool program administrator and since 2015
has been director of the Education Alliance, which advocates on behalf of homeschooling families.
Crook said more and more districts are open to that arrangement. Likewise, Stacy Smith, the current ADE assistant commissioner for learning services, said districts have tried in recent years to be more inclusive of homeschoolers.
In the 2017-18 school year, 20,360 Arkansas students were homeschooled, which Smith said has been a typical amount in recent years. Crook said families are choosing homeschooling for a variety of reasons.
“Probably 20 or 30 years ago, most people homeschooled for a religious
Continued on next page
Lincoln Homeschoolers
purpose, and we still see that today. … But as time evolved, I started seeing more reasons of circumstance,” she said. “And sometimes that has been bullying, it’s been small children having to ride a bus at six o’clock in the morning on small, rural country roads. It’s been jobs. The father may work out of state three or four months. Mom goes with him. It’s just changed over the years.”
Lincoln has about 1,160 students, including 475 in high school and 370 in middle school. One year more than 80 students who lived in the district were being educated at home, but now it’s closer to 50. Jones said about 20 high school-aged students do some kind of blended learning, where they are doing much of their work at home and then coming into the school for one reason or another – often theater, the arts, athletics and other extracurricular activities. Some students don’t come into the school at all except to take exams. One student who had homeschooled for years
is returning as a full-time public school student.
“They can take every single course that they want to with us and still not be on our campus, and we would get all of their funding,” Jones said.
Middle school principal Michelle Price said her school had about five or six students participate in the program last year, the first time it was available at those grade levels.
The classes that have attracted the most interest have varied depending on the school. For high school students, it’s the core classes and extracurricular activities. Middle school students, on the other hand, so far have taken core classes at home and then do extracurricular activities with the school – art, P.E., chess, etc.
The district doesn’t get funding when a student participates in an extracurricular activity, but it serves those students regardless of how many classes they take at school.
“We just feel like we have an obligation to serve all kids K-12 in our district no matter what their plan or choices are,” Spears said. “If we can provide something, anything, if it’s just athletics … we want to be a good partner to our community and do what’s best for any child in our care.”
So far, no conflicts
So far, there haven’t been conflicts over potentially objectionable material, such as evolution, certain works of literature, or certain lessons from American history. The district always works with parents who have an objection about material regardless. Nor have there been major cultural conflicts between public school and homeschooled students, administrators said.
“We just work with our kids. And our parents,” Jones said.
Spears said the line between public education and homeschooling is being blurred anyway, and that education is
becoming more personalized. Price said schools are moving toward empowering students to learn to teach themselves.
“The resources are there for kids to do that,” the middle school principal said. “We just want to be there to support them as they’re going through that journey. So however we have to scaffold for them, we want kids to start to learn how to teach themselves those types of things, because it’s there for them.”
The ADE’s Smith said other public schools in Arkansas are opening their doors to homeschooled students. Some students participate in class digitally through online learning tools.
“It really becomes very specific to the school and the way they set up the manner in which they deliver instruction,” she said.
Act 863, also passed in 2017, requires public schools to give homeschoolers
his parents also want to take advantage of public school offerings like sports and extracurricular activities.
the same rights and privileges as public school students and prevents schools from denying appropriate class credits. Requirements for admission include a transcript listing courses and grades. Smith said public schools and homeschooling families work in partnership. If a homeschooling family wants to access public education, it’s the parent’s responsibility to provide documentation proving the student has completed the
RYLEE REMINGTON is pictured with high school principal Courtney Jones and mother Jennifer Remington. Rylee and his sisters are homeschooled, but
Lincoln Homeschoolers
necessary coursework and earned class credit. The burden of proof is on the student’s family. The school can work with the family to determine the appropriate placement. So far, she has heard of no cases involving a legal conflict between parents who felt their child should have been placed at a different level than the school was willing to do. She said full-time homeschooled students rarely want to become full-time public school students. Instead, those families are looking for specific courses where the school can add value to their children’s education.
“You’re going to see very few who are showing up their junior year saying, ‘We’ve never attended school before, and we want to enroll completely in all courses,’” she said. “That’s rare.”
