$75 application fee waived for teachers
The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday voted to waive the $75 application fee for first-time, five-year standard educator licenses as a way to ease the entry of newly trained teachers into jobs.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said earlier this month that the proposed fee waiver could help address a shortage of substitute teachers and support staff at school districts. That shortage is caused in large part by quarantines related to probable close contacts of people with the coronavirus.
The fee waiver will be available into next spring. The waiver will also apply to teachers who are transferring to Arkansas and applying for licenses for the first time.
Based on license applications over a similar time period in the past, as many as 500 people could be expected to take advantage of the fee waiver.
Ivy Pfeffer, Education Department deputy commissioner, has called the application fee waiver "a significant opportunity for us to be able to more quickly get new teachers and to be able to provide relief to our schools who may need that additional personnel."
Key chooses Smith for deputy position
Stacy Smith has been named a deputy commissioner at the Arkansas Department of Education's Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, bringing to two the number of deputy commissioners at the agency.
Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key announced Smith's appointment at the Arkansas Board of Education meeting Thursday.
Smith is a former assistant commissioner for learning services who was named earlier this year to the position of director of the Office of Coordinated Support and Service. As such, she leads the state support of districts that operate under state control.
Smith will continue in that role and also oversee the Learning Services and Public School Accountability sections of the agency.
Smith, who joins Ivy Pfeffer in the rank of deputy commissioner, has worked for the state since 2014.
She previously was principal at Hill Farm Elementary School in the Bryant School District and Fountain Lake Elementary School in the Fountain Lake School District.
She has a bachelor's degree in elementary education and a master's degree in educational leadership from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Smith, whose new salary will be $157,500, assumes her new position next week.
Williamson resigns as board member
R. Brett Williamson of El Dorado has resigned from the Arkansas Board of Education.
"My commitments at work and at home have become too great for me to be able to commit the time necessary to fulfill the requirements of my position on the board," Williamson wrote in a Nov. 20 letter to Education Secretary Johnny Key that was made public Thursday.
"I feel it is best to make room for someone with the time and energy to devote to the job," Williamson wrote, adding that he had enjoyed his board service and is proud of what the board has accomplished during the past five years.
Williamson, who is affiliated with The Murphy Foundation in El Dorado, was appointed to the nine-member Education Board in July 2015 by Gov. Asa Hutchinson. His term was to expire June 30, 2022.
Two people named to department posts
Sonja Wright-McMurray has been named the senior associate director for the state's Division of Career and Technical Education, and Teletha Leonard will serve as the human resources director for the Arkansas Department of Education.
Wright-McMurray will oversee all career-technical education programs, special populations, career coaches and accountability for the division.
Wright-McMurray has been with the division since 2009.
Leonard most recently was the senior human resources director for benefits and employee services at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.