LITTLE ROCK — School chief plans fiscal-year forum
Jerry Guess, the superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District, will present to the public a recap of the district’s 2011-12 operations at 6 p.m. Thursday at the district’s headquarters, 925 E. Dixon Road.
The annual report is required from every school district by the Arkansas Department of Education and must be presented in a public meeting and published in a local newspaper by Nov. 15 of each year.
Typically the annual report is presented at a school board meeting, but, because there is no school board in the state controlled Pulaski County Special district, the report will be given at the specially called forum. The district’s board was dissolved by the state in June 2011.
“We want to be transparent in all that we do, even though we are not having regularly scheduled board meetings,” said Deborah Roush, the district’s executive director of communications.
Time will be set aside during the forum for members of the public to comment on issues related to district activities or on the specifics of the report, Roush said.
More information is available by calling (501) 234-2000.
Charter-school proposals fall to 6
The number of open-enrollment charter-school applications to be considered by the Arkansas Board of Education next month is down from nine to six.
Most recently, an attorney for the state Department of Education told the organizer of the proposed Academic Leadership Academy School of Health Sciences for Young Men - a charter school planned for Markham and South Hughes streets in Little Rock - that his application was incomplete and would not be considered.
The application did not address with narrative responses some 22 standards included in the application for the state charter. Five of the seven attachments required were also missing, and there was not documentation showing that the organizers had received or applied to the Internal Revenue Service for nonprofit tax status.
“As a result, ADE staff cannot provide any meaningful evaluation of the application you submitted,” attorney Mark White wrote to Michael McCray regarding the application.
Earlier, Lighthouse Academies Inc. withdrew its application for the Capitol City Lighthouse Charter School that was proposed for Geyer Springs Road in Little Rock. Noble Education Initiative of Fort Smith withdrew its application for the proposed Noble Academy of Impact and Entrepreneurship.
Funeral services for Hopson set
Visiting hours and funeral services for Charles Hopson, the former Pulaski County Special School District superintendent, who died Oct. 9, have been set for this week in Little Rock.
Visiting hours are from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at the H.D. Malone Funeral Home, 9901 Chicot Road.
The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Rufus K. Young Christian Church, 21st and Main streets.
More information about donations in lieu of flowers and the sending of cards to the family is available on the district’s website: pcssd.org.
LR school named a high performer
Williams Elementary in the Little Rock School District is one of 68 Arkansas schools named a 2012 Higher Performing School by the National Center for Educational Achievement, a department of ACT Inc.
The organization honors schools that consistently outperform their peers with similar student populations over a three-year period.
Williams was recognized for consistent year-to-year improvement in both math and literacy.
The Little Rock School Board announced the honor Thursday, giving certificates to Sandra Register, the former principal at Williams who was reassigned this summer to Terry Elementary, and to current Williams Principal Lori Brown.
Also identified as 2012 Higher Performing Schools in Pulaski County were North Little Rock’s Meadow Park Elementary and Lisa Academy High open-enrollment charter school. The full list of Arkansas schools so honored is available on the center’s website: nc4ea. org.
School can exceed pupil-teacher ratio
The Arkansas Board of Education last week granted rare permission to a school district to exceed the maximum pupil to-teacher class size ratios set in school accreditation standards.
Matt McClure, superintendent of the Cross County School District, sought permission to exceed the class-size ratios at the Cross County Elementary Technology Academy, a district run conversion charter school.
The enrollment in the small rural school is increasing faster than anticipated. Plans are in the works to add classrooms, but that won’t be done until the 2014-15 school year.
The board voted to allow the enrollment cap to grow by no more than five pupils per classroom for no more than two years.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 10/16/2012