Dollarway School District Superintendent Barbara Warren has mixed emotions as a decision on the future of the Dollarway School District will be made today by the Arkansas State Board of Education on whether to reconstitute, annex or consolidate the district with the Pine Bluff School District.
The Dollarway School District was placed under the direction of Commissioner Johnny Key, of the state Education Department, on Dec. 10, 2015, due to academic and fiscal distress.
Under state authority, the local school board was dissolved, and Key appointed Barbara Warren as superintendent. She now holds dual superintendent duties for both the Dollarway and the Pine Bluff school districts.
During the Dec. 2 state board's working session, Education Department staff said that while the district had made improvements over the past five years, it had not progressed far enough to be turned back over to local control.
Stacy Smith, assistant commissioner for learning services in the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, said the Dollarway School District had not met the exit criteria due to a declining balance, which was attributed mainly to a consistent loss of enrollment over the years. Smith also said that Key had not made a recommendation to return the Dollarway district to local control.
The Education Department partnered with WestEd, an education consulting firm, to assess the relative fitness of the Dollarway district, as well as to collect and analyze community input that would be used to inform the department's decision. For the past two months, WestEd attempted to elicit comments and input from various community stakeholders, but despite those efforts, few people responded.
"I know this is a decision that the state Board of Education makes, and ultimately I think they have done a really good job-- Secretary Key, Stacy Smith, and her team on gathering information and giving the state board good information," said Warren. "It has been pointed out to us that the Pine Bluff School District community hasn't had as much information, and I definitely think, looking back, that is something we could have most definitely improved on."
Public opinion was collected up until Monday and has been submitted to the Education Department for review before it makes its final decision. "I am feeling both hopeful and concerned," said Warren.
Warren said she is concerned because there is significant work ahead as she attempts to make improvements at both school districts. If the board does annex Dollarway into Pine Bluff, Dollarway will be joining a district that is itself under state control because of its own problems.
"The concern is related to just how we will move forward and if we will get bogged down by other things," said Warren.
During the Dec. 2 meeting, Warren said that her job, while hard, is one that she is happy to do. But she said that in order for her to get things accomplished and to take the districts to a level sufficient to be removed from state control, distractions need to be reduced as much as possible.
For that reason, Warren asked for the support of the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and asked that the schools remain in the care of the department during the transition period.
That would mean that Warren would answer to Key and not to a school board.
Without going into detail as to what those distractions might be, Warren said that, once a decision is made, she has her eyes set on getting community response about what will need to happen within the joined districts.
"I am hopeful that whatever the decision is, I know we as persons that care about children and the outcome for all children, I know we can come together and do what we need to do," said Warren. "I believe that about our community; I believe that about both of these districts."
