North Little Rock Superintendent Greg Pilewski and School Board members acquiesced Tuesday to the majority of parents who said in a recent survey that they don't want their students to be required to wear school uniforms.
The board voted to retain the district's current student dress code policy -- including its provision against wearing hoods or hats on heads while indoors -- at a special meeting in which the board also:
Extended Pilewski's contract through June 2026 and raised his annual salary from $195,000 to $215,000.
Prepared for a vote later this month on plans to change the start and dismissal times for elementary school students.
Heard tentative plans for the district's $1.9 million purchase of a two-story, 13,478 square foot office building 3201 Arkansas 161 in the Protho Junction area, just outside the school district's boundaries.
Pilewski and his staff, at the urging of the board and community members, polled staff and parents about the possibility of returning to the pre-covid-19 pandemic practice of requiring students to wear uniforms and also banning the wearing of hoodies in the schools.
A total of 2,380 parents and caregivers responded to the survey over a 15-day period in May, as did 741 school system employees.
While 53.6% of the employees who participated in the survey indicated support for student uniforms, 76.2% of parents said they were not in favor.
Richard Tatum, a parent of four, told board members in advance of their vote that he was adamantly opposed to requiring uniforms because of the financial burden the clothing requirements could place on families. He said in his own household there would have to be at least 12 uniforms to start -- three per student -- and that number could increase as the clothing is outgrown or worn out during a school year.
As for banning hoodies, Tatum said the district would have to define exactly what a hoodie is. Would the definition include a jacket or coat that has an attached hood? he asked.
"As superintendent and based on the response from the community, I am recommending no change in the dress code policy," Pilewski told the board.
Board members voted unanimously to maintain the status quo, but board member Rochelle Redus -- who made the motion to keep the dress code as is -- said she would prefer that all students, kindergarten through 12th grade, be required to wear uniforms.
Board member Angela Person-West said that while she voted in support of the parents' wishes, she also would prefer uniforms for students up to eighth grade. She warned that she will be supportive of disciplinary actions for those who violate the dress code.
"The parents said what they want," Board President Dorothy Williams said. "We are supporting you because you support us," she said to parents.
Buying property
Disintegrating sewer and electrical lines, as well as leaky windows, make the district's administrative annex on Poplar Street ripe for replacement, Pilewski and Chief Financial Officer Brian Brown told the School Board in proposing the purchase of the Arkansas 161 property.
Brown told the board that the district cannot adequately renovate any of its existing properties for a cost lower than the office building purchase. The building is currently owned by Applied Technology Group, Inc.
The move-in-ready building could house some 50 employees, including technology and special services employees by later this summer, Brown said.
The property is in the North Little Rock city limits but in the Pulaski County Special School District. The North Little Rock district will have to receive approval from the Pulaski County Special district to annex the nearly two acres that shares one boundary line with the North Little Rock district, Brown said.
Federal court
The annexation would also be subject to federal court approval because the Pulaski County Special district remains a party in a long-running school desegregation lawsuit. The Arkansas Board of Education will also have to approve the land transfer, Brown said.
Pilewski is expected to sign a contract today that will authorize district leaders to do a feasibility study on the site. The final sale of the property to the North Little Rock district will be conditioned on the School Board's vote in the coming weeks, district leaders said Tuesday.
Board meeting
North Little Rock School Board members are meeting at 9 a.m. today to tour the administrative annex building as well as Ole Main, the former North Little Rock police and courts building, and the city's former octagon building.