Pine Bluff City Council member Joni Alexander speaks with state Education Secretary Johnny Key on Thursday after the Arkansas Board of Education’s decision. Key told the board that Dollarway faced “strong headwinds” and will benefit by being annexed to the Pine Bluff district.
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Staci Vandagriff)
The Arkansas Board of Education voted 7-0 Thursday to annex the 920-student Dollarway School District to the Pine Bluff School District, both in Jefferson County, effective July 1.
The annexation plan envisions all campuses in the newly expanded district to remain open, including the two high schools -- one home to the Zebras and the other home to the Cardinals.
Further, the annexation plan has the effect of continued state intervention for the Dollarway community because the Pine Bluff district is operating under state control and that will continue as the district boundaries are expanded. The expanded district will be eligible for extra state funding for two school years as the result of the annexation.
The state Education Board vote comes five years after the Dollarway School District was taken over by the state -- its school board dissolved and its superintendent replaced by a state-appointed executive.
That was done initially because of chronically low student results on state-required math and literacy tests. The district was later categorized as being in fiscal distress -- as well as in academic distress -- because of audit findings of financial mismanagement and the routine practice of dipping into reserve funds to meet expenses.
After five years of state control, the state Education Board by law must return a district to the governance of a locally elected school board if the district has met the criteria for correcting the academic and financial problems.
Short of a district meeting exit criteria, the Education Board after five years must either reconstitute a district by giving it a different form of governance, annex it to make it a part of another district, or consolidate it with another district to create an all new district.
Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said Thursday that while progress has been made in the district's academic program and financial management, he was unable to certify to the Education Board that the conditions that resulted in fiscal distress and the classification of the district as needing Level 5 -- intensive academic support were resolved.
"Under the leadership of Barbara Warren, Dollarway has made great strides," Key told the state board, referring to the state-appointed superintendent.
"The district has made significant progress both fiscally and academically," he said. "Dollarway now has stronger financial management policies, practices and procedures. Teachers have benefited from an improved salary schedule. Dollarway has right-sized its campus footprint to serve its student community better."
But the district that has a year-to-year declining student enrollment and is in the midst of a covid-19 pandemic "faces strong headwinds" if it is to exist as an independent system, Key also said. Enrollment declines lessen state funding to a district.
As for academics, Key pointed to recent reports that the district is improving, but it is not yet at a place where it can sustain the efforts for student success independent of state support.
"More time and support are needed," Key said. "The [Elementary and Secondary Education] division is committed to providing the support, but under the current statute, we don't have a mechanism to extend the time for Dollarway." He recommended the annexation of the Dollarway system into the Pine Bluff district.
"As a unified district, the consolidation of operations will generate substantial financial savings," he said.
"The academic improvement support provided by the division ... can and will continue seamlessly, and I believe there will be greater synergy in this work by having the education professionals from all campuses operating as one team," Key said.
The 2,799-student Pine Bluff district, which also operates under state control for academic and financial problems, will -- with the annexation of the Dollarway system -- continue to be known as the Pine Bluff district. All school campuses in the newly expanded district will remain open unless closure is approved by the state Education Board, according to the terms of the Education Board vote.
Additionally, the state Elementary and Secondary Education Division will establish a transition committee with personnel from the receiving Pine Bluff district and from the affected Dollarway district to provide feedback and assist in communication efforts to the district's employees and the community about merging salary schedules, policies and other matters regarding internal operations.
He said the transition committee will stop short of being a state-appointed community advisory board to him, which was used in the Little Rock School District while it has been under state control.
Warren, the state-appointed superintendent of the Dollarway district since 2015 and who took on the added role of state-appointed superintendent of the Pine Bluff district earlier this calendar year, is expected to remain as the state-directed superintendent of the expanded Pine Bluff district.
Three residents of Jefferson County addressed the board before the vote on the annexation, including Ryan Watley, the chief executive officer of Go Forward Pine Bluff, which is spearheading revitalization efforts in that city and has done its own study regarding public school education in the county.
Watley said many in that effort have concluded that the existing districts cannot continue to operate independently because of inadequacies, inequalities and deplorable facilities.
"I ask you today to make unapologetic decisions as if your child or grandchild is attending school in Pine Bluff," Watley said. "I urge you to provide intentional direction that gives students the best opportunity to be successful in life," he added.
"Everything that Pine Bluff is doing hinges on the progression of our schools," he said, also asking that innovative community members be involved.
In response to questions from Education Board members, Warren -- the superintendent of both affected districts -- said community residents tell her that they didn't get enough opportunities to participate in decision-making for Dollarway's future, despite the state's employment of consultants to help solicit that input.
Warren also said those she has talked with realize that a change will happen and they tell her "whatever happens, we are there for you."
Education Board member Kathy McFetridge of Springdale told Warren that she couldn't thank Warren enough for her efforts in the districts and that she wants to make sure Warren has all the support she needs as head of the expanded Pine Bluff system.
Education Board member Ouida Newton of Leola said that while her heart is always with small school systems, the data provided by the division and Warren helped with the annexation decision. That could provide students with opportunities they may not even dream are possible, she said.
In response to a question from Education Board chairwoman Charisse Dean of Little Rock, state Office of Coordinated Services and Support Director Stacy Smith listed the state agency staff who will periodically work on-site in Pine Bluff to help with the district"s central administration, school principals, curriculum, special services such as special education, and finances.
"There is support," Smith said. "We have to get the first six months right, and after that, it will be about what we are working towards" in regard to expanded student opportunities
The recent process for deciding Dollarway's future -- including the employment of national consultants to survey and analyze data, and explore options -- has been dramatically different from last year's process for determining how to release the much larger Little Rock district from state control. That process, which didn't involve the consultant groups, resulted in raucous public forums, angry crowds at Education Board meetings, calls to the governor, the end to employee union recognition and a one-day teacher strike.