Spears said some homeschooled students at Lincoln have tried to enroll in high school with a limited academic record. They may be old enough to be a junior but have no documented course
credits. When that happens, the district does what it can to help them graduate on time through summer school and other efforts. Jones recalled three homeschooled students in the last five years who were not prepared, and all three of them graduated. However, the district can’t just advance students to graduation because of their chronological age.
“They’ve got to have the coursework. They can’t just take an exit exam or whatever. They’ve got to have those credits,” Spears said.
Jessica Grisham chose homeschooling for her children because of the freedom, the lifestyle, the ability to control the curriculum and the frame of reference, and the ability to control her children’s moral and living environment. She grew up a homeschooled student herself as the daughter of missionaries serving in eastern Europe.
Grisham is confident that she can handle most of the core subjects at home, but she also wanted to take ad-
vantage of the school’s offerings, so last year her oldest children, Jakkson, then a seventh-grader, and Peyton, then a sixthgrader, participated in art, the school’s E.A.S.T. program, LEGO® robotics, mountain biking and the chess club. She would drop the students off at Lincoln Middle School for about two periods a day.
“It gave the kids an experience in public school that was still limited, and it also supplemented what I was doing at home,” she said. “I am not good at art. I don’t do robotics. So it was extra things that I did not have expertise in. And that way they got some of the socialization, too, and got to meet other kids in our town.”
Grisham said the school made it very convenient for her children. They could take ACT Aspire tests and other tests to track their progress. They were not penalized if they needed to travel and miss class. Looking ahead, she believes she can handle core classes but might
want to take advantage of classes with labs and other resources. Of particular interest to her are the school’s workforce-related classes that would help her children obtain a job directly out of high school.
Yes, she was concerned about the influences to which her children would be exposed, but she decided these would occur in small, manageable doses. So far, she hasn’t objected to any of the material in class. She’s OK with her children hearing from viewpoints that are different than hers.
There were some issues with two or three students picking on them because they were different, but she believes they needed to learn such things happen in life. She taught them to walk away from those circumstances or, if necessary, find an adult.
“There were comments, yes,” she said. “They were few and far between, and it was mostly in the halls when there was no interaction with adults or teachers. In the actual classroom was always fantastic.”
Virtual Arkansas
Not all students participating in the program are using Lincoln’s curricula. Ninth-grader Rylee Remington is taking classes through Virtual Arkansas, the state’s online offering. Rylee started his educational career taking homeschooled courses but is transitioning to the Virtual Arkansas program. Thanks to Lincoln’s
program, he can take classes at home and come in and out of school to get the help he needs. Last year, he needed assistance with Algebra I, which he was taking early as an eighth-grader. According to his mother, Jennifer Remington, “There was available help almost at all times.”
“The Virtual Arkansas math was a little bit difficult because he’s got an online teacher, so it was kind of back and forth,” she said. “So it was nice for him to be able to go to an actual person to get that help that he needed.”
Rylee said coming into a public school setting felt unusual “for the first week or two, and then it was great.”
Remington said the family started homeschooling because they wanted to give Rylee and his sisters, Hannah, 10, and Lauren, 9, a strong Christian foundation. The children are being raised on a farm and start their morning gathering eggs, which they wash and sell at the farmer’s market. They are athletic and enjoy extracurricular activities, but homeschool sports require a lot of travel. When Rylee was in the seventh grade, his family enrolled him in one period a day, basketball, at Lincoln Middle School. He also plays baseball. His sisters will transition into Virtual Arkansas when they reach the seventh or eighth grade and will become involved in various activities.
Remington said she’s not concerned about the school teaching values that
conflict with the family’s. She was raised in the community, graduated from Lincoln High and had good experiences. Peer pressure is a concern, but, she said, “I feel like we raised him right and he knows right from wrong, and we also taught him that he needs to be careful who he hangs around with, and I also feel like there’s plenty of great teachers and coaches and whoever else is looking after the kid.”
For school districts in Arkansas, school choice is an expanding reality, and homeschooling is no different. In 2013, legislators passed a law allowing Arkansas homeschoolers to participate in interscholastic activities at their local school. In 2017, that law was expanded to allow those students to participate in any district’s activities as long as their resident district and the receiving district agree.
