The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday approved AdvancED and American Montessori Society as acceptable agencies for accrediting private schools that want to qualify for state dollars to serve special-education students.
The 2015 state law that created the Succeed Scholarships -- which allow state money to be used for private school tuition by families of children with learning disabilities -- requires that the private schools enrolling the students be accredited by the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association or by other accrediting groups that are recognized by the state Education Board.
Ten schools accredited by the Arkansas group have become fully qualified in recent weeks for Succeed Scholarship program participation.
"The newly approved accrediting agencies paves the way for Prism Education Center in Fayetteville that is accredited by AdvancED, and Chenal Valley Montessori, accredited by American Montessori Society, to be approved for the program," Katie Clifford, executive director of The Reform Alliance, said after the meeting. Both of the schools have already submitted applications.
The Reform Alliance is a nonprofit, grant-funded organization that is facilitating the disbursement of the public funds to qualified private schools -- including parochial schools -- for up to 100 students this year. The alliance does not receive taxpayer money for its work.
To be eligible for the vouchers, students had to be enrolled in public schools in the past school year, or be children of parents in military service. The children must be identified as having learning disabilities and in need of special services as evidenced by their existing Individual Education Plans.
While more than 70 families are in various stages of applying for the Succeed Scholarships and enrolling their children in private schools, only four students to date are actually enrolled and attending the private schools, said Courtney Salas-Ford, an attorney for the Department of Education.
The Education Board voted unanimously for the AdvancED organization, which started in the late 1800s as the North Central Association accrediting organization. It accredits some 70,000 schools and colleges around the world, including 400 in Arkansas, a representative of the organization said Thursday.
The Education Board voted 5-2 for the approval of the American Montessori Society as a third acceptable accrediting organization for the purpose of accepting the Succeed Scholarship students. Board members Diane Zook of Melbourne and Jay Barth of Little Rock voted against the motion. Zook had suggested that representatives of the Montessori group attend a future meeting to explain how the Montessori education methods can effectively serve students who have severe learning disabilities.
Private elementary and secondary schools participating in the state's new Succeed Scholarship program by law must agree to administer to the students a state-approved, nationally recognized exam -- unless the student's Individual Education Plan exempts the student from such tests. The Education Board approved a list of exams from which the private schools can choose.
The proposals on the accrediting organizations and tests prompted a range of questions and a lengthy discussion among Education Board members and Arkansas Department of Education staff members on the scholarship program that was authorized by Act 1178 of 2015 and sponsored by Rep. Doug House, R-North Little Rock.
Zook, a retired career special-education teacher and program administrator, noted that the state law specifies that the scholarship program is for students with "severe" disabilities. She questioned whether conditions such as attention deficit disorder and dyslexia and even blindness meet the threshold of a severe disability.
Salas-Ford said the state law doesn't define severe disabilities and that the Education Board's rules for carrying out the law -- narrowly adopted by the Education Board in January -- define "severely disabled" as an individual who has an individualized education program in accordance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act.
House, who participated in the board's lunchtime discussion on Act 1178 of 2015, said he did not realize at the time the bill was being considered by lawmakers that there are specific levels of mild, moderate and severe disabilities. He said he didn't intend the scholarship program to be for students "wearing contact lenses or even hearing aids." He suggested the language might be clarified in the 2017 legislative session.
Zook questioned the need for The Reform Alliance, which is funded by the Walton Family Foundation of Bentonville, to be involved in the scholarship program and whether it creates a barrier between parents and professional educators at the Education Department. She asked whether The Reform Alliance is intended to circumvent state constitutional prohibitions against sending public funds to private and religious organizations.
Salas-Ford said she talked to every applicant family so that contact and guidance to the families is there.
Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key said he wanted to "dispel the notion" that the department is using the third party to do an end-run around legal restrictions. The involvement of The Reform Alliance, he said, enables the Education Department to avoid having to institute an all new system for distributing money to parents for what is right now a pilot program.
In response to questions from Education Board member Brett Williamson of El Dorado, Key said the Education Department will send the tuition funds to the alliance, which will in turn write monthly checks to the families of the students enrolled in the private schools. The parents are to endorse those checks, and The Reform Alliance delivers the checks to the schools.
The scholarship program provides tuition of up to $6,646 per student, which is the minimal, annual amount guaranteed by the state for educating students in public schools.
Clifford, of The Reform Alliance, said that currently she and parents of voucher recipients physically meet at the children's schools with school officials to complete the tuition transaction. That transaction includes verifying that the students remain enrolled in the school.
Zook also questioned whether employing a part-time special-education teacher or sharing a special-education teacher among schools meets the requirement in the law that every eligible school employ a state-licensed special-education teacher.
Salas-Ford said the state rules call for the school "to employ or contract with at least one teacher who holds a valid state license in special education."
The law also requires the private schools to confirm that they hire only teachers who at least have bachelor's degrees.
A Section on 09/09/2016