Senate bill targets distressed schools
Sen. Joyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, introduced a bill last week in the Arkansas Legislature that would ease the requirements for a state-controlled school district's return to local governance.
Senate Bill 274 focuses on schools and districts that have been taken over by the state for academic distress.
The proposed law would authorize the state Department of Education and the state Board of Education to determine that it is in the best interest of the public school or public school district and the community at large to return the public school or school district to the local control of its residents.
Existing law allows the release of an academically distressed school or district from state control only if the district has corrected all problems that caused the classification.
The Little Rock School District, in which Elliott lives, has operated under state control without a locally elected school board since January 2015 because six of its schools at the time were labeled by the state as being in academic distress. That number has since dropped to five schools, and the Education Department is recommending two more for release from the designation.
NLR banquet resets board meeting date
The North Little Rock School Board has changed its regularly scheduled Feb. 16 meeting date to Feb. 28.
The date change is meant to accommodate a chamber of commerce banquet on Feb. 16.
LR forum to focus on new high school
The Little Rock School District's plans for a new high school in southwest Little Rock will be discussed at the monthly meeting of the Southwest Little Rock United for Progress organization on Monday.
The 6:30 p.m. session at the Southwest Little Rock Community Center, 6400 Baseline Road, is open to the public.
The Little Rock school system is planning a new school on property behind the Home Depot and Wal-Mart stores. The new school would replace McClellan and Fair high schools.
District leaders plan to ask voters for the extension of 12.4 property-tax mills at a special election later this year to help finance the new school and improvements at other campuses.
Metro on 02/05/2017