According to Spears, reaching out to homeschooled students is just one more way Lincoln tries to serve all students living within its boundaries, regardless of how they are raised.
“We want to be the best choice,” she said. “We want to make sure that we’re providing what kids need, and I think we’ve really kind of pushed towards that personalized learning. A great example with Rylee here – he’s got a plan. His parents are working with the principal to develop his unique plan that works for him, and I really want that for all 1,160 students.”
EXECUTIVE SESSION with Kathy McFetridge
By Steve Brawner Editor
As a 27-year Springdale School Board veteran and former ASBA president, Kathy McFetridge is accustomed to making difficult decisions in the spotlight.
That spotlight recently became brighter and bigger. On July 5, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced he was appointing her to the State Board of Education, the executive body that makes statewide policy and oversees the Department of Education. Her seven-year term on the nine-member board expires June 30, 2025. She replaced Mireya Reith. Also appointed was Dr. Sarah Moore, Hutchinson’s former education policy advisor.
McFetridge is the only State Board member who comes to that body with school board experience. Elected in 1991, she helped lead a district that opened 11 new schools in 27 years and managed an influx of Hispanic students along with students from the Marshall Islands. During that time, she’s served with only one superintendent, Dr. Jim Rollins. She served on the Arkansas Blue Ribbon Commission on Education in 2002 and was ASBA’s president in 2005. In 2001, she received ASBA’s Dr. Daniel L. Pilkinton Award for outstanding service to public education. Since 1984, she and her husband, Bill, have owned Ozark Film and Video Productions in Springdale, which produces corporate communications videos.
Report Card sat down with McFetridge in the Springdale School District’s
boardroom July 26. That evening, the board would have its first meeting in almost 27 years in which she would not be a member. In the interview, she reflected on her new position and on what she can offer as a former school board member.
How did this come about?
“Well, apparently the governor had called Dr. Rollins towards the end of May and wanted to know if he had anyone he would recommend. Dr. Rollins called me and said, ‘What do you think?’ And I said, ‘Sure, that would
be an honor to serve.’ So he recommended me, and I didn’t hear anything for the month of June, almost to the end of the month, so I didn’t give it much thought. I just figured the governor selected somebody else.
“But the governor called me right at the end of June and asked me if I would consider it. And I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh. Well, of course. What an honor!’ And he said, ‘Well, things will move pretty quickly,’ because he had to make that appointment July 1, and then the State Board meeting was July 12.
“And so yes, I started right away. But in order to get appointed, I had to resign from this board. So we had to call a quick meeting so I could resign, and the board had to accept that resignation before he could appoint me. That happened on a Tuesday, and then the governor announced that Friday. Then we met that very next week, so it happened quickly.”
You didn’t give a reason for your resignation?
“I couldn’t. He asked me not to. The governor wanted to be the one to announce it. So I just said I had another opportunity that I wanted to pursue. And so that was kind of awkward. I wanted to make sure that people knew I wasn’t upset with the district or upset with Dr. Rollins. …
“The outpouring of congratulations and well wishes has just been overwhelming. It’s just been so kind and has touched me deeply, just the outpouring and people saying, ‘Oh, you’re going to do a great job,’ which makes me nervous. I don’t want to let anybody down.”
Was it tough to leave?
“It is. It still, I don’t think, has hit me yet. Like I said, this is the first night I won’t be at a meeting in 27 years.”
You could still go.
“I can. And I know they’ll appoint someone tonight, so I’m thinking I don’t know if I should be here for that. I may just double check. I’m excited for who could possibly be coming in to serve because it’s such a wonderful district, and Dr. Rollins is just an amazing leader, and the experience that I’ve had
and personally have grown from has been amazing to me.”
You’ll be the only State Board member with school board experience. What do you think you’ll offer?
