Superintendent at Benton chosen
Kim Anderson has been selected to be the superintendent of the 5,600-student Benton School District, the district announced on Wednesday.
Anderson, an assistant superintendent in the district since 2017, has been serving in the chief executive role on an interim basis since October.
That was when the district's School Board announced that it had decided to go in a different leadership direction and that Mike Skelton, the district's superintendent since 2016, was no longer in the position.
Anderson has been an educator for about three decades in roles such as teacher, coach, library media specialist, technology coordinator, school improvement specialist and professional development coordinator.
She has been an assistant superintendent in the Benton system since 2017, overseeing elementary schools, federal programs and categorical funding.
Davis to step down at Mount St. Mary
Patti Davis, the president of Mount St. Mary Academy, a girls' high school in Little Rock, announced last week that she is leaving position she has held for three years.
"After much reflection, I have made the decision to step down at the end of this school year to accept a new ministry in Catholic education as Superintendent for the Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Baton Rouge," Davis wrote to the school community.
Plans for filling the leadership vacancy have not been finalized and will be announced later, Jamie Groat, director of communications and marketing for the school, said Friday.
Little Rock School District's Rutherford planning to retire
Randy Rutherford, executive director of secondary schools for the Little Rock School District, has announced plans to retire at the end of this school year.
Rutherford has held the position since 2019. Before that, he was principal at Parkview Arts and Sciences Magnet High School for three years.
In all, he has more than 20 years of experience in the Little Rock district but also was principal of North Little Rock High School and was superintendent of the Bryant School District in 2010-2014.
LISA in Springdale has eye on funding
LISA Academy Springdale is on track to receive as much as $1.15 million from a Charter School Program Expansion Sub-grant from the Arkansas Public School Resource Center.
The LISA Academy charter school system has a kindergarten-through-eighth grade campus in Springdale. The campus will receive the money if at least 60% of the students it serves qualify for free or reduced-price school meals.
Those determinations are made based on its reports to the Arkansas Division of Elementary and Secondary Education during its first year of operation as a public charter school.
The school is approved for an enrollment of up to 500.
"This funding will allow us to continue to improve the educational options and programs for students in Northwest Arkansas," LISA Academy Superintendent Fatih Bogrek said.
"Our team is excited to be able to provide improved curriculum and technology resources, as well as extensive resources to support literacy initiatives for all students in school, especially for our English learners," Bogrek added.
The money will also provide for staff training, student behavior strategies and resources for the arts and for physical education, he said.