The fate of the Dollarway School District may well be included in a 154-page report being handed to the state Board of Education this morning, although the likelihood of the district being returned to local control seemed low, based on the Education Department's own analysis.
The report is the result of a study conducted for the state Education Department by West-Ed, a research firm tasked with organizing small-group community discussions about the Dollarway district as well as with taking an in-depth look at the district's academic status as well as its finances, which are being buffeted by declining enrollment and revenue.
The board is receiving the information at its November meeting, with a decision expected at its meeting on Dec. 10. The report today is to be presented in conjunction with a seven-page analysis report from Stacy Smith, director of the Office of Coordinated Support and Service Division of Elementary and Secondary Education.
"The Dollarway School District was placed under state authority on December 10, 2015, after being classified in academic distress," Smith said in her exit criteria review. "The State Board of Education, at that time, placed the Dollarway School District under the direction of the Commissioner of Education."
Dollarway was classified as in need of Level 5 Intensive Support centered around academic distress and other factors such as financial instability, according to Smith.
"Fiscal instability continues to be a concern for the district with declining enrollment as the primary reason for the loss of revenue and continued declining legal ending balance," said Smith.
Smith said in an earlier interview with the Pine Bluff Commercial that, because Dollarway has been under state authority for five years, the state Board of Education, by the end of December, has to make a determination as to whether the district should be returned to local control, annexed to another district, consolidated with another district, or have its governance reconstituted, which can take a variety of forms. In short, under the conditions of the Arkansas Educational Support and Accountability Act, the state does not have the authority to continue state control over the Dollarway district beyond five years.
In her report, Smith said that as the district finishes up its fifth year under state control, "it is evident much work has been done and should be acknowledged. Greater fiscal awareness and instructional shifts are highlights of the progress the district has made. District leadership has put forth much effort to improve the quality of instruction for students, retain high quality teachers, and become more knowledgeable regarding school finance."
However, Smith said, despite the efforts and improvements, the "district continues to combat many issues that are often beyond their control. These issues include, but are not limited to, declining enrollment, lack of economic development and teacher turnover."
She said the district has made significant strides regarding climate and culture. "However, fiscal challenges, as well as recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers, continue to plague the district," she said.
The last sentence of Smith's report was perhaps the most telling. "Overall Exit Criteria shows steady progress for the district with direct support," she wrote, "but does not rise to the level of returning to local control without continuous direct support."
The WestEd report looked at Dollarway's academic situation as well as its fiscal outlook. One of the problems with the academic outlook is the high teacher turnover rate, meaning that many teachers -- 37% -- are novices.
On the financial end, the report noted falling enrollment and ending balances. In fiscal year 2017, the district had an ending balance of $3.2 million. In fiscal year 2021, it is project that the district will have an ending balance of less than $153,000.
A significant driver of revenue is enrollment with a district receiving about $7,000 per student per year. Dollarway had 1,171 students in fiscal year 2017, and in fiscal year 2021, it is projected the district's enrollment will have dropped to 904, with steady decreases each year.
It's almost impossible to discuss the Dollarway School District's future without also discussing the Pine Bluff School Distict's as well. Both are under state control, and both are being run by one superintendent, Barbara Warren, who was placed in those positions by the state Education Department. If Dollarway is consolidated, it would appear likely that it would be joined with Pine Bluff because Pine Bluff is having some of the same problems as Dollarway when it comes to finances.
"Generally, fiscal distress classification caused by a declining enrollment that has made it difficult in keeping the school [Dollarway] viable is the reason," said Smith, who works with academically and financially struggling schools, when explaining the reasons for consolidation during an earlier interview. "Dollarway and Pine Bluff are both in fiscal distress, and receiving Level 5 support under AESEA."
A return to local control would mean the Dollarway district would be governed by a locally elected school board. Annexation would mean the district would become part of another school district, and the other school district would maintain leadership over all of the schools in the district.
Consolidation would mean that Dollarway and another school district would merge and become a new, larger school district. The two districts would "combine operations, assets, and leadership and will operate under one unified strategy," stated an education department description of the term.
And a reconstitution would mean the Dollarway district would be governed "in a manner decided by the state Board of Education to maintain progress toward improvement," according the education department.
Go Forward Pine Bluff had hired researchers to look at the possible consolidation of Pine Bluff, Dollarway and the Watson Chapel school districts, but state officials have said that Watson Chapel is not under consideration because it is not in a situation of state takeover.
Even though the other school district in question of the merger was not identified in the report, in the Methodology Overview, it stated elements not included in the analysis were an impact analysis of the annexation and consolidation of Dollarway with other Jefferson County school districts beyond Pine Bluff (e.g., White Hall, Watson-Chapel).
Commissioner Johnny Key of the Arkansas Department of Education confirmed in a previous interview with the Pine Bluff Commercial that Watson Chapel was not being considered in the consolidation conversation.