“They gave me quite a bit of materials my first meeting, and I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness.’ Had I not served on a local board, I think the learning curve would be considerably more. They gave me 13 pages of acronyms, and I think if I hadn’t have been on my local board and heard a lot of these educational terms, it’d be really daunting. Just to have the basic understanding of the whole process of school and the whole understanding of what our teachers go through on a day-to-day basis, I think I’ve got a pretty good grasp of that after all these years. Understanding the diverse population that comes into the schools and what they need and how to reach these children and how to reach the parents. I’ve been here for so long that sometimes you take for granted that everybody knows these things, but they don’t, and just how administration works with the staff and the community, just that whole broad picture of school.”
Other members serving on the State Board have some education
experience. What would being a school board member offer that other types of education experience would not?
“I think knowing how to work with children and families and the community and understanding what school is. And people feeling comfortable they can come to you with questions and looking for an answer or ways to help their child and how to direct them into the system and making sure they get the help that they’re looking for.”
Springdale is a very diverse district. Does that help you as you move on to the State Board?
“Oh, I think so because I was here, I would have to say, at the beginning of the Hispanic influx, to see it go from a low minority district to now what it is today and to see how that was managed. Yes, I think that gives me a pretty good picture of what happens and how you really work at blending cultures.”
And this is also an excellent school district.
“It has been. But we’ve been blessed with Dr. Rollins at the helm ever since I’ve been on. He’s into his 36th year of being a superintendent, which is just
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I take things very seriously, and I take things to heart quite a bit, so even though things can be difficult, I can make a difficult decision. And I think what I’ve always tried to do is keep it child-focused. Focus on the child, and do what you think is very best for the children, and usually you come out right. “ ”
unheard of any more. I’ve worked with him the entire time as superintendent. His leadership is amazing, and he has really directed the board and has always given us information that we’ve needed to make good decisions. He’s just an excellent leader.”
While Springdale is diverse, it’s also pretty united in its support of the schools, right?
“It has been. We’ve been very fortunate. There were two different millage elections that we lost over those 27 years that I was a part of. I don’t remember the exact years, but the first one we lost, I hadn’t been on that long, and I felt like we hadn’t really educated the community on our needs, and it was a fairly large ask. … We just hadn’t explained enough to the parents and the community that the district had started to grow, and we needed to get out ahead of the facilities. Then the second time was during the downturn in the economy, and we went back the very next year and actually got the millage request that year. So just learning from mistakes and then going back and saying, ‘OK, what can we do better? How can we improve?’ And then you make those adjustments and move forward.”
You’ll be leaving a situation with very stable leadership with a relatively united community to go to a State Board where the professional leadership changes every few years and where there’s often a lot of discord among your patrons. Are you prepared for that change?
“That will be a real growth change for me, for sure. But I think it will be a good one. Although Dr. Rollins has been at the top, there have also been assistant
superintendents underneath him that had retired, quite a few of them over a couple of years. And so to be able to watch him work with new people and bring them up into those leadership roles has been a good education for me, and learning different leadership styles at that level. Yes, I’m pretty spoiled.”
So, are you ready for …
“I think so because we’ve had some challenges here. We really have. We’ve had the second high school that we’ve put in. We had wanted to put it on the east side of Springdale and just could not find a location that was suitable, and couldn’t find the property to purchase. And so we had people upset with us in the community, and actually ended up putting the high school on the west side
but came back a few years later and bought property where the School of Innovation now sits. So we have had some challenges as well. We also closed Emma Avenue to help Springdale High School, our oldest high school, to be able to grow and just have the type of quality facility that we had out at Har-Ber High School. We upset a lot of people in the community over that, and it took many years. It took several mayors, changing mayors before we got it done.”
So you think you’re prepared for the discord with, say, the Little Rock School District takeover and return back to
the community? Have you thought about how tough that decision is?
“I’m sure it is. And I’m sure it was. And I take things very seriously, and I take things to heart quite a bit, so even though things can be difficult, I can make a difficult decision. And I think what I’ve always tried to do is keep it child-focused. Focus on the child, and do what you think is very best for the children, and usually you come out right.”
I guess that would be one of your guiding concepts as you enter this new role. What would be some of your other guiding concepts?
“I think always have a heart for the people that are coming to you because
when they stand in front of you, they don’t always have the broad picture that you have. And to keep that in mind when they’re in front of you because they can sometimes feel very passionately, but they also have to understand that we have to look at what’s good for the whole. But my heart still is going to be with that person that’s in front of us right at that time and feel their hurt and their desire to do what’s best for their child.”
