Education notebook

FEF-Arkansas joins LEARNS suit parties

The organization selected by state leaders in April to manage the day-to-day operations of the Marvell-Elaine School District has joined the parties in the Pulaski County Circuit Court lawsuit over the Arkansas LEARNS Act.

FEF-Arkansas -- which is an affiliate of the Friendship Education Foundation Inc. that sponsors open-enrollment charter schools in Little Rock and Pine Bluff -- was picked to run the state-controlled, 306-student Marvell-Elaine School District starting with the coming 2023-24 school year. State leaders have said repeatedly that Marvell-Elaine was not becoming a charter school despite management by the Friendship Education Foundation affiliate.

The lawsuit filed earlier this month by Marvell-Elaine residents and others argues that legislators did not properly attach an emergency clause to the LEARNS Act, or Act 237 of 2023. The plaintiffs contend that the act is not yet in effect and that the selection of FEF to run the Marvell-Elaine system is not valid.

Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright on Friday has temporarily stopped state officials from implementing any aspect of Act 237, including any action in regard to a transformation contract for Marvell-Elaine until the act becomes law. The judge has scheduled a hearing in the case for June 20.

"Friendship remains committed to the families of Marvell-Elaine, and remains committed to offering a world-class education in Phillips County," Joe Harris, chief executive officer FEF-Arkansas, said Friday night..

"Friendship has already filed an appeal to immediately take this up to the Supreme Court so that this can be sorted out and school can still open as planned in August. Friendship stands with the many students and parents of Marvell and Elaine who want to build the best school possible in their communities," said Harris.

FEF is represented by Devin Bates of the Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard law firm in Little Rock.

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin has also submitted to the Arkansas Supreme Court a notice of plans to appeal Wright's order.

Social media leak upsets S.C. board

Pulaski County Special School District Superintendent Charles McNulty was one of two finalists to withdraw last week from consideration as a finalist for the superintendent's job in Charleston County, S.C.

The South Carolina school board blamed the loss of two of its three finalists on a premature announcement of candidate names.

"To our dismay, this past Tuesday evening before the top three candidates' names and resumes were ready to be put forth publicly, a Facebook group leaked their names," the board said in a news release to its community.

"This premature release caused confusion and frustration amongst our candidates, who had not yet had the opportunity to speak to their current districts regarding their top three selection.

"Subsequently, two of the top three notified CCSD that they would pull their names from the selection process. The Board is extremely disappointed that the process of selection has been upended and has apologized for the position this put two of the candidates in."

"CCSD remains committed to an open and transparent process and will not let the actions of a few rogue actors hiding behind the cloak of social media deter us from selecting the best leader for our district. To uphold the integrity of the search process, and to be fair to the remaining candidate, we will be moving forward with the search as planned," the district board stated.

7 principals hired in county district

The School Board for the Pulaski County Special School District last week approved the hiring of five elementary principals and two high school principals who are yet to be assigned to specific schools.

The five elementary principals are Neely Claassen, Anjelica Evans, Britney Hickman, Staisey Hodge and Erikka Johnson. The two selected for high school jobs are Matthew Nicholas Farr and Teresa Moka. The two open jobs in the district's high schools are at Mills University Studies High and Maumelle High School.

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