No child with dyslexia left behind

Transcription

Report Card
June 2015
www.arsba.org
The Journal of the
Arkansas School Boards Association
No child with dyslexia left behind
“For us, this is the single most important intervention I have ever seen
in not only my school district but any
school in my 40 years as an educator.
It has positively affected more kids in
a short amount of time than anything
we have ever done.” – Dale Query,
Flippin superintendent
Interventionist Mary Humphrey
and student Caden Brown
work together using the Susan
Barton method.
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Standing from left:
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and Director of Public Finance)
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ASBA News and notes
McKown is now
ASBA president
Brenda
McKown, a
member of
the Beebe
School Board
and formerly
ASBA’s president-elect, is
now ASBA’s
president after
the resignaMcKown
tion of former
ASBA President Jerry Don Woods from
the Dardanelle School Board.
Under ASBA’s by-laws, Woods can
no longer serve as ASBA’s president
because he is not a local school board
member.
Woods
resigned from
the Dardanelle board to
give family members
who wanted
to teach in
that district a
chance to be
Woods
hired without
potential conflicts with anti-nepotism
laws.
ASBA’s president normally serves
one year, but Woods led ASBA for twoand-a-half years. As president-elect in
2012-13, he acted as president for most
of the term after the president, the late
Maxine Nelson, became ill. He then
served a full term as president in 201314 and had served half of his current
term in 2014-15.
Woods wrote in his resignation letter
to ASBA, “Although I feel a huge disappointment personally because I am abandoning you in the middle of the year, my
decision has been made easier by the fact
that Brenda is such a strong leader and
is so well equipped and ready to step in
and take over the role of President of this
association. She truly is a special person
and will be a wonderful leader. I am so
proud of her, and excited for each of you
individually and as a board as she assumes the presidency. I am also equally
confident that Tony (Prothro) is the right
person to lead as Executive Director and,
with the support of an incredible staff,
will continue to lead the organization to
even greater heights. The future truly is
bright for the ASBA.”
McKown had high praise for
Woods at the annual Joint Leadership
Please see ASBA News and Notes, page 5
Report Card June 2015 3
Report Card
The Journal of the
News and Features
8
Boards talked; lawmakers listened
During a busy legislative session, school board members let legislators know they were watching – at times
sending hundreds of emails. It made a difference.
16
From adequacy to excellence
Former Sen. Johnny Key, the state’s new education
commissioner, says it’s time for Arkansas public
education to set higher goals. Report Card sat down
with him in his office to ask about his plans.
20
Cover / No child left behind - really
In Flippin, educators have gone to war against dyslexia
– and dyslexia is losing. Students are receiving the help
they need to overcome their challenges and reach their
potential. Superintendent Dale Query says it’s “the
single most important intervention I have ever seen” in
his four decades in education. And now, because of
state laws passed in the past two legislative sessions,
other districts will be following Flippin’s lead.
20
Interventionist Anita Stoner works with student Hunter Callentine. The Flippin School
District has made dyslexia intervention a
top priority. Students are advancing in their
reading levels, and discipline problems are
decreasing. Students are even graduating out
of speech therapy and special ed classes.
24
Executive Session with
Westside’s Alan Oldman
Departments
3
5
5
6
ASBA News and Notes
ASBA Calendar
Advertisers Index
Letter from the Executive Director
4 June 2015 Report Card
15
28
30
31
Jay Bequette’s Column
Marketplace
Commercial Affiliates
President’s Column
ASBA News and notes
Conference of the ASBA and Arkansas
Educational Administrators Association.
“Jerry Don’s been such a great leader
for the association,” she said. “It’s always been all about the kids, and how
he can move the association forward.
He will be missed. He came in and filled
the shoes for two-and-a-half years, but I
look forward to leading the association.”
Summer training
available in Biloxi
oceanside resort
School board members will have the
chance to train with their fellow board
members from Mississippi and Louisiana in a beautiful oceanside resort at the
Southern Region Leadership Conference
July 19-21 at the Beau Rivage Resort &
Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi.
When the National School Boards
Association disbanded its own Southern Region conferences, the leaders of
Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi
decided to host their own event. ASBA’s
Dr. Anne Butcher, director of board
development, said having a combined
event enables board members to learn
from each other and to pool their resources to attract speakers.
Several Arkansas speakers will be
presenting. On July 19, ASBA’s Dr.
ASBA
calendar
June 18-19
ASBA Summer Leadership Institute
Embassy Suites, Hot Springs
June 23, 25
July 9, 23, 28
Administrative Directives Workshops
ASBA Office, Little Rock
July 19-21
Southern Region Conference
Biloxi, Mississippi
Oct. 23
New Board Member Institute
DoubleTree Hotel, Little Rock
Tony Prothro will present a seminar
on school governance. Also during the
conference, Lake Hamilton representatives will present a seminar on arming
school staff, while representatives from
El Dorado will speak about the El Dorado Promise scholarship program and
representatives from the Warren School
District will speak about conversion
charter schools.
The annual Southern Region Leadership Conferences will give school board
members a chance to improve their
skills in a resort atmosphere. The Beau
Rivage features entertainment, a casino,
spa, golf and shopping. Next year’s
event will be in New Orleans. The 2017
event will be in Hot Springs.
School board members can register
for the conference at ASBA’s website,
www.arsba.org.
ASBA News and Notes continued on page 7
Advertisers
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Report Card
The Journal of the
Vol. 8, Number 2
Letter from the
Executive Director
by Dr. Tony Prothro
A thank-you for
all our advocates
The following is an excerpt from an
email that I sent to advocacy liaisons (as
appointed by each school board from
your school districts) at the conclusion
of the 2015 legislative session. I believe
the message is important enough to
share with the entire membership.
“I wanted to take a moment to offer
a special thank you to our advocacy
liaison network. Each of you were
chosen by your local school boards to
spearhead advocacy efforts on behalf of
your school districts. The time you spent
calling, texting and emailing legislators
was extremely influential and very obvious as our state elected officials voted
on policy in the 2015 legislative session.
“We devoted much time over the
last year in conferences, and especially
regional meetings, distributing information in the area of effective advocacy. We were uncertain if the time
allocated would be productive in relation to the upcoming 2015 legislative
session. We are happy to report that you
have exceeded all expectations.
“We acknowledge that many of you
not only updated your fellow board
members on a constant basis regarding the bills being filed, but also placed
‘legislative update’ as an item on your
monthly board meetings and detailed
the happenings of the legislative session. What a response from elected-servant leader board members from across
our state!
“On multiple occasions, ASBA legislative team members were also informed
by legislators who stated board members
had been very effective in conveying
the needs of school districts. This effort
resulted in the adoption of good policy
for local governance and the defeat of
other initiatives that would have had a
negative effect on the students in our
public school education system. Never
before have we seen such a concerted
and widespread advocacy on behalf of
public school boards and the students
they serve during a legislative session. I
can tell you personally that testifying
in front of the education committee is
much easier and effective when it is
prefaced by board member contacts with
committee members.
“I know the task of advocacy liaison
has taken much time and effort over
the past three months. Your labors are
recognized and greatly appreciated. I
hope your local school boards, school
districts and communities also recognize
and express heartfelt gratitude for your
gallant efforts.”
Although this letter was sent to advocacy liaisons, there were many other
board members who took the challenge
and contacted legislators. At times entire
boards were involved in the communication process. We thank those boards who
were active. Also as a board member,
don’t forget to give a special thank you
to your advocacy liaison for the extra
time they spent on behalf of the children of your district. It is just another
example of board service that should be
highlighted and celebrated.
June 2015
P.O. Box 165460 / Little Rock, AR 72216
Telephone: 501-372-1415 / 800-482-1212
Fax: 501-375-2454
E-mail: arsba@arsba.org / www.arsba.org
Board of Directors
President: Brenda McKown, Beebe
Vice President: Sandra Porter, Bryant
Sec.-Treasurer: Debbie Ugbade, Hot Springs
Past President: Clint Hull, Batesville
Region 1: Bob Warren, Elkins
Region 2: Neal Pendergrass, Mountain Home
Region 3: Alan Oldman, Westside (Craighead)
Region 4: Jamie Hammond, Van Buren
Region 5: Allan George, Russellville
Region 6: Keith Baker, Riverview
Region 7: Open
Region 8: Randy Goodnight, Greenbrier
Region 9: Rita Cress, Stuttgart
Region 10: Deborah Smith, Malvern
Region 11:Jeff Lisenbey, Sheridan
Region 12: Rosa Bowman, Ashdown
Region 13: Mike Waters, Magnolia
Region 14: Katie Daniel, McGehee
Staff
Executive Director: Dr. Tony Prothro
Communications Director: Jennifer George
Executive Assistant: Michelle Burgess
Board Development Director: Dr. Anne Butcher
Advocacy Director: Boyce Watkins
Staff Attorney: Kristen Garner
Policy Director: Lucas Harder
Special Projects - Advocacy: Mickey McFatridge
Finance: Deborah Newell
Administrative Assistant: Angela Ellis
Bookkeeper: Kathy Ivy
Risk Management Program &
Workers’ Comp. Program:
Shannon Moore, Director
Krista Glover
Amanda Blair
Dwayne McAnally
Ashley Samuels
Jennifer Shook
Misty Thompson
Melody Tipton
Tiffany Malone
Nick Crowe
LaVerne Witherspoon
General Counsel: Jay Bequette
TO CONTACT THE MAGAZINE
Please contact Steve Brawner, Editor
501.794.2012
brawnersteve@mac.com
Report Card is published quarterly by the
Arkansas School Boards Association. Copyright
2015 by the Arkansas School Boards Association and Steve Brawner Communications. All
rights reserved.
ASBA News and notes
ASBA-AAEA meeting
features reports on
session, Key speech
Attendees of Team Leadership Conference XX heard a report about this
year’s legislative session, listened to a
speech from the state’s new education
commissioner, and learned about the
state’s broadband access efforts.
The annual event, held May 12,
brings together ASBA and the Arkansas
Association of Educational Administrators. Dr. Tony Prothro, ASBA’s executive director, and AAEA Executive Director Dr. Richard Abernathy provided
an overview of the recent legislative
session.
Johnny Key, the state’s new education commissioner, told attendees that
he accepted the job because “we’re at
a crucial state in education in Arkansas.” He said he wants the Department
of Education to be a “department of
assistance” instead of a “department of
compliance.”