Have you thought about your overall philosophy of state takeovers of school districts?
“Well, that’s such a fine balance, because again, you’ve got to do what’s best for children, and if that is to have to take it over for a little while and do what you need to do to get services into those schools, and maybe it’s just working more with the teachers, teacher training, whatever that issue is that they’re having – if that’s what it takes to straighten that out, then you’ve got to do that. But as soon as you can, it is a community school … so the quicker you can get them back into the community, the better.”
Commissioner Johnny Key says he wants to move the conversation about Arkansas schools from adequacy to excellence. What does that mean to you?
“I think you’ve got to keep moving that bar of what you expect out of yourself, what do you expect out of your children, what do you expect out of your staff. And you’re never quite going to reach it, but you’ve got to keep moving that bar up and keep striving for that excellence.”
What does Arkansas need to do to get there?
“Support our kids, support our teachers, and educate our community on what we’re doing.”
Are there any issues that are particularly important to you?
“I’m concerned about our children, our homeless children, children living in poverty, and what are we doing about that. ... Our children are coming to us
with tremendous need. We’re seeing a rise in mental health issues, and they’re coming into the classroom, and how do we reach them? How do we get them to succeed? And how do we get them to do the best they can and really break out of that poverty cycle? That’s my concern. We’re seeing it all over the state.”
How was your first State Board meeting?
“It was good. It ... can be overwhelming when you think about the responsibility. And all of that just hasn’t hit me yet.”
What were some of the things you voted on?
“Well, there were several licensure issues, and it was a very brief meeting. We did vote on the 38 required high school courses, but I felt like much of that discussion had already happened, it had already gone through the process, so there wasn’t anything that was earthshattering at all this first time.”
Were you comfortable voting yes on the 38 courses because of the flexibility it gave to local school districts in choosing them?
“I think that’s so important. When you look at different areas of the state and different needs, in Springdale,
they’re working closely with the Chamber up here and the workforce, and what the workforce needs. And I’m sure as different areas of the state have different needs, that flexibility is important.”
I asked you about this earlier, but will that be a guiding principle, too? You’ll be pro-flexibility for school districts?
“Definitely, yes.”
I guess you appreciated that flexibility when you were on the school board, right?
“Oh, I did. Certainly. And then the flexibility with the different waivers, and I’m curious about that process, and as a district brings up waivers in front of the board, what do they look at, and how do they figure out which waiver is going to work in what district, and how is that managed? Those are some of the things I’m really curious about.”
Sometimes you’ll be a villain.
“Probably. Which I’m not a fan of, but again, in my heart, if I feel like something is best for kids, then I don’t mind being a villain.”
Note: Executive Session is edited for length and clarity.
Arkansas Federal Surplus Property
8700 Remount Rd. North Little Rock, AR 72118
Phone: (501) 835-3111 Fax: (501) 992-1008 www.adem.arkansas.gov
Nabholz helps construct healthy learning center
Nabholz is playing a pivotal role in ensuring that health initiatives set forth in the design of the Helen R. Walton’s Children’s Enrichment Center are implemented in its construction.
The design of the center, a model early childhood and training facility in Bentonville, started with sourcing unique building materials. The design team expanded on research conducted by the Arkansas Department of Health’s Children’s Environmental Health Initiative. Designers carefully evaluated products and materials and closely worked with the Parsons School of Design’s Healthy Materials Lab to identify significant points of impact between children and their environment.
The overall design called for higher environmental and air quality and avoided any materials with known or suspected effects on childhood illnesses or disorders. The design also featured durable materials and excluded materials with VOCs (volatile organic compounds), added formaldehyde, acrylic-based paints, and limited recycled products. Essentially, any material with which the children will have direct contact will be of zero hazard to their health.
For more information about Nabholz, go to www.nabholz.com or call 877. NABHOLZ (622.4659).
