Little Rock city directors: Schools facing ax due a study

Board joins activists’ call for impact assessment first

A map showing the Little Rock School District schools to close or be repurposed
A map showing the Little Rock School District schools to close or be repurposed

Little Rock's elected officials have joined community activists in a request for the Little Rock School District and state commissioner of education to conduct an impact study before closing three schools and repurposing another.

The city Board of Directors voted 8-1 Tuesday night to request the study, something the Save Our Schools grass-roots effort of parents and neighborhood activists has been seeking for some time.

City Director Lance Hines was absent and didn't vote, and City Director Joan Adcock was the lone no vote.

Voting for the resolution were Vice Mayor and City Director Kathy Webb, who introduced and drafted it, and City Directors Erma Hendrix, Ken Richardson, Capi Peck, Doris Wright, B.J. Wyrick, Gene Fortson and Dean Kumpuris.

The board's request doesn't carry much weight in terms of bringing about a study.

That decision lies with Arkansas Education Commissioner Johnny Key, who has served as the decision-maker for the school district since a state takeover in 2015 dissolved the locally elected school board.

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Key had already said after being told of the city board's plans that the resolution wouldn't change his mind.

"If they pass it, that would be their opinion, but I've addressed the issue of impact statements. I really don't have anything else to add on that," he said at the time the item was first introduced for the board's consideration.

Adcock said after Tuesday's meeting that she voted against the resolution because it had no teeth.

"This doesn't say anything. This just says we are going to request of them. We already have been told by them they are not going to do this. So what did we do except just feel good for these people? I think we need to understand that studies cost money. The school district has no money. The city of Little Rock, we are not going to pay for it. So I think it's just a very feel-good thing that was passed," Adcock said.

Key announced earlier this year that he approved the school district's proposal to close Franklin Elementary, Woodruff Early Childhood Center and the Hamilton Learning Academy. He also approved the repurposing of Wilson Elementary to take on Hamilton's alternative education program for secondary-school students who are not successful in their regular schools.

Anita Whitfield, spokesman for the Save Our Schools group, said activists are still holding out hope that an impact study will be completed, despite Key's remarks.

"If Key nor [Little Rock School District Superintendent Michael] Poore decide to do an impact study, we can gather information from past school closures from residents and neighborhoods that were impacted by the closures of ... schools south of Interstate 630," Whitfield said.

Richardson pointed out that data show there's an increase in criminal activity in a neighborhood where vacant buildings are located, and said an impact study on the current school closures could provide such information.

Whitfield thanked the board for its resolution Tuesday but also noted that the community had been asking for such a sign of support from city leaders since November when Poore first announced his plan to close schools.

Asked if the resolution was moot since Key had already made his decision, Webb has said the vote still mattered. She said it's important for the board to speak out for neighborhoods and take a public stance.

Originally, she had planned to introduce the resolution sooner. She said someone with the Save Our Schools movement asked her hold off. Others with the grass-roots coalition, such as Whitfield, protested against the delay in bringing the resolution forward.

The resolution states that the city "believes that strong neighborhoods are anchored by strong institutions, such as houses of worship, health care facilities, recreational outlets and neighborhood schools supported by the residents."

The board "shares the concerns of the families, other residents, other stakeholders, and other supporters about the effects closures would have on the viability of their neighborhood" and an impact study is merited to inform decision making regarding schools and neighborhoods, it says.

The school district says it will save $3.8 million by closing and re-purposing the schools, which is part of about $11 million in reductions planned for the district's more than $300 million budget.

The cuts, which also include streamlining middle and high school staffing, reducing administrative positions, and cutting some school bus transportation expenses, are being combined with cuts made this year and in past years to offset the loss of $37.3 million a year in state desegregation aid. That special state funding will stop after the 2017-18 school year under a 2014 agreement to settle part of a now 34-year-old school desegregation case.

Metro on 03/22/2017

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