Asked by Steve Anderson, superintendent of the Lake Hamilton School
District, about inconsistencies between
the state’s school report card and other
rankings, Key said the department is
studying how to improve the rankings.
He said he had requested and been given
a spreadsheet comparing the various
school rankings and found that some
rank well based on one set of criteria
and rank less well based on another set.
Key recently appointed Baker Kurrus
as superintendent of the Little Rock
School District, which is now under
state control. Kurrus, an attorney and
businessman, served 12 years on the
school board but is not an educator. Key
said some had expressed concern that
he would replace superintendents with
businesspeople elsewhere, but Little
Rock is a unique challenge.
“What I’ll tell you, to give you
maybe some bit of comfort, is that that
was a very specific instance, a very
specific strategy to solve a very specific
problem,” Key said. He later added,
“(Kurrus) admits that he is not there as
a long-term administrator. He is there
to right the ship, get us back in order
there.”
Mike Hernandez, deputy director of
the Arkansas Department of Education,
and Don McDaniel with the Department
of Information Systems said the state is
working in partnership with 21 vendors
to upgrade the Arkansas Public School
Computer Network. The plan is for the
state to provide broadband access to a
district hub, and then school districts
would be responsible for a metropolitan
area network out to the schools.
Hernandez said DIS is working with
districts that still have contracts with
providers to resolve those issues on a
case by case basis.
Cathi Swan, state coordinator of K-12
distance learning, said that the state’s
Virtual Arkansas program now is reaching 30,000 students, allowing them to
attend class in inclement weather and
during field trips.
Robyn Keene, AAEA financial
consultant, told attendees that legislators raised the minimum teacher’s
salary for the first time since 2008-09.
Under Act 1087, the minimum starting salary increases from $29,244 to
$30,122 in 2015-16, while the minimum
starting salary for teachers with masters’s degrees increases from $33,630
to $34,640. In 2016-17, the minimum
starting teacher salary increases from
$30,122 to $31,000, while the minimum
starting salary for teachers with master’s degrees increases from $34,640
to $35,650. Salary step increments are
being retained.
The raises came after a Bureau of
Legislative Research study compared
the state to those surrounding it. Arkansas’ minimum teacher salaries in 201213 of $29,244 were behind Oklahoma,
Mississippi and Tennessee but ahead of
Texas, Louisiana and Missouri. Arkansas’ average salaries of $46,631 were
behind Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas and
Missouri but ahead of Oklahoma and
Mississippi.
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Legislative session
STUDENT-FOCUSED
LEADERSHIP. Dr. Tony
Prothro, ASBA’s
executive director,
testifies about a bill
before the Senate
Education Committee.
Prothro led a legislative
team that kept busy
throughout the legislative session. In addition
to Prothro, team
members were Boyce
Watkins, advocacy
director; Lucas Harder,
policy director; Kristen
Garner, staff attorney;
Jennifer George,
communications
director, and Dr. Anne
Butcher, director of
board development.
The team members
were supported by
school board members
who actively contacted
legislators about school
issues.
Boards talked; lawmakers listened
During a busy session,
legislators sometimes heard
from hundreds of board
members. It mattered.
By Steve Brawner
Editor
Numbers DO make a difference.
That point was reinforced during the
2015 regular session of the 90th General Assembly when many local school
board members actively engaged in the
legislative process. By communicating
directly with their local legislators about
specific issues, board members helped
shape the outcome of legislation that
was important to their own school district and public education in Arkansas.
The magnitude and impact of that
involvement became obvious to ASBA
staff members who were at the Capitol
daily during the session.
“When you talk to a legislator and
they look at you and say, ‘This one’s not
going anywhere. I got 300 emails from
board members on this,’ you know that
you’re being effective whenever that
happens,” said Boyce Watkins, ASBA’s
advocacy director.
ASBA’s legislative team stayed busy,
often watching four different committees at once. Legislators, emboldened
by model legislation that had passed in
other states, tried to provide public funding for private schools in a variety of
ways. Bills affecting schools and school
board members would be debated in
committee without warning, and when
they died, they didn’t always stay dead.
Amendments appeared suddenly during
committee meetings, forcing ASBA’s
team members to scramble to testify effectively. Team members regularly met
at night and early in the morning.
“It was a constant level of stress and
preparedness that we’ve never experienced,” said Dr. Tony Prothro, ASBA’s
executive director.
A new locally focused approach created a much more involved statewide
membership. In the past, ASBA relied
on email blasts sent to all school board
members. Because no one was made
responsible, few contacted their legislators, and when they did, they tended
to simply forward ASBA’s talking
points, which legislators easily could
ignore. Moreover, some school board
members grew tired of receiving the
communications. For the past two years,
ASBA instead has been educating board
members at conferences and regional
meetings about the issues facing public
schools, including the national push to
privatize education funding. It asked
each school board to appoint a legislative liaison who received most of
ASBA’s communications. That meant
one person at each district was in charge
of encouraging their fellow board
members to make contacts, and they did.
Meanwhile, ASBA issued calls to action
to the entire membership for a few of
the most important bills. School board
members became much more involved
and were calling ASBA to ask questions
and to alert team members about a bill’s
progress.
This was the first session in many
years where ASBA could not rely on
Ron Harder, retired director of policy
and advocacy. Instead, ASBA used more
of a team approach. Prothro praised each
of the team members – Watkins, for
his overall leadership and for keeping
team meetings on track; Policy Director
Lucas Harder, for his amazing memory;
Staff Attorney Kristin Garner, for her
background knowledge; Communications Director Jennifer George, for her
research and technical abilities; and Dr.
Anne Butcher, director of board development, for lending a hand.
“It was a well-oiled, smooth machine.
... We were effective and concerted and
worked very well together as a team
throughout this process, and I can’t say
enough about that,” Prothro said.
While some other agencies received
a cut in funding, public schools received
a small raise – but one that, unlike in
previous sessions, didn’t even amount
to a cost of living adjustment, raising
potential adequacy issues. The Public
School Fund was funded at $2.12 billion
for fiscal year 2016, compared to $2.073
billion the year before. Per student
foundation funding increased only $63
to $6,584 in 2015-16, and then increased
only $62 in 2016-17 to $6,646. Of the
state’s funding categories, only professional development remained flat at
$32.40 per student. Funding for English language learners and for alternative learning environments, as well as
funding based on a district’s National
School Lunch Act beneficiaries, all
increased only slightly. The Legislature
also increased minimum teacher salaries
from $29,244 this year for teachers with
bachelor’s degrees and no experience to
$30,122 in 2016 and $31,000 in 2017.
It was the first time minimum teacher
salaries had been raised since 2008-09.
Minimum salaries for teachers with
master’s degrees also were increased,
as were all state-required salary step
increments.
In other business, Gov. Asa Hutchinson recommended as education commissioner the former Senate Education
Committee chair, Johnny Key, who
then was hired by the State Board of
Education, but only after a change in
state law. Previously, the commissioner
was required to have a master’s degree
and at least 10 years of experience in
education, including at least five of administrative experience, all of which disqualified Key. ASBA initially opposed
Senate Bill 176 by Sen. Alan Clark, RLonsdale, which deleted those requirements. When Clark proposed a second
bill – eventually, Act 525 – which would
allow a commissioner to hold that position if a deputy commissioner meets the
old requirements, ASBA held its fire.
ASBA still has concerns about having
a commissioner with no public school
experience, but Key brings many good
qualities to the table, and the association
worked well with him when he was a
legislator.
“He has the respect of everyone,”
Watkins said. “There’s no question
about that, and he does have a good
background on the funding matrix.” (For
more, see story, page 16.)
Several bills were filed by lawmakers
hoping to use public funds for private
schools, which ASBA always opposes.
Continued on next page
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It’s what motivates, connects, and inspires us all.
Legislative session
All but one failed. The most high-profile
one was House Bill 1733 by Rep. Bruce
Cozart, R-Hot Springs, which would
have given the education commissioner
the authority to create an achievement
school district to which it would assign academically distressed schools
and school districts. The achievement
district would issue binding recommendations concerning academic practices and staffing and could potentially
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Serving Arkansas schools since 2003
BILL SIGNING. Gov. Asa Hutchinson signs Act 377 into law allowing the Arkansas
Department of Education to grant waivers to school districts facing consolidation for
falling below the 350-student minimum if they are not in fiscal, academic or facilities
distress. Pictured directly behind him from left are Rep. Bruce Cozart, R-Hot Springs,
who sponsored the bill, and co-sponsors Sen. Alan Clark, R-Lonsdale, and Rep.
Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma. At right is Michelle Cadle, a parent from the Weiner School
District, which was consolidated with Harrisburg in 2010 after it fell below 350 students
despite have a strong academic record and sound finances.
have been administered by a private
company. ASBA was one of several
education-related groups that publicly
opposed the bill, which Cozart pulled.
House Bill 1593 by Rep. Bob Ballinger,
R-Hindsville, would have provided 65
percent of adequacy funding to private
schools for each student transfer. It
failed. House Bill 1745 by Rep. James
Sorvillo, R-Little Rock, would have
created an income tax credit of $4,400
for private school tuition payments for
taxpayers with school age dependents
that had varying degrees of disabilities.
It also did not pass. One voucher bill did
pass: Act 1178 by Rep. Doug House, RNorth Little Rock, created the Succeed
Scholarship Program to award private
school scholarships to K-12 students
who have an individualized education
program under the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act. Its purpose is
to help students with severe disabilities
attend schools more skills-based than
academic-based.
As is usually the case, legislators
attempted to move school elections
to November to coincide with general
elections, and this time, they succeeded
in making it optional. Act 1281 by Sen.
Jane English, R-North Little Rock,
states, “The annual school election shall
be held in each school district of the
state on the third Tuesday in September
or the first Tuesday following the first
Monday in November of each year.”
ASBA has always opposed moving elections because school issues would be
lost in a more partisan, politicized environment. However, because local school
boards will decide on the dates, ASBA
didn’t oppose this bill. It seems likely
that few, if any, districts will move their
elections to November. One question:
What about those districts under state
takeover, where the commissioner of
education will decide when a new board
will be elected?
ASBA opposed other bills that
specifically would have moved school
elections to November. One, House
Bill 1422 by Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena,
fell one vote short of advancing out of
committee because county clerks were
opposed and because time didn’t allow
needed changes to the code.
Among the most high-profile education bills was Act 187 by Rep. Bill Gossage, R-Ozark, Hutchinson’s signature
proposal requiring public high schools
to offer at least one course in computer
science either in a traditional or online
setting. Act 27 by Gossage and Sen.
