Map of LR elementaries a series of overlapping circles

A map showing the LRSD elementary schools’ 1-mile radius.
A map showing the LRSD elementary schools’ 1-mile radius.

The close proximity of elementary school campuses in much of the Little Rock School District is becoming a focal point in the search for ways to cut costs and increase efficiency in the state's largest district.

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Greg Adams, co-chairman of the Civic Advisory Committee and the former president of the Little Rock School Board.

The elementary campuses are concentrated in some areas in such a way that pupils in different parts of the city can live within a mile of three, four or even five elementary schools.

Superintendent Baker Kurrus calls that overlap "stunning."

These days, Kurrus -- the state-appointed leader of the state-controlled district -- carries with him to speeches to civic and parent groups a map that shows the locations of all the elementary schools.

Drawn around each elementary school address is a circle, indicating a 1-mile radius. The map shows 27 overlapping circles. Three circles around schools on the district's western edge -- Roberts, Dodd and Otter Creek elementaries -- do not overlap with others.

Kurrus said Friday that for the 2016-17 school year, he "probably" won't seek to close and consolidate elementary schools -- most of which are considered small, with fewer than 500 seats, and some of which are under-enrolled.

The district has already conducted pre-registration for 2016-17 under the assumption that all of the schools would be in operation.

But, Kurrus said, the school year's budget -- which he called "a complex algorithm" -- is still being developed, and budget planning could affect any decision on the buildings.

The study of the school sites, their proximities to one another and their enrollments comes as the district, with a budget of about $320 million, is preparing for the loss of more than $37 million a year in state desegregation aid after the 2017-18 school year.

As a result of a settlement in a 33-year-old federal school desegregation lawsuit, the Little Rock district can use that special state desegregation aid for operating costs for only one more school year -- 2016-17 -- and then the district is restricted to using it only for facilities costs in the final year of payment, in 2017-18.

Kurrus said Friday that he wants to put some thought into the school-buildings decision, but he also warned that "being too deliberate can put you on the road to bankruptcy."

Financial and other changes in the district are urgent, he said, in order to have sufficient resources to improve academic achievement of the students who are moving through the grades and don't have the luxury of time.

The task at hand "is building a community-based district that is supported and effective in all parts of the city," he said.

According to Kurrus' elementary school map, a child living close to Rockefeller Elementary, at 700 E. 17th St., for example, may also live within a mile of Booker Magnet, Carver Magnet, Gibbs Magnet, Washington and Martin Luther King elementary schools.

Similarly, a pupil living within a mile of Wilson Elementary at Stannus and Colonel Glenn roads may also live in close proximity to Western Hills, Romine, Geyer Springs, Meadowcliff and Bale elementaries.

Williams Magnet School and Pulaski Heights elementaries are other examples of schools that are close to multiple other elementary schools.

The map shows the proximity of buildings and not the actual attendance-zone boundary lines for each school. The map does not attempt to take into account the special-program magnet schools that enroll pupils from across the district. The magnet schools do not have traditional surrounding attendance zones. Most of the magnet school buildings, however, were first built as traditional attendance-zone schools and became citywide magnet programs later.

The issues of school locations, enrollment, closure and consolidation are pending before the facilities subcommittee of the district's Civic Advisory Committee.

The committee was appointed by the Arkansas Board of Education earlier this year after the state board voted to take control of the Little Rock district, dismissing the elected school board and putting the superintendent under the direction of the state education commissioner, Johnny Key.

Greg Adams, co-chairman of the Civic Advisory Committee and the former president of the Little Rock School Board, said the committee's role is not to approve or disapprove a school district decision but to give advice and feedback to Kurrus and his administrative team. That feedback might be unanimous at times, Adams said, and other times it might be made up of multiple viewpoints.

The facilities subcommittee recommended earlier this fall that no school closures and consolidations take place in 2016-17 so that any such measures can be accomplished smoothly and with sufficient notice, Adams said.

"The consensus of the subcommittee is that there is going to be a need for that, a need to look at consolidating and closing some schools," he said. "They have not made any specific recommendations other than we see that it is something we need to do or look at.

"We want it to be done well," he added, "and we need plenty of lead time."

There is no plan to make changes in the schools for the 2016-17 school year, Adams said.

"Some people heard stories that it was going to happen by next fall and that there is already a list of schools [to be closed] and things like that. That is not the case. We are having more discussions about the schools. They will probably be a topic in our upcoming community forums and meetings, too."

The Civic Advisory Committee's next meeting is at 5 p.m. Dec. 17 at Washington Elementary School.

"The take-home of all the information that Mr. Kurrus has given us is that we have clusters of schools that are close in proximity to each other," Adams said of the subcommittee's work. "And we also have a lot of empty seats in some of those schools. This is not a new thing. The empty seats are not an aberration. This is how it has been for several years, and the trend is in that direction, too.

"I don't think there is a good, historical reason to think that maybe next year we'll fill all those seats up. We're trying to be as efficient as we can with limited resources so we can do the best job we can for kids, then the responsible thing is to look at whether we can do better by kids by having fewer schools. That way we can use our resources more responsibly and do more for them."

Metro on 11/29/2015

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