Change eases quote request process for TIPS members
Members can now obtain quotes and make purchases through the TIPS
program more easily than ever. TIPS has created a simple process for members to log in to the member portal and submit a request for quote. This allows them to select all or some of the vendors within a category. Within the RFQ, members may also upload their specifications of the products/services for which they are obtaining quotes. Have questions? Contact TIPS at 866.839.8477 for assistance.
Crafton Tull helps design Little Rock athletic field redo
Crafton Tull provided civil engineering design services for the renovation of Scott Field, home of the Little Rock Hall High Warriors. The many improvements included replacing the field’s natural turf with artificial turf for football and soccer; refinishing the track; and adding new pole vault, long jump, triple jump, and high jump areas. In addition, a new archway entrance and ticket booth allow for a plaza with picnic and bistro tables overlooking the field. The addition of visitor side bleachers and a new concession/restroom building encourage boosters of both teams to come out and support their school’s athletes.
For more information, contact Crafton Tull at craftontull.com.
Hight Jackson designs shelter with tilt-up panels
Construction is underway on the new elementary school in Rogers, which was designed by local architects Hight Jackson Associates. The project features a tornado shelter with tilt-up concrete
panel construction as an affordable solution that would also reduce construction time. The K-5 grade school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019.
For more information about Hight Jackson, go to www.hjarch.com or call 479.464.4965.
modus studio designs tree house for Garvan Gardens
The Evans Children’s Adventure Garden at Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs welcomed a new tree house to the grounds. Designed by Fayetteville architecture firm modus studio, the tree house provides an interactive educational experience, part of an ambitious plan to bring children back into the woods. Inspired by dendrology, the study of trees and wooded plants, the tree house playfully interprets aspects of the surrounding forest while floating in a canopy of pines and oaks.
For more information about modus studio, go to modusstudio.com or call 479.455.5577.
Stephens says disclosure reports due Sept. 28
Please be aware that continuing disclosure annual report filings are due by September 28, 2018. As you may know, when most districts issue bonds they agree to provide certain annual financial information to investors. This is known as a continuing disclosure agreement (CDA). If a district fails to comply, it is in breach of the CDA, and the breach may result in adverse consequences from investors and/or regulators. Increased enforcement of securities regulations makes it imperative that districts stay current with their financings’ continuing disclosure requirements.
As part of our services, Stephens offers dedicated continuing disclosure services for school districts. Once engaged, Stephens assists the district with collection and compiling data and preparing the annual financial information report to meet a district’s requirements. We help the district be certain that all filings are in compliance with regulations. By entering into a legal contract with Stephens, the district can demonstrate to investors and regulators that it has taken formal steps to engage a third party to provide these services.
If you have any questions about this requirement, please contact your Stephens advisor or Melissa Walsh at melissa.walsh@stephens.com.
WD&D Architects designs high school for Pulaski County
WD&D Architects designed the Pulaski County Special School District’s new state-of-the-art Mills University Studies High School.
The school is a LEED-certified facility that emphasizes academic rigor and the performing arts.
Academic amenities include a 150seat presentation room, a 1,100-seat competition gymnasium, a 100-seat auxiliary gymnasium, a 700-seat auditorium
and an associated black box theater. A large, hardened storm shelter is also incorporated into the design.
The site master plan includes the new high school, a new multi-purpose fieldhouse, new baseball and softball complex, upgrades to the existing football/track complex, and renovation of the old high school to serve as the new middle school.
For more information about WD&D Architects, go to www.wddarchitects. com or call 501.376.6681.
Baldwin & Shell finishes school for Jacksonville
Baldwin & Shell has announced that construction of the new 80,000-squarefoot elementary school in the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District is now complete. The new facility will serve 650 students in grades K-5 and features a gymnasium/safe room, media center, music room, and stage. Exterior amenities include a teaching courtyard with an artificial turf play area, a learning garden and a large entry canopy. Construction of the new high school for Jacksonville North Pulaski School District is expected to be finished by late summer of 2019.
For more information about Baldwin & Shell, go to www.baldwinshell.com or call 501.374.8677.
Musco offers LED lighting at Fouke, Elkins fields
Thinking about LED sports lighting? Then it’s important to understand that all LED lighting does not deliver the same results.