Missy Irvin, R-Mountain View, established the Computer Science and Technology in Public School Task Force to
recommend standards and frameworks
for computer science education. ASBA
supported the bill.
ASBA also supported Act 377 by Cozart and Clark, which authorizes school
districts that have fallen below 350
students and are facing consolidation to
annually request an Arkansas Department of Education waiver. Waivers can
be granted only if the district is not in
academic, fiscal or facilities distress and
does not have probationary status cites
from ADE. The act requires the State
Board of Education to grant or reject the
petition within 45 days.
ASBA was part of a coalition that
successfully opposed a bill that would
have allocated to highways, roads and
streets the gross general revenues from
various sales and severance taxes when
the total collected in a given year is
more than $2.2 billion. Supporters of
House Bill 1346 by Rep. Dan Douglas,
R-Bentonville, were seeking a new revenue source because they said highways
are underfunded by current mechanisms.
ASBA opposed the bill because the
transfer would have reduced funding for
other state needs, including programs
that benefit children and families. The
bill did pass the House Committee on
Public Transportation, but then Douglas pulled it when Hutchinson said it
would not fit into his balanced budget.
Hutchinson later appointed a task force
to consider highway funding.
On issue after issue, the Legislature
followed Hutchinson’s lead. Prothro said
the governor was pragmatic, conciliatory
and politically astute. “It was amazing
the amount of authority that he had in
this session when it came to individual
pieces that the word would come down
and bills would either get run through
committees and be on his desk, or they
would be killed,” Prothro said.
While the Common Core State Standards have become a political hot potato
in other states, they did not attract that
much attention this session – in large
part because Hutchinson diffused the
controversy by appointing the Governor’s Council on Common Core Review
to study the issue. The group, composed
of 16 members including Dardanelle
School Board member Sherry Hicks,
will consider different perspectives on
the Common Core. The Legislature did
pass Act 1074 by Rep. Mark Lowery,
R-Maumelle, and Irvin that prohibits
the state from entering into more than a
one-year contract with the Partnership
for Assessment of Readiness for College
and Careers. PARCC is a consortium of
nine states plus the District of Columbia
in which students are assessed against
the standards and against each other.
The bill originally would have ended
Arkansas’ participation in PARCC permanently, but when that version failed
to get a second in the Senate Education Committee, Sen. Jim Hendren,
R-Sulphur Springs, amended it so that
Arkansas’ participation would be limited
to one year at a time.
ASBA is hopeful the Common Core
review panel will issue positive recommendations. While ASBA supports
Arkansas’ full participation in Common
Core, it’s also open to changes – as long
as those changes are based on students’
needs and not shifting political winds.
The session was marked by what
Gov. Hutchinson said were “foundational” changes to the state’s workforce
education efforts. Among those was Act
892 by English, which creates the Office
of Skills Development within the Department of Career Education to award
workforce training grants to public and
private organizations. It also establishes
a Career Education and Workforce Development Board composed of representatives from various industrial sectors
that will create a comprehensive program for career education and workforce
development. Act 891 by English creates
a fund within the state Department of
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Legislative session
Higher Education to provide grants of up to $100,000 to develop programs to boost workforce training.
ASBA opposed the session’s most controversial bill, House
Bill 1228, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act by Rep.
Bob Ballinger, R-Hindsville, and Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave
Springs, which would have prohibited state actions that burden a person’s right to exercise of religion, unless the burden
is essential to furthering a compelling governmental interest.
The bill ignited a firestorm of protests from those who believed it would have allowed discrimination toward gays and
lesbians. ASBA opposed it because school districts are held
to a high anti-discrimination standard by federal law, and the
bill would have created a conflict between state and federal requirements. A compromise bill was passed late in the session
that mirrored the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
ASBA’s package passes
ASBA submitted a package of five noncontroversial bills,
all of which passed. Act 836 by Rep. Ron McNair, R-Alpena,
and Sen. Bobby Pierce, D-Sheridan, authorizes school boards
to adopt policies permitting members who are unable to be
physically present at a board meeting to attend the meeting
and vote remotely. Act 568 by Pierce allows training of school
board members regarding audit reports to be presented by a
program representative from higher education, the Department of Education or ASBA. The law was needed because few
trainers were available under the old requirements. Act 379 by
Rep. James Ratliff, D-Imboden, and Pierce requires certification to be delivered to the county clerk when an elected school
board member takes the oath of office and requires the clerk
to provide the date by which the candidate shall take the oath
after the election. The law was needed because some school
board members never get around to taking the oath. Now, if
they don’t, the office is declared open. Act 835 by Cozart allows school boards to make personnel policy changes without
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a staff vote in order to comply with new state and federal law
and regulations, provided that the board does so within 90
days after the change or June 30, whichever is later. The law
was needed to prevent conflicts between district policies and
state and federal requirements caused by the timing of the requirements’ creation. Act 843 by Ratliff sets specific circumstances that create a vacancy on a school board and prescribes
procedures for determining and filling the vacancy.
Bills pass with ASBA’s support
Other acts that passed this session with ASBA’s support
included:
– Act 23 by Speaker Jeremy Gillam, R-Judsonia, and English, which exempted state institutions that are immune from
tort liability, such as schools, from having to obtain liability
coverage when acquiring a license for a child care facility.
– Act 286 by Rep. Charlotte Douglas, R-Alma, and Hester,
which authorizes school superintendents to add hours to regular school days to make up for days canceled due to weather
or other circumstances.
– Act 345 by Cozart, which reduced from four to two the
hours of annual training required of superintendents and others with school budget responsibilities. The act also authorizes the Department of Education to require additional training
for administrators with accounting responsibilities in districts
with financial problems.
– Act 44 by Sen. Blake Johnson, R-Corning, and Lowery,
which reduces the number of teacher development days from
10 to a minimum of six.
– Act 143 by Sen. Eddie Joe Williams, R-Cabot, which allows school superintendents to delay a school’s start time until 10 a.m. or release the school for the day as early as 1 p.m.
up to five times a year due to emergency inclement weather.
– Act 1240 by Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna,
which allows school districts to petition the State Board of
Education for all or some of the waivers granted to an openenrollment public charter school that draws students from the
school district.
– Act 247 by Clark, which allows for additional compensation for teachers in grades 7-12 who elect to teach more than
the maximum number of students permitted by the standards
of accreditation.
Successful opposition
Bills that failed, were withdrawn or died that ASBA opposed included:
– House Bill 1054 by Rep. Nate Bell, R-Mena, which
would have required governing bodies to record all executive
sessions and appoint a custodian to hold the recording for one
year and provide it to authorities in the event of an investigation. It authorized legal counsel to be present at executive
sessions.
– House Bill 1984 by Bell, which would have made the
unlawful calling of an executive session a Class A misdemeanor and made the offender ineligible to hold an elective
office or be publicly employed by any department of the state,
for life. The bill passed the House but was later withdrawn.
– House Bill 1050 by Rep. Kim
Hendren, R-Gravette, which would have
set school board member terms at three
years instead of the current three to five.
– House Bill 1052 by Rep. Hendren,
which would have prohibited school districts from joining an organization that
doesn’t hold all meetings open to the
public and doesn’t allow for public comment before adopting policy changes.
The bill was not aimed at ASBA but
would have affected it.
– House Bill 1243 by Lowery, which
would have permitted private school
students to participate in public school
interscholastic activities in the same
manner as home school students are
allowed, provided the student’s private
school does not offer the same activity.
– House Bill 1827 by Lowery, which
would have established parents’ right
to direct the education, health care and
moral
or religious training
their minor...
Farmington
SchoolofDistrict
children. It also required a parent’s
written consent for the state to make a
biometric scan, test blood, or make a
picture or voice recording.
– House Bill 1958 by Rep. Charles
Armstrong, D-Little Rock, which would
have reduced National School Lunch
Act state funding by 2 percent and set
aside those funds to support the Positive
Youth Development Grant Program.
– Senate Bill 870 by Sen. Hendren,
which would have prohibited school districts from joining or using district funds
to pay membership dues to Arkansas extracurricular activity organizations that
are not governed by a board appointed
by the governor. ASBA opposed the bill
because it would have forced the AAA
to completely change its bylaws and
governance structure or cease to exist.
– Senate Bill 958 by Sen. Jake Files,
R-Fort Smith, and Rep. Andy Davis,
R-Little Rock, another bill aimed at
the AAA that would have prohibited
public schools from participating in an
organization that governs athletics if the
organization distinguishes between public and private schools when classifying
schools for conference play in certain
sports competitions.
for K-12 public school purposes from
using targeted advertising based on
certain personal student information
obtained during the use of the service.
– Senate Bill 76 by Hester and Rep.
Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, which
would have allowed a public school
class to exceed maximum size one semester per year if it began the semester
in compliance and doesn’t exceed the
maximum by more than 10 percent.
– Senate Bill 365 by Sen. Gary
Stubblefield, R-Branch, which would
have exempted from the Freedom of
Information Act the emergency and
security plans of public schools.
ASBA neutral on these acts
Noteworthy acts that passed where
ASBA was neutral included:
– Act 560 by Clark, which extends inBetter luck next time?
definitely the state’s school choice law,
thatto
ASBA
supported
that did
passed in 2013, with minor changes.
A Bills
Place
Learn
& Create.
not pass included:
– Act 739 by Sen. Hendren, which
– House Bill 1913 by Rep. Charlotte
lets the state Division of Public School
Douglas, which would have required
Academic Facilities and Transportathe Commission for Arkansas Public
tion provide facilities funding to charter
CLIENT
Schools and Transportation to annuschools.FOCUSED CONSTRUCTION
www.eastharding.com
ally determine which schools qualify as
– Act
160 by Rep. Hendren, which
high-growth schools.
requires public elementary schools to
– House Bill 1961 by Rep. Greg Led- teach cursive writing beginning in the
ing, D-Fayetteville, which would have
2015-16 school year.
prohibited online services used primarily
EAST-HARDING
Farmington School District ... A Place to Learn & Create.
EAST-HARDING
CLIENT FOCUSED CONSTRUCTION
www.eastharding.com
Legislative session
– Act 372 by Lowery and English,
which lowers the minimum attendance
requirements for a new school district
to 2,500 students from 4,000. It also
removes the provision allowing the creation of a new district via detachment of
territory from an existing district.
– Act 833 by Rep. Bill Gossage,
R-Ozark, which allows approved public
school personnel to administer diabetes
medication.
