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State Board Of Education To Get Update On Distress Schools, Reconsider Testing Vote.

state board of education little rock school district takeover
Brian Chilson
/
Arkansas Times

The Arkansas State Board of Education will review year-end reports from the Arkansas Department of Education Thursday on the progress of Little Rock’s six schools in academic distress.

Specialists found discipline and staff morale issues in several schools, including Hall and McClellan High Schools. They said Henderson Middle School and J.A. Fair High School saw less behavioral issues this year. The state took over the district in January because of the distressed schools.

Little Rock School District Superintendent Baker Kurrus said he plans to launch planning discussions with school leaders in low-performing schools going forward.

"There are some common threads that seem to run through those schools that are listed as being in distress and one of them is a lack of morale. It's a simple thing to say but a difficult thing to change," he said.

Kurrus said he is re-organizing the district and getting leaders together for new conversations to improve morale and focus.

"The Assistant Principals, Principals and staff are going to work together as a group," he said. "We're going to pursue that process collaboratively and I think it will have a major impact on the climate in the school,” said Kurrus. 

Kurrus also plans to update the board on his detailed plans for Baseline Elementary School, as well as his financial goals for the district, which will lose nearly $38 million in annual desegregation funding by 2017.

Staff from the Department of Education are also scheduled to ask the State Board of Education to reconsider a 7-1 decision from last month to refuse a contract with ACT and ACT Aspire assessments, and to continue use of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Career, or PARCC test.

PARCC is a Common Core tied-assessment Governor Asa Hutchinson has said the state will not contract with again this year following recommendations of his task force on Common Core, led by Lt. Governor Tim Griffin. 

Sarah Whites-Koditschek is a former News Anchor/ Reporter for KUAR News and Arkansas Public Media.