Correction: Interstate 430 is east of the proposed location for Quest Middle School of West Little Rock. A map published Friday and March 22 showing the school’s proposed location misidentified the interstate.
Quest Middle School of West Little Rock received initial approval Friday from a state panel to change its location despite the objections of some area businesses and property owners who feel it will add to congestion.
The Charter Authorizing Panel, which is made up of top-level staff members at the Arkansas Department of Education, unanimously approved a request from school planners to move the school from its previously approved Rahling Road address in northwest Little Rock to the more centrally located, less costly Hardin Road site, which is near the intersection of Shackleford Road and Financial Centre Parkway.
The panel approved the change over the objections of some Hardin Road property owners or property managers who said a school will exacerbate traffic congestion.
Originally, residents of northwest Little Rock recruited Responsive Education Solutions - the school’s sponsoring organization - to establish a taxpayer-supported, independently operated charter school for a part of the city near Roberts Elementary School that is distant from an existing public middle school, aims served by the Rahling site.
At the same meeting Friday, the panel approved charter amendments that will enable the Arkansas Virtual Academy to add ninth- and 10th-grade courses to its program that currently serves kindergarten through eighth grades.
Additionally, the state panel supported changing the name of the Benton County School of the Arts charter school in Bentonville to the Arkansas Arts Academy.
The panel’s decisions will go to the state Board of Education for final action at its April 10 meeting.
The Education Board can either accept the panel’s recommendation on a charter or choose to conduct a hearing - at its own initiative or at the request of an affected party - before making a final decision.
Quest Middle School of West Little Rock was first approved by the charter panel Nov. 14 and then by the state Board of Education on Jan. 10 to serve as many as 490 students in grades six through 12, starting with 220 middle school students this fall at 1815 Rahling Road.
Chris Baumann, an attorney for Responsive Education Solutions of Lewisville, Texas, told the panel Friday that the original charter application included a facilities-use agreement for the Rahling Road site but that the early, one-page agreement didn’t address all the costs for building improvements and maintenance.
“Unfortunately, we were unable to come to an agreement on lease terms that would make that Rahling location a fiscally responsible choice for the school,” Baumann said.
An office building at 400 Hardin Road came to the attention of Responsive Education on Jan. 6, Baumann said, and the organization executed a purchase agreement Feb. 11.That purchase remains contingent on the state’s approval of the change in the charter and receiving any necessary city permits.
Baumann said the property’s existing zoning status allows the building to be used for a public school. The 22,650-square-foot building is sufficient to serve about 280 students, while allowing current tenants - including the Arkansas Bank Department - to remain.
The biggest advantage to the site is the cost, which is $251,000 annually, as compared with $496,000 for the Rahling Road site, Baumann said. The $245,000 a year in savings can be invested in other services at the school, he said.
The site is in closer proximity to several elementary schools other than Roberts in the city, and, while still accessible to the northwest Little Rock families who invited the company to Little Rock, it is also closer to potential students in central Little Rock.
A total of 160 children in grades six through eight have registered to attend Quest in August, he said.
Parents would travel to the end of Hardin Road, which is a cul-de-sac, then circle around to the back of the building to drop off and pick up their schoolchildren, Baumann told the panel. The line of cars for dropping off and picking up children could become a double line behind the building,but only after a single line of traffic threads past a permanent loading-dock facility.
Jeffrey Hathaway, president of Coldwell Banker Commercial/Hathaway Group, objected to the suitability of the building for a school and said the increased traffic would hinder the existing businesses, including the U.S. Geological Survey building across the street at 401 Hardin Road.
Hathaway’s company is the agent for the owner and the property manager for the Geological Survey building.
“This is a major concentration of new vehicular traffic in an area that is already very congested,” Hathaway said.
Hathaway also said that the school’s traffic plan would require parents to drive through an actively used service area that contains trash Dumpsters, a loading dock and radio transmitters, as well as parking spots that would have to be abandoned.
“It’s great that this school,by choosing to move to this location, is able to save themselves so much money, but they are saving that money on the backs of neighboring businesses and property owners,” Hathaway said.
Baumann cited the preliminary results of a traffic study that when completed will be submitted to Little Rock officials as a prerequisite to obtain the city permits necessary for the school to operate.
The traffic study shows “maximum vehicle queuing” can be accommodated on the parking lot for the proposed school without overflowing onto Hardin Road during the morning and afternoon school traffic times, Baumann said. The draft study also concluded that the anticipated school traffic would use one-third to one-half of available space in the parking lot.
Jim Saxton, an attorney for Hardin Road landowner Jess Woods, also argued that the school traffic is likely to back up on Hardin Road, which is only 900 feet long and has just one entrance and exit, which is off Financial Centre Parkway where the new Interstate 430 and 630 flyovers will end.
“The situation is not good for my client and not good for a school,” Saxton said.
David Freiwald, director of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Arkansas Water Science Center, said his 50 employees routinely tow 25- and 30-foot boats on Hardin Road, which could hinder school traffic. He also said the traffic signal at Hardin Road and Financial Centre Parkway currently allows just three or four cars to exit Hardin Road at a time.
Seth Rolfe, manager of the Holiday Inn-Financial Centre, said the school traffic on Hardin Road would coincide with check-in and checkout times at the hotel, affecting his customers. He asked that at a minimum the school stagger its starting and dismissal times to lessen the concentration of traffic.
Chris Heller, an attorney for the Little Rock School District, which objected earlier to the approval of the charter school on Rahling Road, said the Quest school’s approval was a “flawed process from the beginning,” and he recommended that the school’s opening be delayed a year.
When the school was approved by the state Education Board there was “an undisclosed conflict of interest” between a board member and a promoter of the school, Heller said. He said at a break in the meeting that Education Board member Diane Zook of Melbourne is the aunt of Gary Newton, executive director of the Arkansas Learns school-choice organization and a leader in recruiting Responsive Education Solutions to Little Rock.
Zook, who attended Friday’s charter panel meeting, said she didn’t have a conflict and would have recused herself from the vote if she did.
Heller also said that Responsive Education Solutions leaders “had a real good idea” that they were going to move to Hardin Road before the state Education Board approved the charter school for the Rahling Road site. The Arkansas Times online news blog posted emails showing that the negotiations for the Rahling Road site had broken down by the time of the board meeting, Heller said, but that information was not presented to the board.
Charter Authorizing Panel members examined the Quest school proposal for a couple of hours Friday. Assistant Commissioner Karen Walters asked for copies of traffic studies and whether Responsive Education Solutions has a “Plan B” in case the Hardin Road site is rejected by the state or Little Rock.
Assistant Commissioner Mike Hernandez asked about outdoor physical education space. Baumann said it’s possible that the students would be bused to a recreation center.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell asked whether emergency evacuation plans would put students in the parking lot or street. Baumann said the charter school organization with 65 total schools is experienced in designing emergency plans for its schools that are in industrial parks and shopping centers.
Kimbrell said all schools have traffic problems that can be resolved. He cited the 1,000-plus student e-Stem Public Charter Schools in downtown Little Rock as an example of a school that has resolved traffic issues in an unusual setting.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/22/2014