– Act 941 by Rep. Dan Douglas,
which allows school districts to sell
advertisements on school buses.
– Act 141 by Sen. Cecile Bledsoe,
R-Rogers, which increases from six
weeks to seven weeks the maximum
vacation time for schools that operate on
12-month calendars.
– Act 394 by Sen. Terry Rice, RWaldron, and Rep. Marcus Richmond,
R-Harvey, which allows school districts
to donate real property to incorporated
towns, in addition to other entities to
which they are currently authorized to
donate.
– Act 1260 by Elliott, which creates
an alternate diploma and implements
a statewide re-engagement system for
students 16 years or older with less than
50 percent of graduation credits for the
appropriate grade level.
– Act 1105 by Sen. Jimmy Hickey, RTexarkana, and Rep. Charlotte Douglas,
which removes the grade point average
requirement for students to qualify for
the lottery-funded Arkansas Academic
Challenge Scholarship Program, reduces
the freshman award from $2,000 to
$1,000, and increases the sophomore
award from $2,000 to $3,000. The award
changes were made to save costs by
reducing the amount spent for students
who remain in school for only one year
while rewarding students who successfully are furthering their education.
– Act 1268 by Elliott, which clarifies
a law passed in 2013 requiring schools
to screen students in grades K-2 for dyslexia and to intervene when necessary.
(For more, see cover story, page 20.)
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Are schools liable when arming staff?
Generally no, unless district
is found to be deliberately
indifferent in its policies
Mass school shootings have stunned
the nation and frightened parents, and
Arkansas has not been immune. In
1998, two students at the Westside
Middle School near Jonesboro killed
four students and a teacher.
Protecting children from harm must
be schools’ first concern, but they, like
any other entity, must also consider
the legal ramifications of their actions.
Could schools be liable when a mass
shooting occurs on their campus? Could
they be liable if they try to prevent a
mass shooting by arming staff members,
and then somebody makes a mistake?
The answer to both questions is, no
in most cases.
Historically, the courts have been
reluctant to impose an affirmative duty
on a property owner to protect a resident
or patron from the criminal activity of
a third person. Likewise, the United
States Supreme Court has ruled that a
state does not have a due process duty
to protect citizens, and it specifically
said such about schools in a 1995 ruling.
However, courts have recognized two
exceptions: a special relationship, and a
state-created danger.
The special relationship exception
exists when the state has so restrained
an individual through institutionalization or incarceration that he or she is
unable to protect himself or herself. In
these cases, the state must assume some
responsibility for that individual’s safety
and well-being. Although litigants often
have claimed that schools hold a special
relationship with students (typically by
asserting state compulsory attendance
laws and the in loco parentis role the
school maintains), courts have declined
to impose this exception in the public
school setting. In 2012, the Fifth Circuit
Court reaffirmed decades of precedent
in holding that public schools do not
take students into custody and keep
them there against their will in the same
way that a state takes into its custody
by Jay Bequette
ASBA General Counsel
prisoners, involuntarily committed mental health patients and foster children.
The second exception is the state-created danger rule, when a state places an
individual in danger that the individual
otherwise would not have faced, and
then so fails to protect that individual
that it would “shock the conscience,” as
the Seventh Circuit ruled in 2007.
Otherwise, a political subdivision
such as a local school district may only
be found liable when it commits an act
for which it is actually responsible.
So no, generally a school district is
not liable in a school shooting.
When it comes to arming school personnel, districts should be relatively safe
from liability as well.
If something bad happened – a faculty member accidentally shot a student while responding to an attack, for
example – plaintiffs likely would argue
that the school failed to properly train or
supervise its armed personnel.
But the bar would be high. A plaintiff
must allege more than that the entity
is responsible for the training; proof
of culpability and causation must be
demonstrated. The plaintiff must show
the state actor consciously adopted
the policy with deliberate indifference
to the plaintiff’s constitutional rights,
which requires the governmental entity
disregarding a known or obvious consequence of its actions. It is more than
mere negligence. Only where the need
for more or different training is obvious
can the state actor be reasonably said to
have been deliberately indifferent.
Furthermore, a plaintiff must establish a pattern and practice of failing to
train. Proof that an isolated employee
was not properly trained is insufficient
to establish liability, nor is it enough to
prove that an injury could have been
avoided if an employee had received
better training or additional training. Liability will not arise even if the plaintiff
shows that the state employee made a
mistake unless other evidence of a failure to train or supervise exists.
Based on court rulings, districts
should not let liability concerns prevent
them from arming staff members. However, administrators and school board
also have other concerns. They must
decide how to protect students based
on their own district’s and community’s
needs and values. Each school district
is different, but the law is consistent. If
your staff is trained, you probably won’t
be liable.
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Commissioner Johnny Key
JOHNNY KEY, the
state’s new education commissioner,
speaks after being
introduced by Gov.
Asa Hutchinson
as Hutchinson’s
preference to
serve as education
commissioner. The
education commissioner is appointed
by the State Board
of Education but
serves at the
pleasure of the
governor.
From adequacy to excellence
The state’s new education
commissioner hopes to
move the target higher
By Steve Brawner
Editor
The new Arkansas commissioner of
education is not a career educator, but he
says his life experiences will serve him
well as he tries to lead the state from
adequacy to excellence.
As chairman of the Senate Education
Committee, former state Sen. Johnny
Key, a Republican, gained a reputation
as a conciliator willing to work with all
sides and change his own legislation to
find common ground – even when he
didn’t have to do so. But under Arkansas law, he was barred from becoming
commissioner because he didn’t have 10
years of experience in education – didn’t
have any, in fact, though he did once
own a day care. Legislators changed that
law because Key was Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s preferred choice to lead the Arkansas Department of Education.
Key will need all of the skills he developed as a legislator – and then some.
Because of the state’s takeover of the
district, he effectively is a one-person
Little Rock School Board – and the
school board for several other districts.
He also inherits a number of other challenges – among them a changing legisla-
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tive culture as memories of the Lake
View case recede.
Report Card sat down with Key in
his temporary office behind the Capitol
to discuss his role and to ask what he
means when he says it’s time to move
beyond adequacy to excellence.
You’ve been in office almost a
month. What have you learned so far?
“The level of activity, the intensity of
activity here is greater than I had even
imagined – just the time, the energy that
it takes. You’re going all the time. There
are many days that we look around, and
it’s 4 o’clock and it’s like no one had
lunch. It’s just that kind of a pace over
here.”
What’s the plan with Little Rock
right now? (Editor’s note: This question was asked the day before the
resignation of the district’s interim
superintendent, Dr. Dexter Suggs, and
before Key hired Baker Kurrus as superintendent. For comments from Key
about Kurrus, see page 7.)
“What I’ve told the State Board, and
which I believe, is that there’s not a
singular plan that you could point to for
what’s going on to address the needs in
the six academic distress schools. Little
Rock needs a more holistic approach to
solving issues in those six schools but
also in the other schools that face very
similar challenges. ...
“It would be unreasonable to think
that what we need to do to address
problems in Little Rock is just at those
six schools. Those are the focal points.
Those are the priorities, but also looking at what’s going on elsewhere and
also looking at the pipeline, you’ve got
kids from Baseline, they go to Cloverdale, (and then) they go to McClelland,
generally, according to the district folks.
All three of those schools have been
classified as in academic distress, so you
have to get into that pipeline. You have
to start correcting those things. But then
you look at the feeder patterns at the
other schools. It’s like, OK, where do
these kids go? ...
“I went to a lunch at the invitation of
some business people a couple of weeks
ago, and they all sat there at the table,
and the discussion was, what can we do
to help turn education around in Little
Rock – not just these schools, but all the
schools that are struggling? We visited
for about an hour, an hour-and-a-half.
“Then I went across town, went to ...
(a) community center over near Central
High, and had a meeting of another
totally different organization – community people, folks who might have
been on the different end of the political
spectrum, and the conversation was the
same. What can we do to help turn Little
Rock schools around?
“My point to that second group was,
look, if you’re having this conversation
and asking these questions, and this
other group over there is asking these
same questions, at some point all these
groups that are distrusting of each other
need to sit down in the same room and
have that conversation together. Ask
those same questions in each other’s
presence, and there might be some ability to find common ground and develop,
(and) I think that those groups are going
to start looking for those opportunities
to do that.”
The question about you taking this
job was, he’s never been an educator.
Is that a fair concern?
“I understand the concern. And I
guess a comparison could be made to,
if you go to a hospital, and you know
you’re going to get care, do you care if
the hospital administrator, the CEO of
the hospital, was a doctor or a medical
professional? We have a lot of highly
regarded, respected education professionals here, and this position is the
CEO for this agency. My task is directing and bringing all of that expertise to
bear on problems and the difficulties,
the challenges and the improvements
that we want to make in education. So
that’s how I see my role. Having had
the educators in this traditionally, in this
role in the past, I can understand why
Commissioner Johnny Key
there would be some doubts, but I’m
very happy with the team that is already
in place over here, so helping them to
do their job to the best of their ability is
the role that I see myself in. ... Working
with people that have different opinions,
bringing together different points of
view, that is experience that I do bring to
the job.”
Can you work with school boards,
or do you need to do that?
“Well, the school boards are made up
of people who are everyday walks of life
people. They’re the people that I worked
with when I was over in the Legislature.
But again, you have school board folks.
You’ve got teachers. You’ve got administrators, and then the administrators,
you’ve got varying levels of administrators, and all of them bring some different facet of the educational system.
Working within all of those, working
to bring all those facets into something
that makes sense and it moves the state
forward, I think that’s what the governor has asked me to do in leading this
agency.”
Under the law, you must have a
deputy commissioner with the same
qualifications as the old commissioner.
Will you have to scramble to find
someone to fill that position?
“You know, a good CEO is always
looking for good talent, and knowing
that in this case you have to find someone that meets certain statutory requirements, obviously I’ve been looking and
talking about folks who may be out
there that are open to an opportunity like
this. It’s different from the standpoint of
the statute. It’s no different from what
Dr. (Tom) Kimbrell had to deal with,
with different assistant commissioners
who went on to get positions at other
school districts. So making sure that
we’re aware of the talent pool that’s out
there, that’s something I think I need to
do all the time anyway.”
There’s been this Lake View-induced consensus for the past 12 years.
Is that still there, or are cracks forming in that consensus?
