4 in state awarded merit scholarship
Four Arkansas high school seniors are among 800 students nationally to be named winners of National Achievement Scholarships in a program conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.
The scholarship program is a privately financed competition established in 1964 to honor scholastically talented black students.
The Arkansas recipients, their high schools and their intended field of study are:
• Dana Abulez, Little Rock Central High, nanotechnology.
• Jonah Rodgers, Jacksonville High, biomedical engineering.
• Chandler Smith, Little Rock Central High, computer science.
• Taemora Williams, North Little Rock High, industrial organizational psychology.
About 150,000 students entered the 2015 National Achievement Scholarship Program by requesting consideration in the competition when they took the 2013 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as high school juniors.
The National Achievement Scholarship Program will change after this year. The National Merit Scholarship Corp. is working with the United Negro College Fund, the nation's largest minority education organization. UNCF will carry on the name and legacy of the National Achievement Scholarship Program through a newly designed program that will award financial assistance to high-achieving, under-represented college graduates.
District-split stall focus of meeting
U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. has scheduled a 10 a.m. Friday conference with representatives of the Pulaski County Special School District and the Joshua intervenors who represent black students in the district regarding plans for the new Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
The status conference comes at a time when negotiations between Pulaski County Special and the new district, which remains a part of the Pulaski County Special district for the time being, have stalled. Leaders of the two districts have been negotiating on how to split staffing, assets and liabilities in preparation for the detachment of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district, expected to take place July 1, 2016.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key told the state Board of Education on Friday that negotiations between the districts had reached an impasse and that a conflict resolution provision in an earlier agreement between the districts will be activated.
Representatives of the two districts would say little Friday about the topic in dispute.
Deborah Roush, communications director for the Pulaski County Special district, said Superintendent Jerry Guess was hopeful about working through the disagreement with the new district.
"There was a stipulation that we couldn't agree to," Phyllis Stewart, chief of staff for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district, said.
"We're all professionals. We'll work through this so it can be successful for the children," she said.
Literacy is subject of LR public forum
Little Rock community members, including at least some former School Board members, are hosting a public forum to talk about literacy in the district's schools.
The session is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Willie Hinton Neighborhood Resource Center, 3805 W. 12th St., Little Rock.
Organizers say the session will be the first in a series of monthly meetings about what our community wants for our schools.
The only topic for the meeting will be literacy and the importance of every child in the district learning to read. Plans are to invite parents, teachers and others to speak about the literacy challenges and ways to address them in district schools.
After the meeting, organizers say they will prepare and disseminate a report detailing the community's expectations on the issue.
Board recognizes military children
The Arkansas Board of Education passed a resolution Thursday supporting April as the Month of the Military Child.
April was designated nationally as the Month of the Military Child to honor children whose families serve in the military. Military children face unusual challenges related to military transitions and parental deployments.
More than 9,000 Arkansans serve in the armed forces, with more than 3,700 military children attending public schools.
As a part of the month-long recognition, this week is designated as Purple Up! For Military Kids! Groups around the country will honor military children by wearing purple.
Metro on 04/12/2015