Property tax rate fails symbolic vote
A majority of voters in the Jacksonville/North Pulaski School District in Tuesday's election voted against the district's current property tax rate of 48.3 mills.
The vote on the tax, according to complete but as yet uncertified results:
For 991
Against 1,611
But the vote is symbolic at most. The rate will not change, nor had the district proposed a change.
Millage rates have to be on the ballot at least once a year in a district, regardless of whether a district is seeking any change in its rate. That's required under Article 14, Section 3 of the state constitution.
If a district is seeking no change in its tax rate, residents vote on the current tax rate. No matter how the vote turns out, the existing millage rate will remain at the current level.
Although the election outcome won't change a district's tax rate in a year when no change is sought, votes on those rates are sometimes viewed as gauges of public support or dissatisfaction with a school system.
Tuesday's election also returned three people to the School Board. Daniel Gray, Ava Coleman and Dena Toney were elected without opposition to the seven-member board.
Teacher lectures begin next month
Sydney Chaffee, the 2017 National Teacher of the Year, will the the first speaker of the Arkansas Department of Education's 2018-19 Teach Arkansas Lecture Series.
Chaffee's address and related activities will begin at 5 p.m. June 4 at the Ron Robinson Theater, 100 River Market Ave., in Little Rock. "Be Student-Focused With Culturally Responsive Teaching" is her topic.
The event is for those interested in becoming teachers or returning to the profession. Attendees will have the opportunity to network and learn about Arkansas education supports and opportunities. An "unconference" will allow educators to informally explore topics including assessments for state teacher licensure, the science of reading, teacher leadership, family engagement and micro-credentials.
Chaffee is a humanities teacher at Codman Academy Charter Public School in Boston.
Admission to the event is free but registration is required at teacharkansaslectureseriesone.eventbrite.com.
Blytheville's KIPP salutes first grads
KIPP Delta's Blytheville Collegiate High School graduated its first class on Friday, a total of 36 students -- 17 of whom were in the 2010 class of fifth-graders who started in the Knowledge Is Power Program charter school's first year of operation.
The Blytheville campus is one of two KIPP Delta high schools. The older KIPP Delta Collegiate High School in Helena-West Helena graduated 39 students on Thursday.
Graduates from the two schools were offered a combined $13 million in scholarships over four years, with $7.8 million of that offered to the Blytheville class, Chintan Desai, program manager for the charter school system, said.
Three students -- two from Blytheville and one from Helena-West Helena -- were selected for the Goldberg Scholarship, an annual scholarship meant to empower a new generation of diverse leaders. Anika Mittal (Blytheville), Kayla Perry (Blytheville), and Rachael Murdock (Helena-West Helena) are among 30 students who were selected from nearly 350 applicants in KIPP schools nationwide to be part of the Goldberg Scholars cohort.
Catholic school starts fundraising
St. Edward School, a Catholic school in Little Rock serving pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, is in the midst of fundraising to ensure its future operations, the Arkansas Catholic newspaper reported in its May 24 edition.
The 143-student school at 805 Sherman St., across Ninth Street from MacArthur Park, is the focus of an online GoFundMe campaign to raise $150,000, as well as other money-raising efforts, to carry the school beyond the 2018-19 school year.
The school, which is about 130 years old, has experienced not only a decline of about 20 students over recent years but is also challenged by a student body in which about 60 percent require financial assistance to meet tuition costs, Arkansas Catholic reported.
Lawyer asks judge to tour 3 schools
Sam Jones, an attorney for the Pulaski County Special School District, has invited U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. to tour in early August the new Mills High and Robinson Middle schools along with the older Maumelle High School.
"We believe that a first-hand viewing would prove productive and informative to the Court and would be an efficient use of the Court's scarce time," Jones said in a letter to Marshall on Friday. Jones suggested the week of Aug. 6 for the tour.
Last September, Pulaski County Special district officials reported to the judge that certain aspects of the facilities at Robinson "may involve features that could be subjectively if not objectively regarded as superior to certain of those at Mills."
The district remains under court supervision of its efforts to eliminate inequities in the condition of its school buildings. Since September, district leaders have been working to ensure that the new campuses are equitable and at least comparable to the older Maumelle High.
Metro on 05/27/2018