The state Board of Education on Thursday removed from its agenda a vote that had been scheduled to consider an election to revive the Weiner School District as an agriculture academy.
The Weiner School District was annexed into the Harrisburg district in 2010 under Act 60, which required districts with fewer than 350 students to consolidate.
Residents in the Weiner district are now seeking to reverse that move and detach from the Harrisburg district to create the Weiner Academy of Agriculture & Technology School District, a move they contend is admissible under a 2015 law that allows the creation of agriculture schools.
But state Education Commissioner Johnny Key during Thursday's meeting called "premature" the petition to put the move to a vote in a special election in the Weiner area. He said the rules to be established by the Arkansas Department of Career Education governing such agriculture schools "have not yet been promulgated."
"That process was just not ripe for your consideration," Key told the board just before the Weiner petition was removed from the agenda. He added later: "We expect to see this come back on the agenda when those rules are in place."
It wasn't known when the measure might next come before the state board.
In documents submitted to the board with the petition, Weiner's mayor and City Council expressed a strong desire to create the new district and said the measure enjoys "overwhelming support" in the area.
"The Weiner School District ... was always an exceptional school, with higher than average ACT scores, an enviable graduation rate above 95 percent, tremendous community support," he wrote, noting that the community also voted "for every millage increase presented, never once being in fiscal or academic distress."
A letter signed by the City Council members noted that local business and the population have "dwindle[d] away" since the Harrisburg district opted to close the Weiner High School campus two years ago.
"We strongly believe that once again having a viable and excellent school district in the Weiner, Waldenburg and Fisher area will revitalize our towns and allow for economic growth, while providing educational opportunities for our citizenry," the letter said.
"There is overwhelming support for this endeavor in our communities from patrons and businesses alike."
See Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full coverage.