“I think there’s some restlessness out
there. ... You know, back in the times
when there was a 2 percent across-theboard COLA (cost of living adjustment)
for the matrix, at that time, there was
concern that that’s not enough in certain
areas. This time, the adequacy committee went line by line through there to see
what changes need to be made. There
were some that were reduced. Some
were increased. You know, you have the
teacher salary schedule that was bumped
up. So whether that restlessness turns
into any kind of action, or any kind of
move by districts to challenge the funding formula as it is right now, again,
that’s something that could happen any
time.”
Are the days of the automatic
COLA over?
“It’s entirely up to the General Assembly and to the committees. You have
with the exception of maybe two members, you have maybe a handful at most
members over there who were around
during the post-Lake View III ruling, the
2003-2004 session and then the tweaks
that were made after the masters’ reports
in ’05 and ’07. So the base of the foundation of knowledge that’s over there is
very light, so they’re going to be looking
at things through a different lens. You
have a lot of new members there that are
former school teachers or employees or
coaches or board members or whatever,
so there’s a little different lens in how
they view the notions of adequacy and
the funding formula and all through the
lenses they bring to it. You can’t predict
at this point how that’s going to proceed.”
There’s a sense among other interests that K-12 has been showered with
money for years, and we just can’t
keep ignoring these other issues. Are
you watching that? Do you see that?
“Oh, yeah, absolutely watching that
because you can hear some of the comments by legislators now (saying) things
that we were very careful not to say
about the availability of funds, because
Lake View was clear. We implemented
a doomsday clause that said funding for education would be
held harmless (even) if we have to cut everything else. They
don’t have the experience of going through that, so you have
to keep reminding. One of our jobs in the department is to
remind legislators that it doesn’t matter – tax cuts, highways,
private option, prisons, any of those things are secondary to
the constitutional duty to provide an adequate and equitable
education, and we just have to repeat that over and over.”
There’s a lot of intellectual energy among Republican
school reformers. Can you bridge the gap between those
legislators and the education establishment?
“Yeah, I think I can. I think I’m going to have to. And
what you describe is not necessarily a partisan divide. I see
Republicans who because of their background coming from a
school background, public education background, they’re not
open to a lot of the reform ideas. They’re OK up to a point,
but they may draw a line with vouchers or some of the things
that others who are over there may want to do. And then you
have Democrats now who are looking at charter waivers for
instance, and saying, hey, let’s make these charter waivers
available to the public schools. So the diversity of opinions on
that does not follow along hard political party lines.
“What I think I’ve been successful in doing is getting folks
in a room looking eyeball to eyeball, laying out their ideas,
their concerns, their complaints, all the things on the table
and seeing what’s out there on the table and then building
from that. And it’s not just legislators. You look at the different organizations that are out there, and I think Dr. Prothro in
testimony on a couple of different bills, he talked about, ‘It is
a philosophical difference.’ Philosophical differences are going to be there, and we can overcome them ... if the groups are
willing to talk up front.
“You know, you can’t wait ‘till the session for that to happen. That’s the challenge many times is that groups who want
to do something wait until the session or very close to the
session, and they roll out something that may be a significant
departure from the tradition, and if there’s been no discussion,
no background of it, then we end up with pretty significant
legislative battles. What I have talked to different stakeholders
about is, hey can we just get together, starting this summer, so
that we don’t end up with some huge disagreement in the session, just talk about the goals? What are the goals for access
to charter facilities, or access to school facilities for charters?
What are the goals for waivers for public schools that could
get some of the same waivers as charter schools? And get
kind of a consensus of the groups knowing that at some point
in time, there might be some issues that fall out, and you just
say, ‘OK, we know we’re going to fight over those. We know
we’re going to oppose each other, so we’re going to set those
over here. Let’s talk about the things that we might be able to
work together on.’”
You’ve talked about moving from adequacy to excellence. What do you mean by that?
“We in Arkansas since ’03, everything we’ve done, the
formula and all that, fulfilling the constitutional mandate,
we’ve talked about adequacy. ... Adequacy, I view it as a legal
concept that we are under the eyes of the law providing an adequate education, and we do that through the funding formula.
... Excellence in my view is getting those students prepared
to move on to that next stage, and doing it in a way that they
are productive members of their community, that they have
the ability to pursue the next step, whether it be their career or
pursuing an education, and it’s not necessarily tied to a dollar
amount.”
What is standing in the way of excellence?
“I think a lot of time it’s leadership. Not saying that the
people we have in place aren’t good leaders, but many times
... just the responsibilities of dealing with running school gets
in the way of having a vision of promoting and encouraging
and finding that excellence in their own district, in their own
building. And a lot of that is because of the requirements that
are put upon them by some regulatory scheme like the federal
government has, and we have to do what the federal government tells us with regards to those regulations. So it’s trying
to help and encourage those leaders at the district and building level to refocus on finding those programs that they can
demonstrate and that they can show the rest of the state (that)
we’re doing excellence here, too. And if they’re not, what can
they do to make that happen?”
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Cover / Flippin’s dyslexia program
INTERVENING. Juanell Potter works with student Thomas Gravely at Flippin Elementary School. Potter, who calls her work “by far
the greatest job I’ve ever had,” has a special motivation: Her husband and two of her children have dyslexia. Her daughter would tell
her “I’m stupid” during nightly homework wars. Now she’s an honors student.
No child left behind – really
In Flippin, students who have
struggled with dyslexia are
getting the help they need –
and now are achieving
By Steve Brawner
Editor
FLIPPIN – Superintendent Dale
Query has spent more than four decades
in education, and one thing that has
remained constant is smart enough kids
struggling in school and often becoming
discipline problems. He and his fellow
educators in Flippin long have looked
for the key to helping those students
reach their potential. Now they think
they’ve found it. Many of those students
have dyslexia, and with the right assistance, they can overcome it.
“For us, this is the single most important intervention I have ever seen in not
only my school district but any school in
my 40 years as an educator,” Query said.
“It has positively affected more kids in
a short amount of time than anything we
have ever done.”
Ask the average person what dyslexia
is, and they’ll probably say it has something to do with mixing up letters. The
International Dyslexia Association describes it as a learning disability affecting reading and other language-based
skills. While the causes of dyslexia are
not fully known, studies have found
differences in a dyslexic person’s brain
development and functioning. People
with dyslexia tend to struggle with identifying sounds within words and under-
standing how letters represent sounds.
The association’s website says that as
much as 15-20 percent of the population
“have some of the symptoms.”
“Giving them a spelling test on
Friday is the equivalent of giving you 30
ATM codes a week, having you memorize them, take the test on Friday, and
giving you a new set on Monday,” Flippin Elementary Principal Tracie Luttrell
said. “It doesn’t mean anything to them.
They’re just memorizing a sequence of
letters.”
How do you feel when you can’t
master a skill that comes easier to others? Frustrated? Like you want to quit?
That’s how these students feel. Amy
Gilley, curriculum director, said students
know they are falling behind their peers
just wanted to express how proud I am of our school. The teachers, principals, and the
“ Istaff
are wonderful. The Susan Barton system is already making a huge difference in our
kids. They have gone from average C students to all A’s. Thank you and everyone that is
part of making the school enjoyable this year. It is such a joy to hear that they love school
now. I just want to let you know that we appreciate everything you do!!
”
- Text from a parent
and eventually decide their teachers can’t help them. To make
matters worse, Luttrell said teachers tell parents that their kids
are intelligent, that they know the answer but just won’t write
it on paper. The adults decide that the student is just being
lazy. “And so parents push, teachers push, and kids are giving
all that they can,” Luttrell said. “So this child in particular, just
like a lot of our kids, 10:30, 11 o’clock at night (he’s) doing
homework. He’s in tears. Parents are in tears. Everybody’s just
trying to get something on the paper, when in reality he was
having trouble getting it to the paper.”
A break from the past
In the past, Luttrell would dismiss parents who came to her
saying their child had dyslexia. She had been trained that the
condition was a myth. The students would be placed in reading intervention programs, and if that didn’t work, they would
be tested for special ed.
Then in the fall of 2013, a school employee brought her
grandchild to the elementary office and said the child was
dyslexic. This time, Luttrell decided to attend a three-hour inservice training in Springdale, and something clicked.
“As I sat there,” she said, “I started basically listening to
that. I could see students that I’d had in the classroom over the
years. ... I could start seeing those kids that are frequent fliers
to my office for discipline issues. I have teachers at the end
of the year who have given blood, sweat and tears. They’re in
tears literally because they have looked everywhere they can,
they’ve talked to everybody they know, they’ve tried everything they know to get this kid where they need to be. By all
intents and purposes, this kid looks like they should be able
to excel. They’re smart. They’re trying. They just, they’re not
getting it.”
Luttrell, Gilley, and counselor Sherry Rainbolt spent weeks
researching the condition, learning about intervention programs and comparing costs. They chose a method designed by
dyslexia expert Susan Barton that starts at the basic level of
sounds as the building blocks of reading. It’s multi-sensory, so
that students make brain connections through seeing, hearing
and doing. In a room dedicated to dyslexia, students respond
to hand motions by interventionists and drag tiles with letters
down a magnetic board as they learn the sounds those letters
make, and how those sounds in the right order lead to words.
As their skills improve, they progress through 10 levels.
Tiles for more advanced students feature groups of letters so
their developing brains can make the connection that “o-l-d”
always says “old,” including when it’s part of a longer word.
Students also are drilled in English grammar rules until they
know enough to put a magazine editor to shame. Do you know
why “happy” has two “p’s,” and why “truck” ends in “ck” but
“milk” needs only a “k”? These students do.
Once the district decided to use the Susan Barton method,
educators went to work making the program work for Flippin.
Query estimates that two-thirds of the staff attended a Saturday training on their own time. Four interventionists – three
at the elementary school and the other shared by the middle
and high schools – began working with students in the spring
semester. During a summer school program last year, 107
students (in a district of 800) voluntarily came to class twice a
week for eight weeks for hourlong sessions, with no transportation provided by the district.
The results? In that short training period, the students’ reading levels advanced from one to 27 months. One student, a
consistent discipline problem, had been in alternative learning
Cover / Flippin’s dyslexia program
classrooms in the fourth and fifth grades
and had left the fifth grade reading at a
little more than a beginning fourth grade
level. After that summer, he started the
sixth grade reading at a seventh grade
level.
Gilley, a former fifth grade teacher,
had taught one student who was very
bright in verbal conversation and had
a big personality, but he had struggled
since the first grade and was frustrated.
