A bill that would no longer require the state Board of Education to administratively consolidate school districts with fewer than 350 students into one or more school districts zipped through the Arkansas Senate on Monday.
The Arkansas Senate voted 35-0 to send Senate Bill 262 by Sen. John Payton, R-Wilburn, to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
Payton told senators the state has consolidated many rural school districts because they didn't keep an enrollment of 350 students.
"Several times over the years in visiting with my rural school superintendents and principals and teachers, they have been concerned for years about school choice maybe cutting into their enrollment in a way that would jeopardize them being able to not be consolidated," he said.
"This bill eliminates that 350 number and the list of schools that are under 350 enrollment, just in case one of the rural schools drops below that number," so the school won't be threatened with consolidation, Payton said.
He said his Senate district is littered with schools that were shut down, and the communities fizzled out when the schools were shut down.
School districts with fewer than 350 students may still voluntarily agree to administratively consolidate with or be annexed to another school district or school districts, and the state Board of Education would be required to promptly consider petitions submitted by these school districts under SB262.
Under Act 60 of 2004, school districts with fewer than 350 students are required to consolidate. Act 377 of 2015 allows school districts with student enrollment that falls below 350 that are not in financial, academic or facilities distress to apply to the state Board of Education for a waiver to continue to operate independently.
In January 2004, then-Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee said he would let the bill requiring the consolidation of school districts with fewer than 350 students passed by the Democratic-controlled Legislature become law without his signature. The bill became Act 60 of 2004. Huckabee preferred to consolidate districts that have up to 500 students, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's archives.
At that time, Huckabee said the bill, sponsored by then-state Rep. Will Bond, D-Jacksonville was "pathetically less" than the ideal consolidation goal, but he wouldn't veto it because he didn't want to be a "mere obstructionist" to the Legislature's "best effort."
Bond said at the time that he was frustrated with Huckabee's pessimistic view of the bill.
"Keep in mind, you're asking the Legislature to close some of their districts and fund that closing, which is very difficult politically," he said. "So the governor, like I've said, needs to take some credit for the successes, and the public needs to be informed that there's some good things that have happened down here [in a special session on education]."
At that time, state officials said the legislation would consolidate 58 of the state's 308 districts by July 1, 2004.
The state currently has 237 traditional school districts, not including public charter schools.
Sen. Linda Chesterfield, D-Little Rock, voted for the bill that became Act 60 of 2004, according to the General Assembly's website. She voted Monday for SB262. She could not be reached for comment by telephone late Monday afternoon.
Huckabee is the father of Republican Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Last month, Payton said he filed Senate Bill 262 in part because rural school district superintendents are worried about "school choice" making it more difficult to maintain an enrollment of 350 students to avoid being consolidated.
Last month, Sen. Breanne Davis, R-Russellville, the sponsor of Sanders' education overhaul bill, said the legislation "is not going to produce consolidation" of school districts.
Sanders' office said last month that it's a myth that Educational Freedom Accounts will hurt public education and close rural schools.
"Actually the opposite is true," the governor's office said in its news release. "Research shows that Educational Freedom Accounts lead to better outcomes in traditional public schools. That's because they empower parents of all incomes to customize their child's education; if the local school district is the best option, it won't lose any kids."