Public gets chance to name LR school
The first high school to be constructed by the Little Rock district in decades is in want of a name.
The district is asking the public to submit ideas for names for a new 2,200-student high school in southwest Little Rock by 5 p.m. Wednesday. The nominations are being accepted at a link on the district's website: lrsd.org.
If a proposed name is that of a person, the district is asking that the nominator explain why the name should be considered.
The district also explains the legal restrictions for naming a publicly funded structure for a person who is living. It's not prohibited, but there are restrictions -- especially if the person was an elected official or held a paid federal, state, county or municipal government position within the past 10 years.
The nominations will be reviewed by a committee made up of student and parent representatives from J.A. Fair and McClellan high schools, community and business representatives and district employees. The new high school will replace Fair and McClellan.
The committee's recommendation will be submitted to Superintendent Mike Poore and his recommendation will be submitted to Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key, who acts as the school board for the district that is operating under state control and without an elected school board.
The district's high schools are Central, Parkview Magnet, Hall, J.A. Fair and McClellan. Hall was named for R.C. Hall, superintendent from 1909 to 1941. Fair, built by the Pulaski County Special School District and acquired by the Little Rock district in 1987, was named for James Augustus Fair, an educator and a school board member in the Pulaski County Special district. McClellan was named for the late U.S. Sen. John McClellan, D-Ark., who served in the Senate from 1942 until his death in 1977.
Jacksonville district fills seat on board
Ava Coleman is the newest member of the School Board for the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District.
She was selected from among five applicants for the Zone 2 board seat that was vacant after Carol Miles' recent resignation for health reasons.
Coleman recently began work for the College of Nursing at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences where her focus is on promoting careers in the health professions. She is a former school secretary in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District and before that was a family/community coordinator with Lighthouse Academies of Arkansas, which is a charter school system.
Coleman has a bachelor's of professional studies in community outreach from Arkansas Tech University, according to biographical material she submitted for the School Board position. She is working toward a master's of human and social services from Walden University.
As an appointed member, she can serve only until the next school board election, which will be in 2018. She must run for election and win to continue board service.
Board membership is unpaid.
Others who applied were H. Phillip Carlisle, Vivian Brittenum, Ryan Maxwell and Jasmine Wakefield.
New Helena group to support schools
The Helena-West Helena Public School Foundation has been established to support academic programs in the Helena-West Helena School District.
Suzann McCommon, director of the Great Rivers Educational Cooperative and a former superintendent of the district, is the organization's president.
"The formation of an organization like this to foster increased support for our public school district in Helena-West Helena is long overdue and it is an honor for me to get to serve in this capacity," McCommon said. "Communities throughout the state have formed these foundations and raised substantial sums of private support for their districts at a time of shrinking resources, and they have benefited greatly."
The organization's early plans include raising money by selling $100 alumni bricks for campus sidewalks.
The foundation also has been given authority by the School Board to develop recognition programs, including the awarding of naming rights to interior rooms or other features in the new high school, which will help pay for furnishing the state-of-the-art building. A $275 check, for example, will purchase a seat in the new auditorium. More information is on the foundation's website: www.hwhpsfoundation.org.
Metro on 10/30/2017