She tried everything with him – twicea-week tutoring sessions, interventions,
small groups. When he left for the
sixth grade, she said, “I cried because I
couldn’t help him. I had done everything
possible.”
She displays two examples of his
work. The first was written at the beginning of his fifth grade year – an assignment where she had asked the class to
write something about themselves. The
student wrote a single, short paragraph
about his “favorit” food being “chocolit”
cake. The letters were poorly formed,
the words were lightly written on the
paper, and the spacing was uneven because of the time it took for his brain to
process thoughts.
Then she pulls out a writing sample
from late in his seventh grade year:
a two-page paper about hunting. The
spelling and grammar are good, and his
handwriting is clear and confident. The
paragraphs have topic sentences. The
thoughts are communicated clearly. A
casual observer would not know the student has been diagnosed with a learning
disability.
Gilley recently was walking with the
student after a tutoring session. He was
meeting his dad, while she was headed
to the gym to work the concession stand.
Out of the blue, he told her, “I’m really
starting to understand things now.”
“For the first time in his life, he’s
reading what the teachers are giving
him,” she said. “He’s able to process the
information and write down answers.
His life is totally different – completely,
100 percent different because of the
information that we discovered, the intervention that is helping his processing
issue in his brain.”
While the International Dyslexia
Association says dyslexia is a lifelong
condition, Query uses a strong descrip22 June 2015 Report Card
BEFORE AND AFTER. The page on
the left was written by a student with
dyslexia early in his fifth grade year
when given no restrictions. Teacher
Amy Gilley helped him spell “delicious.” The page on the right was
written by the same student late in his
seventh grade year after less than two
years of interventions. It goes on for
another page.
tor for the results he’s seeing at Flippin:
“cured for life.” Students who were being left behind in school are catching up
to their peers and will never fall behind
again.
Parents, naturally, are thrilled. Query
displays a text from a dad with a picture
of his daughter’s science test where
she had scored an A+, signing it with
“a very thankful parent.” Her mother
told Gilley this was the first time her
daughter had earned an A on anything
in science. Another parent texted, “I
just wanted to express how proud I am
of our school. The teachers, principals,
and the staff are wonderful. The Susan Barton system is already making a
huge difference in our kids. They have
gone from average C students to all A’s.
Thank you and everyone that is part of
making the school enjoyable this year.
It is such a joy to hear that they love
school now. I just want to let you know
that we appreciate everything you do!!”
“That’s the norm,” Luttrell said. Parents often cry because they finally have
hope. They tell her the nightly homework wars are over.
Overcoming dyslexia is a districtwide
effort. Six full-time interventionists now
are employed to work one-on-one with
students with dyslexia markers. Meanwhile, the district took steps to make
sure students with dyslexia don’t feel
labeled. Bulletin boards feature famous
people with the condition – the message
being that the students aren’t “disabled.”
They’re gifted.
This kind of effort requires school
board support, which is not a problem
in Flippin. Board president Kirk Bryant
was elementary principal for 35 years,
so he has seen firsthand those same
smart, struggling students Query saw. So
far, paying for the program hasn’t been
a problem. The district found itself with
new state funding when its percentage
of students eligible for free and reduced
price lunches reached 70 percent. But if
additional funds are needed, Bryant said
the school board will find them.
“With a program like that, how can
we turn our back on it? We can’t. ... I
don’t really know where it’s going to
come from or how it’s going to come
from, but if we have to dig an oil well
out here in the field, let’s do it,” he said.
Interventionist Juanelle Potter has a
special reason for having what she calls
“by far the greatest job I’ve ever had.”
Her husband, a math whiz, and two of
her children are dyslexic. Now her fifthgrade son, Raymond, is no longer falling
behind his peers. “I thought I wasn’t
that smart,” he said. He wants to be a
mechanical engineer someday.
This year, the daughter who would
tell Potter “I’m stupid” was invited
to the freshman honors banquet. “We
would sit for hours after she would
come home at the kitchen table with her
homework, and I would just try to get
her to process enough to put something
down on paper, and we did the screaming and the crying and the fussing and
the pulling teeth almost to try and get
dyslexia in grades K-2, and in
other grades where appropriate,
and to intervene. The wording
of the first law passed in 2013
led to some confusion as to
how quickly districts were supposed to begin interventions.
When the Arkansas Department
of Education interpreted the
law to speed up the timetable,
districts scrambled. This year’s
Act 1268 clarifies the previous
law, including who can serve
as dyslexia interventionists and
therapists. Luttrell testified before legislators about the bill.
What Flippin is doing is
about to become a lot more
common – by law. And as the
movement spreads, Query
imagines the impact it might
have. He asks how many fewer
students across America will
require speech therapy, or need
OVERCOMING. Student Tyler Garst works with tiles to better understand how letters and sounds
special education, or be on
make words with help from interventionist Debbie Stafford.
medication. How many fewer
that we can help them with, and they see adults will go to prison if given a chance
her to get her lessons done and turn
to reach their potential in school?
hope,” she said.
them in,” Potter said.
“When we spread those numbers out
Because of laws sponsored during
For some students, the program will
from Flippin, Arkansas, to the state of
the past two legislative sessions by Sen.
be the difference between reading well
Arkansas to our nation,” he said, “dysJoyce Elliott, D-Little Rock, a retired
and a lifetime of near illiteracy. But
lexia intervention has the potential of
teacher,
school
districts
across
the
state
Luttrell said the benefits have gone far
reshaping our whole society.”
will be required to screen students for
beyond that small population. For the
first time in her educational career, she’s
ready to move students out of special
education, which will allow those
teachers to focus on those remaining
in the classroom who really need to be
there. Unexpectedly, some students are
graduating out of speech therapy – the
result of treating their root brain development issues rather than the symptoms.
Meanwhile, students with mild dyslexic characteristics who were making
“C’s” – and therefore not drawing much
attention – are doing better in school.
Counselor Sherry Rainbolt was seeing
students with motivation, anger and
.
friendship issues prior to the district’s
dyslexia program. It turned out that most
of all three types had dyslexia markers.
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Once they started receiving intervenNorth Little Rock, AR 72118
tion, those problems began to melt away.
“Once they’re told that there’s a reason,
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me, really.’ I mean, this is something
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EXECUTIVE SESSION
with
Alan
Oldman
By Steve Brawner
Editor
The Westside School District brings
students from the communities of Cash,
Bono and Egypt onto a single campus a
few miles outside Jonesboro. School
board member Alan Oldman points with
pride to the new fine arts center, passed
with the help of a millage increase he
helped sell. Oldman works nights as a
clinical laboratory scientist performing
biopsies and tests at St. Bernard’s
Medical Center. His hours make it easier
for him to spend time on campus with
the students – sometimes bringing a
human brain as a teaching tool.
Like everyone in the community,
Oldman vividly remembers March 24,
1998, when two Westside Middle School
students killed four classmates and a
teacher and wounded 10. The shooting
left a permanent mark on the school
district, but Oldman says it has done
what it can to ensure safety and wants to
be known for more than that terrible day.
Report Card sat down with Oldman at
the high school to discuss Westside’s
past, present and future.
How did you get involved in school
board service?
“When my daughter first started
school, I was involved in the parentteacher organization in elementary and
served as vice president down there and
president of that organization, and once
she started to move to the middle school,
fifth grade, I had thought about running
for school board. I really enjoyed what I
was doing with that and how we were
making a difference and impacting the
classroom and I thought, ‘OK, I can do
this on a bigger scale, hopefully.’ And so
that was my first thought when running
for the board. Several people had
approached me and asked me if I would
consider it, and I did. ... I was in a
runoff. There were four of us that ran for
the position.”
Was it hard to get everybody back
together? Elections can be divisive.
“No, no, I don’t think so. The other
candidates and I had good friendships,
good relationships, so that wasn’t a
contentious thing or anything like that.
No, I think it was fine.
“I didn’t know, but at the time when I
got on the board, it was my first meeting
in November, and January we were put
into fiscal distress. So as a patron
running for the board, I didn’t know that
was coming down the pipeline, so it was
kind of like, ‘Oh, slap you in the face all
of a sudden. Here we go!’ ...
“It was a hard time. It was a hard
time to be on the board. I know many
nights I went home and asked my wife
why in the world would anybody want
to do this. I would tell her, ‘I need to
hear it. I need to hear it.’ And she’d tell
me, ‘You want to make a difference. You
want to make a difference.’ And that’s
one reason I wanted to run. ... And we
got through that rough time, came out of
fiscal distress. We’re in wonderful
financial shape right now, being able to
do all these things that we’re doing and
adding programs. But that was a rough
time, especially for a new board member.”
How did you get out of fiscal
distress?
“We had a RIF (reduction in force) of
a few employees, reorganized how we
were doing things, looked at our finances, made a lot of cuts in that area,
and then were able to get out of that,
then were able to actually go back and
offer all the employees at some point in
time a position back. For the moment, it
was a tough time for all of us. It was
hard. But now then after it was over
with, you got through all that turmoil
and those situations, then we’re back in
a good place and moving forward.”
I wonder how your job as a clinical
laboratory scientist affects the way
you think as a school board member.
“Well, I’ve been a manager of the lab,
a supervisor of the chemistry department, so I’ve had those kind of leadership roles all my life in my profession,
and I think that carries over into a school
organization. It’s a business, from my
perspective. We’re in the business of
attracting kids, quality teachers, quality
administrators, and so that process is
kind of the same as how it is in the
business world.
“Obviously it’s a different situation
here. We’re in the job of teaching kids
and preparing them for the future. But I
think there’s a lot of overlap in that area
of how you manage things, how you
manage the money, how you manage
your budget, how you prepare your
budget, plan for your budget, plan for
the next year, what capital things you
want to do, what projects you want to
do. So that kind of goes along with the
lab, what kind of capital projects do you
want to budget for or what do you need,
what gets us to the next level, what
makes us more efficient?”
not going on with the public whose tax
dollars are paying for that school to
function. And a lot of times they don’t
have all the information or they have a
piece of it, and people put their own spin
on things a lot of times, and by the time
it gets filtered down through, it has a
different meaning than when it originally started. So I think that’s important
as a board member to be that liaison
between the community and the school
to keep those lines of communication
open where they have a good understanding, and we can answer those
questions and solve things before they
fester and become blown out of proportion and distorted from the true facts.”
What about from the perspective of
your job involving thinking of diseases
like cancer, which is a problem best
caught early. Does that affect the way
that you think about school issues?
