Jackson County to hold first meeting for school project

By The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

NEWPORT — There will be a meeting for Jackson County residents from 6-7 p.m. Saturday in the auditorium at the Arkansas State University-Newport Center for the Arts.

The meeting will launch Moving Jackson County Forward, a cooperative project of the Jackson County School District and the Newport Special School District.

Moving Jackson County Forward will hold a series of meetings designed to help encourage growth and educational improvement in the county by helping community members become more involved in the local school districts. The strategic planning process is expected to extend over several months, and future meetings may be held in other locations around the county to help involve as many people as possible.

The project resulted from the Governor's Conference on Education and Economic Development, said Jon Chadwell, executive director of the Newport Economic Development Commission.

"The conference leaders strongly encouraged counties to engage in a strategic planning process for school improvement," he said. "Every county in Arkansas was asked to complete this process."

The agenda for the first meeting will be a review of demographic information to see where Jackson County stands. In the second meeting, participants will conduct an analysis to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats concerning Jackson County school districts. Subsequent meetings will be designed to get input and involvement from as many people as possible to help create the best school environment.

Three Rivers, Pages 58 on 04/16/2009