Musco has applied more than 40 years of research and experience to take advantage of LED’s unique characteristics. At schools like Fouke and Elkins, Musco’s TLC for LED™ technology achieves the best field lighting, eliminates glare, and preserves darkness around the field.
To see TLC for LED in action, contact Jeremy Lemons at 501.249.8056 or jeremy.lemons@musco.com.
Entegrity helps Batesville save $1.8 million on energy
Entegrity is helping the Batesville School District save more than $1.8 million with energy efficiency upgrades in water, lighting, HVAC systems and controls, windows and doors, as well as the installation of an extensive solar array.
Batesville is the state’s first district to utilize solar energy. The updates are estimated to reduce annual electric energy costs by 40 percent, and the project is 100 percent funded by energy and maintenance savings.
For more information, call 800.700.1414 or visit www.entegritypartners.com.
Commercial Affiliates
AETN - Arkansas Ideas
BXS Insurance
First Security Beardsley Public Finance
Homeland Safety Systems, Inc.
McPherson & Jacobson, LLC
Pro Benefits Group, Inc.
Stephens Inc.
Bryan Fields
800.488.6689 bfields@aetn.org www.aetn.org
Bill Birch 501.614.1170 bill.birch@bxsi.com bxsi.com
Scott Beardsley501.978.6392 scott@fsbeardsley.com fsbeardsley.com
Mike Elliott 318.221.8062 mike@hssems.com homelandsafetysystems.com
Thomas Jacobson888.375.4814 mail@macnjake.com www.macnjake.com
James Kandlbinder501.321.0457 pbfsi@sbcglobal.net pbfsi.com
Jason Holsclaw501.377.2474 jason.holsclaw@stephens.com www.stephens.com Exhibiting
All-Clean USA
ASBA Workers’ Compensation
Baldwin & Shell Construction Company
Brock USA
C.R. Crawford Construction, LLC
Caddell Construction Co. (DE), LLC
Lisa Graham 870.972.7729 lgraham@allcleanusa.com www.allcleanusa.com
Shannon Moore501.492.4805 shannon@arsba.org arsba.org
Bobby Gosser Jr.501.374.8677 bgosser@baldwinshell.com www.baldwinshell.com
Amy Champion303.544.5800 achampion@brockusa.com www.BrockUSA.com
Phil Jones 479.251.1161 pjones@crcrawford.com www.crcrawford.com
Ricky Byrd 479.319.3387 Ricky.Byrd@caddell.com www.caddell.com
Capital Business Machines, Inc. Ben Higgs 501.375.1111 bhiggs@capbiz.com www.capbiz.com
Crow Construction and Paving
Morgan Zimmerman479.264.4332 mzimmerman@crowconst.com www.crowconst.com
David H. Frieze and Associates, Inc. Paul Frieze 501.922.9704 paulfrieze7@gmail.com
Entegrity Energy Partners
ESS
Grasshopper Company
JBP Architects
Kelly Educational Staffing
Kinco Constructors
Lexia Learning
Midwest Bus Sales, Inc.
modus studio, PLLC
Musco Sports Lighting, LLC
Nabholz Construction Company
Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Pulaski County
Lauren Barton 501.414.0058 lauren@viridianusa.com www.entegritypartners.com
Julie Crum 870.239.6608 Julie@subteachusa.com www.subteachusa.com
Connie Estep 620.345.8621 cestep@grasshoppermower.com grasshoppermower.com
Randall Palculict501.664.8700 randy@jbparchitects.com www.jbparchitects.com
Brandy Meisenheimer816.517.5339 meisebr@kellyservices.com www.kellyeducationalstaffing.us
Clay Gordon 501.225.7606 cgordon@kinco.net kincoconstructors.com
Sarah Colman 978.402.3506 scoleman@lexialearning.com www.lexialearning.com
Paula Davis 479.474.2433 pcdavis@midwestbussales.com www.midwestbussales.com
Chris Lankford 479.455.5577 info@modusstudio.com www.modusstudio.com
Jeremy Lemons641.673.0411 jeremy.lemons@musco.com www.musco.com
Sandra Cook 501.505.5126 sandra.cook@nabholz.com www.nabholz.com
Lori Lynch 501.301.7773 lorilynch.spsf@gmail.com www.spsfpulaski.org
SFE - Southwest Foodservice Excellence Vanessa Pressley480.551.6550 vanessa.pressley@sfellc.org www.sfellc.org
Southern Bleacher Company Carla Herndon 940.549.0733 herndon@southernbleacher.com www.southernbleacher.com
Trammell Piazza Law Firm, PLLC
Van Horn Construction, Inc.
