Pine Bluff School District students and residents spoke loudly -- they did not want a temporary relocation of Pine Bluff High School to Jack Robey Junior High School, even if it was for safety reasons.
Superintendent Barbara Warren announced Tuesday at a facilities committee meeting the idea was taken off the table, adding she didn't want it to become a distraction in the process to restore local control of the state-controlled district. PBSD officials considered Robey a potential high school site because it provided fewer points of entry than the multi-building PBHS at a time when security in public schools has been of major concern at the high school campus.
"There was lots of angst in the community about making the shift, so this will be leaving us in the same position," Warren said. "We're wanting to reduce any distractions because this is a huge transition the district went through for annexation [of the Dollarway School District]."
Dollarway was annexed into the PBSD on July 1, 2021. Both districts were taken over by the Arkansas Department of Education for fiscal distress.
The plan for realigning campuses by grade levels has changed since a previous committee meeting March 29. Instead of seventh- and eighth-graders uniting under one campus, Jack Robey and Robert F. Morehead Middle School -- both of which presently serve grades 6-8, will remain open and house grades 7-9. That will allow the district to "reduce its footprint" on PBHS and allow for on-campus fencing to secure the campus while aligning students to a smaller area, Warren said.
Moving ninth-graders back to a junior-high format also addresses a staffing issue within the district, she added.
"It's easier to find elementary teachers, but it's harder to find secondary teachers," Warren said. "This will reduce the number of students we need teachers for."
Warren earlier announced a plan to move sixth-graders back to elementary teachers to help with staffing issues.
Still, many stakeholders challenged Warren on not consolidating the three former Dollarway district campuses with the six PBSD campuses before annexation. Critics of keeping the Dollarway campuses open say the PBSD is spending too much money by operating them rather than merging the student bodies.
"There was not enough money to keep Dollarway open. That's why we had to annex it," said Charline Wright, a former teacher and chair of the PBSD Concerned Stakeholders. "When you keep the schools open, it impacts Level 5 and fiscal support. This is not the first time we lost high schools."
Prior to annexation, the Dollarway district enrolled 907 students in all grades, and the PBSD enrolled 2,912 students. The annexed PBSD enrolls 3,576 students, including 890 at PBHS and 231 at Dollarway High.
Retrofitting PBHS at its present West 11th Avenue location is part of the master facilities plan the district submitted to the state Board of Education by Feb. 1, Warren said, although she clarified possibly re-establishing the former Belair Elementary School campus as a high school is still an option. A limited-authority board, which could be established by the start of the 2022-23 school year, will make the final decision on where the new high school will be established.
The new high school will merge both Dollarway and Pine Bluff high schools when built, Warren said.
Another meeting attendee called out residents in the former Dollarway district for their absence in the meeting.
"Can we get some Dollarway people here?" said the attendee, who indicated he's a PBHS alumnus.
A show of hands indicated two people either employed at a Dollarway campus or residing in the former district zone attended.
The attendees also broke up in groups to submit five topics each for future discussion about facilities.
The next facilities meeting will be held at 6 p.m. May 24 at the PBHS cafeteria.
Pine Bluff High School teacher Sha'nee Hulsey asks a question about making more activities available to students during a facilities meeting Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at the school cafeteria. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)
Pine Bluff School District teacher Tavorres Eskew makes comments about ninth-graders moving to middle school campuses during a facilities meeting Tuesday, April 26, 2022, at the school cafeteria. (Pine Bluff Commercial/I.C. Murrell)