“Sure, and I think that’s that way in
the business world, too. You’ve heard
that saying, ‘Nip it in the bud,’ you
know, before it festers and becomes a
huge problem. And maybe from the
standpoint of as a board member, we
answer to the patrons of the district so
many times, and they question us why
are we doing this, why are we doing
that, or they may have part of the
information, not all of the information;
they’re upset about something. So I feel
like a board member is a liaison between
the school and whatever is going on or
You represent three communities:
Egypt, Bono and Cash. Are there
special challenges bringing three
separate communities together?
“I think maybe not as much now as it
was then when the consolidation began.
Not being here at that time, I’ve heard
there was a lot of animosity because
when you consolidate, people are giving
up control of their local school, and
people are passionate about that, and I
understand that, obviously. So I don’t
really have that perspective from when
actually the consolidation took place,
but it still has its dynamics because each
of those communities are represented,
and we want to make sure that they’re
all represented.”
SPRINGDALE SCHOOL DISTRICT
HAR-BER HIGH SCHOOL
Continued, next page
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Executive Session
and a direction that they want to go in,
and we can provide those foundations
for them to do that or to pursue.”
“
I think there’s a fine line. Yes,
we’ve got to do those things that
make our kids safe and feel safe
and our staff feel safe, and our
community thinks and knows that
they’ve got a safe place to send
our kids. But on the same hand ...
you’ve got to have a little freedom, too, and not just feel like
you’re in a prison every time you
walk through the door.
”
You passed a millage increase
recently after the previous one had
failed. How did you pass it the second
time?
“I think the key was, I stopped
counting at 32 meetings. I mean, we just
inundated folks. We wanted to tell you
about it. If you wanted us to come to
your group or organization, we wanted
to. We wanted to let you know what we
wanted to do and why we needed to do
this, and I think that was the key. We
went to each of those three individual
communities as well, met in their
community centers, their local town
halls or whatever, and invited them to
come in at nights, had meetings during
the day, during the night. Whatever
convenienced people, we made accommodations to do so, so we could get the
word out. So I think that was the critical
part right there.”
The millage increase paid for a fine
arts center and athletic facility, along
with a kindergarten wing and cafeteria. Sometimes it can make it harder
to sell the public on raising taxes for
projects that are less obviously
academic.
“It does, but when you look at it, too,
either kids are involved in some type of
sports activity in school, or they’re
involved in a fine arts program. ... Yes, it
was a challenge to build a per se fine
arts because it was hard to convince
people that it was not just for the band
and choir, which that was the perception
because those were the organizations
that were going to be in there. The main
groups that were going to be in there are
band and choir and drama. That had its
own dynamic. The public had to trust us
in telling them it’s not just for those
programs. Yes, we’re putting them in
there because that makes sense for them
to be in there, but this facility is for the
whole district. It’s for the community,
too.”
You’re expanding your agriculture
program.
“I can’t begin to tell you what all that
teacher does out there. It’s just phenomenal how he gets (so much) done with
those kids and the competitions that they
go to. Everything that they do and
they’ve accomplished is amazing. We’re
turning kids away from that program
because it’s not just about the welding
and the wood shop like when I grew up
in school, and that’s what agri was. It’s a
whole new realm of things. It’s animal
science. It’s vaccinations and testing and
all kinds of things that are interesting to
kids nowadays. And I think a lot of
those classes too are along the tech
career line, where I may not be a
college-bound student, but those kind of
tech classes that I can find my niche or
what I like better and go that avenue.”
In the age of No Child Left Behind,
agriculture programs are the kind
that have suffered in recent years, and
you guys are going the other direction.
“No Child Left Behind, I think that
this kind of turns that around because ...
it gives (students) lanes and avenues to
go down that they didn’t have before. So
where they thought that they had to go
to college or not, now there are different
lanes and different pathways that they
can choose. I think that (this encompasses) No Child Left Behind. We’re
doing this, and we’re expanding this so
that there is no child left behind.
Hopefully, (students) all can find a path
You work nights. How do you work
school board service into that?
“(Laughs.) You know, actually, it’s
really worked out well. My wife works
days in a lab. She works in a lab, too,
and I work nights. And we kind of did
that with an intent that she would be
there at night with our daughter, and I
would be there during the day when she
got out of school. By doing that, we
were always able to be at whatever
function she had. If it was during a
school day, I can make up sleep. I’d get
up and come to whatever it was she had
at school. So the school board, the
responsibilities of the school board kind
of feel that same way.”
When do you sleep?
“Actually, I got off about five o’clock
this morning, so I came home, slept ‘till
about noon, got up and got my shower
to come meet you. (Laughs.) And I do
that a lot because I get asked to come up
here a lot to the classrooms because
what I do is interesting to kids, and so
any time anybody asks me to, I just drop
what I do and come do it. Like I said, I
can make up sleep. That’s not a problem.”
Editor’s note: Oldman later expounded on this topic in an email to
Report Card.
“I use my education and profession to
hopefully inspire kids to dream and
know they can accomplish their dreams
and goals in life. I am in a position by
working nights to be able to come to
school and do presentations that I might
normally wouldn’t be able to do. I will
bring a human brain we have at the
hospital for the kids in elementary,
usually fourth grade, to hold and discuss
the parts and functions and how amazing
the brain actually is. It’s awesome to see
the looks on their faces and how engrossed they become and want to learn. I
will also bring culture plates and let the
kids go around and swab different
things; then they learn how to streak the
plate, we incubate them overnight, and
the next day I let them see what is
growing on the plates, usually lots of
bacteria. This then turns into a lesson on
how important it is to wash your hands
and have good hygiene. They are very
grossed out with some of the stuff they
see, but think it is awesome and it makes
them realize things we just take for
granted every day – how dirty the
bottom of our shoes are, for example,
and how we are carrying around all
kinds of bacteria on them.”
We have to talk about what happened with the school shooting at the
Westside Middle School in 1998. Do
you remember where you were when
you heard the news?
“I was at work. My wife and I, we
worked in the same lab at that time, and
one of our best friends that worked with
us there got the call that her daughter
was one of the girls that had been
(wounded). I remember standing out in
front of the office when she hung up the
phone and told us. It was just like we
couldn’t believe it. It was just devastating.”
What was that like in the community and in the school district when
that happened?
“You always think that can’t happen
here, but it can. It can happen in any
school district. There’s no school district
or any place that is immune. If somebody wanted to do a horrific act like
that, they could do it. So, I don’t know
that I could even give you words to
describe how you feel and what you go
through. It’s numbing. It’s very numbing. I remember at the time, everybody,
you were just kind of to yourself, and
you were just trying to absorb it. What
just happened? How? Why? You ask
yourself all those questions.”
Did everybody come together?
“Oh, yes. This community came
together, pulled together. I remember the
attitude at that time was, ‘This will not
do us in. We will rise above this.’ And
we have.”
How much does that still color your
district?
“It probably will always have a lot of
an effect on it. That’s just the way it’s
going to be. I like to focus on what good
has come out, how the community came
together, how we banded and bonded,
and it’s like one big family here. I think,
usually in a tragedy, that’s what happens. A family comes together and
(says), ‘We’ll get through this.’ And I
think that’s exactly what this community
did.”
So how does that affect your views
toward school security?
“Well, we have a security officer on
each campus – elementary, middle and
high school. You have to be escorted
into our building or signed in just like
when you arrived. ... You don’t just have
free roam of where you want to go in
our school. We want to know you’re
here, why you’re here, and who’s with
you.
“Now, is any security measure 100
percent perfect? No. It’s not. And do we
want to get to the point where it feels
like a prison? No. I think there’s a fine
line. Yes, we’ve got to do those things
that make our kids safe and feel safe and
our staff feels safe, and our community
thinks and knows that they’ve got a safe
place to send our kids. But on the same
hand ... you’ve got to have a little
freedom, too, and not just feel like
you’re in a prison every time you walk
through the door.”
When I searched online “Westside
school district Jonesboro Arkansas,” I
went through page after page and
there wasn’t a lot about the shootings.
“And when you did that before, that’s
all you would see. I guarantee you that’s
all you would see. But I’m glad to hear
you say that because to me, that tells me
that, ‘OK, that’s not what people relate
us to.’ And that’s not what we want to be
related to. We want to be related to that
we provide your kid with a very good,
quality education, and we have a great
sense of family and community at this
district that you’re not going to find
anywhere else. That’s what we want to
promote.”
WE TURN MAJOR DISASTERS
INTO MINOR SETBACKS.
Disasters come in all shapes and sizes, but one common thread connects
them all: afterward, you want to get your life back on track as fast as possible.
At ALL-CLEAN USA, we understand that when we’re restoring your property,
we’re restoring your life. That’s why we’re available 24 hours a day, 365 days
a year – working quickly and stopping at nothing short of making everything
like new. See how at AllCleanUSA.com or by calling 866-360-3473.
LITTLE ROCK
CONWAY
HOT SPRINGS
NW ARKANSAS
JONESBORO
MEMPHIS
Marketplace
Stephens can help
districts utilize state
partnership funding
The latest news from Report Card’s advertisers
The Arkansas Division of Public
School Academic Facilities and Transportation recently released its list of
approved projects to receive partnership
funding.
Enacted in 2005, the program provides state financial participation for
eligible
academic
facilities projects. As the funding
amount is based on a wealth index, districts generally only receive a percentage
of the total eligible cost of the project.
Frequently, a district can utilize
reserve funds to make up the difference.
However, in some instances, the district
may not have enough funds on hand to
complete the project. In these cases, Stephens is available to discuss financing
options that can assist the district in securing those funds. To learn more about
how Stephens can assist your district,
please contact Paula Morehead of Stephens Public Finance at 800.643.9691.
Hight-Jackson is
Bentonville West
High School architect
Hight-Jackson Associates is the
architect of record for the second high
school for the Bentonville School District.
The school, designed for 2,000
students, is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in August
2016. Hight-Jackson collaborated with
DLR Group on the design.
The 437,621-square-foot facility
includes:
• Competition gymnasium and auxiliary gymnasium
• Performing arts auditorium
• Drama classroom with black box
theater
• Culinary arts program
• Medical professions program
• Broadcast journalism studio
• Field house and indoor practice
field
The site development includes
baseball/softball fields, 8-lane track, and
football/soccer field combination.
Crafton Tull donates
surveying for Rogers
elementary school
Crafton Tull
donated
surveying services as well as monetary
contributions to the recently opened outdoor classroom at Mathias Elementary
School in Rogers.