Virco, Inc.
Connie Straw 501.371.9903 connie@trammellpiazza.com trammellpiazza.com
Judy Scott 479.968.2514 jscott@vanhornconstruction.com www.vanhornconstruction.com
Bruce Joyner 501.908.9461 brucejoyner@virco.com www.virco.com
Witsell Evans Rasco Architects/Planners Kate Dimitrova 501.374.5300 info@werarch.com www.werarch.com
Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson Architects Glen Woodruff 501.376.6681 gwoodruff@wddarchitects.com www.wddarchitects.com
Freedom Roofing Solutions, Inc.
Hight Jackson Associates, PA
Brian Kirk
501.796.2061 brian@freedomroofingsolutions.comwww.freedomroofingsolutions.com
Liz Cox 479.464.4965 lcox@hjarch.com www.hjarch.com
NE-ARK Adjustment Company Mike Brigance 870.838.0097 neark@swbell.net
Service animals and the ADA
We have recently received many questions concerning the rights of students, staff, and school visitors to use service animals in our schools. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”), schools are required to make “reasonable modifications” in their policies, practices, and procedures to accommodate those with disabilities. Service animal rules fall under this general principle.
Some of the basics: A service animal is defined by the ADA as an animal that has been trained to perform tasks for an individual with a disability. In other words, the animal must be trained to take a specific action when needed to assist the person. The ADA does not require service animals to be professionally trained, or that the animals must wear any special identification.
Schools are not allowed to request documentation for the animal, proof of its training certification, require that the animal demonstrate the work or task it has been trained to perform, or inquire about the person’s disability. Instead, only two questions may be asked, according to guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice. One, is the service animal required because of a disability? And second, what work or task has the animal been trained to perform? Follow-up questions in those two areas
by Jay Bequette ASBA General Counsel
are presumably allowed to determine the basis for the need to have a service animal and the specific tasks or work the animal is qualified to do.
It is important to note that emotional support, therapy, comfort, or companion animals are not considered service dogs under the ADA because they have not been trained to perform a specific job or task. The exception would be when the animal has been specifically trained to sense that an anxiety attack is about to occur and to take a specific action to prevent disruptive or dangerous actions by the person with a disability.
Common situations compelling schools to accommodate service animals are when persons have disabilities relating to their sight, hearing, or physical stability; or when animals can sense that persons with diabetes, depression, or seizure disorders should be reminded
by the animal to take medications or otherwise protect themselves. In many other situations, requests for accommodation to use a service animal should be carefully scrutinized in order to assure an appropriate and legal response.
Other issues include the real possibility that other persons in the school environment may be allergic to or fearful of the service animal. Appropriate action should be taken to assure the safety and well-being of all persons in the environment in addition to the person with a disability. Also note that schools are not in any way responsible for the care and supervision of the service animal; this is the sole responsibility of the animal’s handler. Service animals are not exempt from vaccination or any other local animal control or public health requirements. A service animal can be excluded from the school environment if it becomes out of control or if its handler does not effectively control it, or if it is in an area where other persons are allergic to it or afraid of it. The handler will generally be required to use a leash unless it would interfere with the animal’s work or task.
Finally, ASBA has developed an excellent model policy for school officials regarding how to comply with the ADA for requests for the use of a service animal by a student or a staff member.
Springhill Elementary
Greenbrier School District
Greenbrier, Arkansas
WE BUILD PLACES TO TEACH AND LEARN
Secure drop-off areas designed for only good mornings.
At Springhill Elementary School, one of our client’s main goals was to create a secure learning environment. A big part of that was creating safe and secure entrances and exits. We helped our clients achieve a design that welcomes students and gives parents peace of mind.
The priorities that matter to you matter to us.
