The Little Rock School Board on Thursday granted one long-standing request from residents in the northwest part of the city but demurred on another.
The board voted 6-0 with one abstention to finalize the purchase of about 45 acres near the intersection of Cantrell and Katillus roads as a possible site for a new middle school to serve a growing part of Little Rock.
Area residents have been lobbying the board for several years for a middle school to serve the area, which has the nearby Dr. Don R. Roberts Elementary. Besides a middle school, the area also lacks a high school.
Board members at the same wide-ranging meeting voted 7-0 against supporting an application from a Texas charter-school organization to the Arkansas Department of Education to establish a publicly funded, independently run charter school on Rahling Road for up to 490 middle and high school students.
Some of the same people who have lobbied for a new district middle school in the northwest part of the city also were instrumental in recruiting Responsive Education Solutions of Lewisville, Texas, to propose opening the Quest Middle School of West Little Rock. The charter school - which would open next August if it is approved by the state Education Department - and any new district middle school that might build on the Katillus property would be in competition for at least some of the same students.
Gary Newton, a parent of school-age children and chief executive officer of the Arkansas Learns organization that advocates for school choices and changes to the state’s school board election system, urged the board Thursday night to support, or at least remain neutral, on the Quest proposal to the state.
“We are seeking to provide an excellent public education where none exists,” Newton told the board.
The board’s votes against the Quest proposal and against the Capitol City Lighthouse Charter School planned for North Little Rock come after a federal judge ruled earlier this year that the nearly dozen existing charter schools in Pulaski County do not hinder the desegregation obligations of the three Pulaski County school districts.
The Little Rock School District had challenged the state’s approval of the independently operated charter schools in the U.S. District Court and is now appealing the lower-court ruling to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. The district has argued that charter schools were approved without regard to their effects on district magnet schools and other court-approved desegregation efforts.
The proposed Quest school would feature “a blend of effective teacher-directed instruction and emergent technology,” according to the application to the state. The school plan calls for individualized instruction to each student, and to teach wisdom, character education and leadership. The school planners anticipate $2 million in revenue to operate the school.
Chris Heller, an attorney for the Little Rock district, told the board that the proposed school at 1815 Rahling Road is budgeting for an enrollment in which 78 percent of students would be from low-income families. That level of student poverty - which exceeds the Little Rock district’s student poverty rate of 71 percent - would qualify the school for additional state aid. But Heller said that if the school fails to attract sufficient numbers of poor students to generate the extra aid, the school’s revenue will fall short of projected expenditures.
After the meeting Newton said he was not surprised by the board’s decision to oppose the charter school plan and said he looked forward to presenting the case for the school to the state Education Department for a final decision.
Newton on Thursday also welcomed the purchase of property for a district middle school, which he had lobbied for in recent years. He said he believed the proposed charter school accelerated the district’s efforts to buy a potential school site in the area.
“The provision of excellent public options for our parents is paramount. Public education isn’t an either/ or - it’s all,” Newton said about the possibility of two schools in the area. “It’s unfortunate that the ‘New Little Rock School District’ chose to take an old path,” he said, referring to the district’s new advertising slogan.
The School Board approved the purchase of three pieces of property - two near the intersection of Katillus and Cantrell roads and 1.91 acres on Mabelvale Pike - and authorized district staff members to proceed with closing on the sales. The Mabelvale Pike land, being purchased for $55,000, will give the district an additional access point to recently purchased land on Richsmith Lane.
The property for a possible district middle school is across Cantrell Road and a little to the west of Roberts Elementary School. The property, which is adjacent to The Ranch office park, is made up of two parcels. One is approximately 40 acres and is priced at $3.4 million. The other is 3.5 acres and priced at $800,000.
The seller of the smaller site is Professional Property Co., LLC. The seller of the larger site is the William L. Adams Family Trust.
Randy Frazier, an attorney for the Ranch Properties Inc., objected to the school district’s planned purchase of the 3.5-acre piece of land before the land is platted and submitted to the Little Rock Planning Commission for a public hearing and to the city’s Board of Directors for approval of the zoning. He asked that the property purchase be delayed until it is in compliance with city codes.
Kelsey Bailey, the district’s chief financial officer, and Heller, the district’s lawyer, said the seller of the land is responsible for meeting the city requirements and the district won’t close on the sale of the land until the requirements are met.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 10/25/2013