Board approves 6 for advisory work
The Arkansas Board of Education approved the appointments last week of six new members to the Pulaski County Community Advisory Board, which will meet at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the district's administration building, 925 E. Dixon Road in Little Rock.
Act 600 of 2013 authorizes the establishment of a community advisory board in school districts that are operating under state control. The Pulaski County Special district was taken over by the state in June 2011 for fiscal distress. The district's Community Advisory Board has been in operation since 2013. Its duties include conducting hearings and making recommendations to the state education commissioner regarding student discipline matters and teacher grievances.
The replacement of most of the advisory board membership is largely the result of redrawing the boundary lines for the seven school board election zones in the district. The zones were reconfigured to adjust for the coming July 1 detachment of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District from the Pulaski County Special district.
The new advisory board members are Brian Maune of Little Rock; Fatima Garcia of Alexander; Wrightsville Mayor McKinzie Riley; Linda Remele and Shelby Thomas of Sherwood; and Kenneth Fells, who has a Bigelow mailing address.
Lindsey Gustafson of Maumelle is the only one of the initial advisory board members to remain on the board. Daniel Gray, one of the two Jacksonville representatives to serve on the initial advisory board, will remain as an ex-officio, nonvoting representative of the Jacksonville/North Pulaski district until June 30. Gray is simultaneously serving on the advisory board and as president of the newly elected Jacksonville/North Pulaski School Board.
The agenda for Tuesday's advisory board meeting includes orientation, a personnel hearing and a presentation on the 2016-17 school year calendar from the district's Personnel Policies Committee of employees.
District to review plan for facilities
Leaders in the Pulaski County Special School District will hold a public hearing on the district's facilities master plan at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the administration building's board room, 925 E. Dixon Road.
The public forum is being held in advance of the district submitting the facilities plan to the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.
"The meeting is an opportunity for citizens to hear firsthand from the district what the plans are related to facilities for the coming year and beyond," Derek Scott, the district's executive director of operations, said in a prepared statement.
More information about the public hearing is available by calling the district's communications office at (501) 234-2038.
Grants available for museum trips
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History in Little Rock is offering travel grants to help students visit the museum to learn about World Wars I and II.
The Helen T. Leigh Museum Field Trip Grants provide up to $500 and are available during the fall and spring semesters.
The applications are available through the Arkansas Humanities Council, 407 President Clinton Ave., Suite 201, Little Rock, Ark., 72201. Deadlines are the first of each month. Applicants must contact Rachel Miller, museum educator, at (501) 376-4602 to schedule their field trips before applying for the grant.
The grants are funded by Leigh in memory of her husband, Lt. Col. Gilbert Leigh, U.S. Air Force.
The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History, at 503 E. Ninth St. in Little Rock, showcases the military heritage of Arkansas from the Civil War to the present.
Metro on 01/17/2016