School-case judgerejects delay call
The presiding judge in Pulaski County's long-running federal school desegregation lawsuit is proceeding with a 1:30 p.m. Monday court hearing in the case, overruling a request from attorneys for black students for a postponement.
"The Court prefers to make some preliminary rulings now on the Robinson/Mills issues, as well as discuss scheduling for the case in general," U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. ruled last week.
At issue is whether there is parity between two newly constructed schools in the Pulaski County Special School District: Mills High in southeast Pulaski County and Robinson Middle School in west Little Rock. The Pulaski County Special district is obligated by its desegregation plan and other court orders to operate school facilities "that are clean, safe, attractive and equal."
The judge, his staff and others spent a full day last month touring the new Mills and Robinson campuses, as well as Maumelle High that is also in the Pulaski County Special district.
Monday's court hearing was previously scheduled, but it just happens to come after Little Rock School District parents last week proposed forming a partnership between the Little Rock School District and the Pulaski County Special district to assign all west Little Rock and west Pulaski County students to Little Rock's Pinnacle View Middle School and all high school students to the existing Robinson Middle and High School campuses.
John Walker, an attorney for black students known as the Joshua intervenors, asked for the hearing delay in part because of that proposal.
LR restructuring'sfinal meeting set
The Little Rock School District's fifth and final community meeting on ideas for the systemwide restructuring -- including closing, consolidating and repurposing existing schools -- is set for 5:30 p.m. Monday at Dunbar Magnet Middle School, 1100 Wright Ave.
Monday's event, like its predecessors, will be live-streamed on the district's Facebook page.
Additionally, the district is conducting a survey on the restructuring plans. Requests for a survey can be made through the district's website: lrsd.org, or more directly: https://bit.ly/2PWlRGX.
14 state districtsshow high growth
Fourteen Arkansas school districts have been identified as "high growth districts" based on enrollment increases in excess of 4 percent, according to the state's Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.
Armorel in Mississippi County showed the largest percentage growth -- 10.7 percent -- in 2016-17 as compared with the previous two school years. The average daily membership or enrollment changed from 394 to 436.
The other districts and their percentages of growth were: Wonderview, 6.6 percent; Green Forest, 6.4 percent; Harmony Grove in Saline County, 6.2 percent; Midland, 6.2 percent; Brookland, 5.9 percent; Dierks, 5.6 percent; Norfolk, 5.6 percent; Lamar, 5.4 percent; Quitman, 5.3 percent; Spring Hill, 5.3 percent; Pea Ridge, 5.2 percent; Farmington, 4.5 percent; and Woodlawn, 4.1 percent.
Eight of the listed districts have fewer than 1,000 students. The largest of the districts is Farmington in Washington County that had an average daily enrollment of 2,474 in 2016-17, followed by Brookland in Craighead County that had an average count of 2,322.
Act 962 of 2015 calls for the state division to identify high-growth districts.
Facilities projectsin state cost $3.3B
The state of Arkansas and its public school districts have spent more than $3.3 billion on 2,485 qualified academic facilities projects.
The money has been provided and spent through the state's Academic Facilities Partnership Program, which started in 2006 and includes projects through this 2018-19 fiscal year.
The state assistance program was started as a way to provide the buildings necessary for a constitutionally required adequate public education system.
The data were recently reported by the Arkansas Department of Education's Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation.
Metro on 09/23/2018