The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday granted a student transfer from the Forrest City School District to the Palestine-Wheatley School District despite the home district's claim to be exempt from the state School Choice Act.
The Education Board vote was 3-2 to approve the transfer request made by parent Kresher Cleaves on behalf of her second-grade daughter. Cleaves said that she wanted her daughter to attend the Palestine-Wheatley district because that district's test scores are higher than those in the Forrest City district.
"I want to give my daughter the opportunities to be productive in life and contribute to the community," she said.
The Palestine-Wheatley district denied Cleaves' initial application because the Forrest City district in which the family resides is one of 18 districts in the state to take an exemption from participating in school district transfers as permitted by the School Choice Act of 2015.
Jon Estes, superintendent of the Palestine-Wheatley district, told the Education Board that the transfer denial was based solely on Forrest City's exemption and that the Palestine-Wheatley district, otherwise, had the space and the willingness to accept Cleaves' daughter.
School district exemptions to participating in transfers are permitted by the School Choice Act if a district is subject to a federal school desegregation order remedying the effects of past racial discrimination.
The Pulaski County Special School District is another district that has made the desegregation-case claim, as have all seven districts in Garland County.
The Education Board has routinely denied appeals from families in the districts that claimed exemptions, even when families have argued that their district's desegregation cases are old, inactive or not about racial ratios of the students in the schools.
The attorney general's office issued a nonbinding opinion earlier this year stating that the Education Board did not have the legal authority to verify the desegregation claims.
Education Board member Diane Zook of Melbourne made the motion to grant the transfer after a motion to deny it -- made by board member Jay Barth of Little Rock-- was defeated.
"Based on the fact that we want parents to be involved and we state that repeatedly, and based on the fact that most desegregation cases were brought because of inequities for African-American children and this is an African-American child ... I move we grant the transfer for Ms. Cleaves," Zook said.
Barth argued that the board needs to be consistent in its decisions and that race isn't supposed to be a factor in deciding a student's school assignment.
He noted that the state's original school-choice law was declared unconstitutional because of its inclusion of race as a factor in deciding which transfers were permissible.
Barth said he was very troubled by the board's decision regarding the school districts in St. Francis County.
"Our history in these cases and the fact that we have denied a number of transfers, including a number from the same district, doesn't that raise issues of inequity?" he asked.
Board member R. Brett Williamson of El Dorado said he has struggled with the matter since he was appointed to the Education Board earlier this year.
He said some desegregation cases have not been looked at in decades.
"I believe every student has the right to a good education and every family defines that a little bit differently," Williamson said. "This mother believes her child will get a better education in another district, and I'm going to switch votes from what I have done in the past to approve this one. It's not without a lot of discussion with several people. I feel like it is what I need to do."
Susan Chambers of Bella Vista, another new member of the board, said, "I don't want to stand on consistency if we are consistently wrong" but she didn't want the board to be "horribly inconsistent."
She asked if there was a way or process to take into consideration the unique circumstances of each case while making decisions that are consistent at the core.
Education Commissioner Johnny Key said that the consistency lies in analyzing each of the desegregation cases, and he noted that some district boundaries are dramatically different from what they were at the time a desegregation case was initiated and that some desegregation orders were issued by a federal agency that no longer exists.
"This board has to be comfortable in analyzing each one and making a vote," he said.
Jennifer Davis, an attorney for the state Department of Education, told the board that the department's standards unit is now enforcing state accreditation standards that require districts involved in desegregation cases to show that they are making an effort to be declared unitary and released from court supervision.
Those that don't show those efforts to resolve their desegregation cases risk having their state accreditation status put on probation.
Davis said the Education Department has sent letters to the affected districts asking for more specific information.
"Once they are declared unitary, this won't be an issue," Davis said.
Board member Charisse Dean of Little Rock said that the decision was a heart-wrenching one for her because of her understanding of Cleaves' desire to have the best for her child.
Zook said that regardless of the board's decision, either the parent or the Forrest City School District could appeal the board's decision to the state court system.
Those voting for the motion to grant the transfer were Zook, Williamson and Dean. Those voting no were Barth and Chambers. Board members Vicki Saviers, Mireya Reith and Joe Black were absent.
Sam Jones, an attorney for the Forrest City School District, said after the meeting that no decision has been made on whether the Forrest City district might challenge the board decision in court. He said there are already several other cases pending in different courts at the state and federal levels dealing with various aspects of interdistrict student transfers.
Metro on 10/09/2015