Three school boards in Crawford and Sebastian counties have given permission for their superintendents to intervene in an ongoing school finance lawsuit between the Deer/Mount Judea School District and the state.
The Fort Smith School Board will consider giving similar authority to Superintendent Benny Gooden during its monthly meeting Monday.
“We are just asking the court to let us have the opportunity to have a voice in the eventual outcome, if as a result of this lawsuit, the court decides to order any changes in the state funding of schools,” Alma Superintendent David Woolly said.
Deer/Mount Judea sued the state in December 2010 and alleged that the state funding system for education is unconstitutional, especially in the funding provided to isolated schools and for transportation, said Clay Fendley, an attorney representing the Deer/Mount Judea district. The Deer/Mount Judea district encompasses an area in Newton County that covers nearly 400 square miles.
“We’re spending a disproportionate amount of our resources transporting kids around the district,” Fendley said. “That leaves less resources for other things. Deer/Mount Judea has two campuses. Both are required to meet all the standards of accreditation. … The state has failed to provide a rational way to fund small schools like Deer/ Mount Judea.”
A Pulaski County Circuit Court judge had dismissed the case, saying that the issues raised were decided in a previous school finance case, Fendley said. Although the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed on some points with the lower court, the higher court found some errors and in October sent the case back to the court.
The case has not been scheduled for trial, Fendley said.
Attorney General Dustin McDaniel and Assistant Attorney General Scott Richardson in December asked the state Supreme Court to dismiss the case.
The Alma, Greenwood, Van Buren and Fort Smith school districts have intervened in previous school finance cases, said Mitch Llewellyn, an attorney for the school districts. The school boards have been considering resolutions to give their superintendents the authority to get involved, though Fort Smith has not approved a resolution yet, Llewellyn said. Llewellyn is waiting to hear whether the superintendents want to intervene.
The issues raised in the Deer/Mount Judea case could affect the way the state distributes money to schools, Gooden said.
“The interests of Fort Smith and other school districts must be considered,” Gooden said. “We want an opportunity to participate in the process and protect the interests of school districts such as ours.”
The Greenwood School Board on Thursday approved a resolution giving the superintendent authority to intervene, but Superintendent John Ciesla said he has not made a decision on the district’s involvement in the case.
“We’re just continuing to monitor,” Ciesla said. “Our biggest concern is just the unknown of where this might go and just wanting a seat at the table should we see that we need that.”
Nearly every state in the country has been sued over whether the states have provided enough funding for schools and whether the money is equitably distributed, said Gary Ritter, director of the Office of Education Policy at the University of Arkansas.
Challenges to the state’s funding system for public schools have been ongoing since at least 1979, but in 2007, the Arkansas Supreme Court found the public funding system constitutional and outlined the requirements for continued compliance, including funding education first in the state budget and reviewing whether adequate funding is in place for schools.
The Deer/Mount Judea case is asking the court to reopen the school finance case and consider disparities in teacher salaries and transportation funding, Ritter said.
Arkansas, Pages 15 on 01/25/2014