While serving as a member of the Little Rock School District Board from 2010-2015, one of my best moments was when we unanimously passed a resolution to build a new southwest Little Rock high school and a west Little Rock middle school while improving facilities across the district.
The process of coming to this consensus was not brief or simple. In 2010 the LRSD opened Roberts Elementary in west Little Rock to serve an area of the district with no elementary school. While there was also need for a west Little Rock middle school, there was not a consensus on the Board nor the funds for such a project. In the following months and years, a consensus for a west Little Rock middle school was nurtured and grew.
In discussions about facilities, a consensus also grew that McClellan High School needed to be replaced with a high school that better fit the educational demands of today's and tomorrow's high school students. Land was eventually purchased for both a west Little Rock middle school and a new southwest Little Rock high school, and a district-wide facilities study was conducted which confirmed the need for both schools while identifying multiple other needs for improved facilities.
Along the way there were questions, skepticism and resistance among some community groups, but with persistence and reaching across multiple dividing lines, the Board voted to build a west Little Rock middle school and a southwest Little Rock high school at the same time with the assumption that funding could be obtained--most likely through a millage increase.
Perhaps my most painful moment as a board member was when the state took over the LRSD in January 2015. It was after the state takeover that then Superintendent Baker Kurrus found a way to keep the commitment for a west Little Rock middle school by renovating the Leisure Arts building rather than utilizing new construction, saving millions of dollars. At the same time, in the spirit of the Board's resolution which tied together the construction of a west Little Rock middle school and a southwest Little Rock high school, planning was begun for the southwest Little Rock high school.
Today there is a wonderfully diverse--no racial majority--sixth-grade class in what is now Pinnacle View Middle School (with seventh and eighth grades to add in the next two years) and plans are ready for construction of a southwest Little Rock high school. Additional funding, however, is needed to begin construction of the high school.
The LRSD has now proposed a millage extension--not an increase--which would provide funding to proceed with construction of a southwest Little Rock high school along with a long list of other much-needed district-side facilities improvements. Although the LRSD remains under state control without an elected school board, I support this millage extension. I do so for two reasons: the needs of the students and the long-term health of the district. For me, these needs are greater than my concerns and frustrations with state control.
The students and their families in southwest Little Rock have already waited too long for a high-quality high school facility, and to make them wait longer when we have a reasonable way forward is not right. There was a community meeting at McClellan during the district-wide facilities study where the proposal for a new southwest Little Rock high school and a west Little Rock middle school was presented.
An influential community leader (not from southwest Little Rock) stood and told the crowd not to believe the proposed plans. He declared the LRSD would build a west Little Rock middle school but not a southwest Little Rock high school, despite its promises. In contrast to this irresponsible accusation, the LRSD has and is working to complete its promise to the students of southwest Little Rock. The proposed millage extension is a reasonable plan and it needs community support to keep faith with the students and families of southwest Little Rock.
The second reason I support the proposed millage increase is for the long-term health of the district. The reality is that the educational environment for public schools is an increasingly competitive one. In terms of facilities the LRSD, especially at the high school level, is already behind. and the competition is on the move. North Little Rock and Pulaski County have or are building new high schools. Charter schools have expanded and eSTEM will soon be opening a new high school on the UA-Little Rock campus. Bryant, which neighbors southwest Little Rock, recently passed a millage to improve facilities. Now is the time for the LRSD to build a new high school--not years from now.
There are many supporters of the LRSD who see the proposed millage extension differently, and I have great respect for them and their concerns. There are concerns about trust in the state and the principle of extending a millage when we do not have an elected school board. I feel those concerns and have paid close attention to commitments made by the Education Commissioner--commitments public and clear enough to allow me to support the millage extension.
There are also worries that many who support the millage extension also supported the state takeover of the LRSD. One of the lessons I learned on the board, however, is that opposition on one issue need not prevent partnership on another issue. There are multiple examples in the history of politics where good things happened when passionate people were willing to reach across the aisle and collaborate with political opponents. I opposed the state takeover and still believe it was the wrong decision, but that does not prevent finding common ground for kids today.
In the end, this is the crucial question: Will the kids and the district benefit more by the passage of this millage increase or by waiting longer for a new high school and other improvements? For me, the answer is clear, and I encourage all to vote yes on the proposed LRSD millage extension on May 9.
Greg Adams is a longtime volunteer for the LRSD and was LRSD Board President at the time of the state takeover in January 2015.
Editorial on 04/30/2017