Crafton Tull’s mission statement
is, “Improving communities through
professional design and surveying ... one
project at a time.” The firm has a history
of helping schools teach students the
importance of sustainable practices and
civic responsibility.
For more information, contact
Crafton Tull at 479.636.4838, or visit
craftontull.com.
East-Harding opens
Watson Chapel
elementary campus
East-Harding Construction celebrated
the new year by opening the new Watson Chapel School District’s Edgewood
Elementary K-1 campus.
Designed by Dave Sadler (Nelson
Architecture), the new $8.9 million,
50,000-square-foot K-1 school includes two new playgrounds, outdoor
classroom, media center, and cafetorium, along with minor upgrades to the
existing physical education facility. The
three-phase project includes demolition
of the old school for new bus drives. For
more information about East-Harding,
go to www.eastharding.com.
Modus Studio
designs E.A.S.T.’s
national headquarters
Modus Studio recently completed
the new national headquarters for the
Environmental and Spatial Technology
(E.A.S.T.) Initiative, which provides
technology and computer science training to students, educators and community members.
The 14,000-square-foot facility in
Little Rock will allow expanded professional development and training in
high-end technology such as computer
coding, GIS and GPS, 3D animation,
and computer aided drafting.
From concept to keys in hand, the
project was completed in five months.
Originally a compartmentalized insurance claims office, it consists of open,
flexible spaces.
For more information please
visit www.modusstudio.com or
call 479.455.5577.
All-Clean to help
districts with spring,
summer storm cleanups
The spring and summer weather are
upon us, and that also means storm season is here as well. ALL-CLEAN USA
is available 24 hours a day, seven days
a week for all of a district’s weather
emergencies due to tornadoes, heavy
winds and rain, and structural damage
to a school’s property. More information
can be found at www.allcleanusa.com or
by calling 866.360.3473.
Beardsley can help
with new funding,
teacher salaries
Musco provided a complete solution
– from foundation to pole top. For more
information, go to www.musco.com or
call Jeremy Lemons at 501.249.8056.
Districts will
need to be
even more
diligent in
managing expenses in the next couple
of school years after this past legislative
session, and First Security Beardsley
Public Finance can help.
Under Act 1248, public school districts will receive only $63 per average
daily membership increase for the 201516 school year, and a $62 increase for
the 2016-17 school year. Each of these
figures represents less than a one percent
increase from the previous year’s funding amount. Additionally, Act 1087
compounds the difficulty by increasing
the minimum starting salary for teachers
from $29,244 to $30,122 next year and
to $31,000 in 2016-17. Additionally, the
law increases all other salary schedule
steps for both bachelor’s and master’s
level teachers. To schedule a board finance workshop to discuss funding, call one of First
Security Beardsley Public Finance’s
professionals at 800.965.4644. For
more information about the firm, go to
fsbeardsley.com.
Federal Surplus closing
June 15-30 for inventory
Musco lights reduce
energy costs, glare
at Pine Bluff field
Musco’s Light-Structure Green™
lighting system is cutting energy consumption at Pine Bluff’s Taylor Memorial Field by 40 percent while significantly reducing glare for athletes.
Youth across the state have played
on this historic field since it was built
in 1940. In preparation for hosting its
seventh Babe Ruth World Series Game,
city officials and the local Babe Ruth
league needed to replace the existing
lighting that produced excessive spill
light and glare, consumed significant energy, and created constant maintenance
headaches.
Federal Surplus Property will be
closed for inventory June 15-30 and
will reopen Wednesday, July 1. School
districts are asked to make necessary
arrangements to obtain their Federal
Surplus Property needs.
The agency apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause and looks
forward to serving school districts.
For more information, call
501.835.3111.
Five schools join
Arkansas A+ network
Five
schools
have
joined
the Arkansas A+ Schools network: Retta
Brown Elementary in the El Dorado
School District; Sylvan Hills Elementary
and Tolleson Elementary in the Pulaski
County Special School District; and two
public charter schools, Arkansas Arts
Academy High School and Lighthouse
Academies.
The schools will undergo training this
summer to learn about the network’s
arts-centered curriculum. To learn more
or to observe the training, contact the
office at 501.353.0832, or go to www.
arkansasaplus.org.
WD&D designing
career tech facilities
WD&D is on the cutting edge of
career technical education in Arkansas.
Its education team has worked across the
spectrum of K-12 and higher education.
It designs facilities for the state’s most
innovative educators in K-12 and twoyear colleges who are preparing students
for emerging workforce sectors. Careers
in the culinary arts are highly desirable.
WD&D works hard to keep Arkansas
students hard at work. For more infor-
mation, go to www.wddarchitects.com
or call 501.376.6681 or 479.442.6681.
Crossland is finishing
Rogers’ tallest building
With its cranes cutting through the
skyline, Crossland Construction is
rapidly constructing the tallest building
in Rogers. The 10-story Hunt Tower is
an approximately 260,000-square-foot
class “A” office that is expected to create 300 jobs with room for 1,000 people
once it is fully leased. This high performance building will be finished in only
14 months and will be opening its doors
in fall 2015.
Sport Court does floor
work for top safe room
Sport Court handled the floor work
for an award-winning safe room/gym at
the Ouachita School District. The facility, which features a P.E. gym and classroom, received the Arkansas Concrete
Institute’s 2014 Award of Excellence
in Concrete Construction in the under
$6 million category. It was finished at
the end of the 2013-14 school year. It
was funded by FEMA, state partnership, and school district funds. For more
information about Sport Court, call Patti
LaFleur at 501.316.2255.
Baldwin & Shell’s NLR
construction progressing
Baldwin & Shell is nearing completion of phase one of the state’s largest
K-12 construction project. The North
Little Rock School District projects
include more than 900,000 square feet
of renovated and newly constructed
education space. Construction has been
completed on three elementary schools
and is ongoing in three additional
elementary schools, a middle school
and North Little Rock High School. All
phases are scheduled to be completed on
time and on budget in December 2016.
ASBA Commercial Affiliate Members
Serving schools and school boards throughout Arkansas
Ace Sign Company / Mark Bridges / 800.224.1366 / mark.bridges@acesigncompany.com / www.acesigncompany.com
AdvancED Arkansas / Kenny Pennington / 888.413.3669, ext. 5620 / kpennington@advanc-ed.org / www.advanc-ed.org
All Clean USA / Hayden Finley / 870.972.1922 / hfinley@allcleanusa.com / www.allcleanusa.com
All-Storage Products, Inc. / Tom Garner / 501.666.8600 / tgarner@allstorageproducts.com / www.allstorageproducts.com
American Bus Sales / George Lewis / 818.205.5000 / glewis@americanbussales.net / www.americanbussales.net
Arkansas Copier Center, Inc. / Bruce Blevins / 501.562.8297 / bruceb@arkansascopier.com / www.arkansascopier.com
AR Dept. of Emergency Mgment. / Kathryn Mahan-Hooten / 501.835.3111 / kathryn.mahan@adem.arkansas.gov / www.adem.arkansas.gov
ASBA - Workers’ Compensation & Risk Management Program / Shannon Moore / 501.372.1415 / shannon@arsba.org / www.arsba.org
Baldwin & Shell Construction Company / Bobby Gosser, Jr. / 501.374.8677 / bgosser@baldwinshell.com / www.baldwinshell.com
C.R. Crawford Construction / Richard Johnson / 479.251.1161 / rjohnson@crcrawford.com / www.crcrawford.com
Capital Business Machines / Ben Higgs / 501.375.1111 / bhiggs@capbiz.com / www.capbiz.com
Central States Bus Sales, Inc. / Mike Wingerter / 501.955.2577 / mikew@centralstatesbus.com / www.centralstatesbus.com
CertaPro Painters / Aaron Lewis / 479.587.1250 / certapro.nwa@gmail.com / www.fayetteville.certapro.com
Chartwells School Dining / Verdelle Bowie / 615.374.8464 / verdelle.bowie@compass-usa.com / www.compass-usa.com
Cobb and Suskie, LTD / Michael Cobb / 501.225.2133 / mcobb@cobbandsuskie.com / www.cobbandsuskie.com
Crafton Tull / Frank Riggins / 501.664.3245 / frank.riggins@craftontull.com / www.craftontull.com
Cromwell Architects Engineering, Inc. / Jennifer Southerland / 501.372.2900 / jsoutherland@cromwell.com / www.cromwell.com
Crossland Construction Co., Inc. / Chris Schnurbusch / 479.464.7077 / kcaudell@crosslandconstruction.com / www.crosslandconstruction.com
David H. Frieze Assoc., Inc. / Paul Frieze / 501.922.9704 / paulfrieze7@gmail.com
East-Harding Construction / Christina Lusk / 501.661.1646 or 479.287.7333 / clusk@eastharding.com / www.eastharding.com
Educational Benefits, Inc. / Lisa Boone / 501.212.8926 / lboone@ebi-ar.com
First Security Beardsley Public Finance / Scott Beardsley / 501.978.6392 / scott@fsbeardsley.com / www.crewsfs.com/beardsley
Fisher Tracks, Inc. / Jordan Fisher / 515.432.3191 / jfisher@fishertracks.com / www.fishertracks.com
Freedom Roofing Solutions Inc. / Jeannie Williams / 501.796.2061 / jeannie@freedomroofingsolutions.com / www.freedomroofingsolutions.com
Gabbart Communications / Brian Allen / 580.921.9333 / brian@gabbart.com / www.gabbart.com
GCA Services Group / Jim Heatherly / 888.588.0863 / gcaeducation@gcaservices.com / www.gcaservices.com
Generation Ready / Michael Ward / 501.515.9353 / michael.ward@generationready.com / www.generationready.com
Grasshopper Company / Connie Estep / 620.345.8621 / info@grasshoppermower.com / www.grasshoppermower.com
Harco Constructors / Ed Lowry / 501.351.7757 / ed@harco.net / www.harco.net
Hight-Jackson Associates, P.A. / Liz Cox / 479.464.4965 / lcox@hjarch.com / www.hjarch.com
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt / James Machen / 225.240.2753 / james.machen@hmhco.com / www.hmhco.com
Jackson Brown Palculict Architects / Misty Snell / 501.664.8700 / misty@jbparchitects.com / www.jbparchitects.com
KLC Video Security / Bill King / 903.792.7262 / weking@cableone.net / www.klcvideosecurity.com
Kronos, Inc. / Karen Bailey / 978.244.6376 / karen.bailey@kronos.com / www.kronos.com
Lifetouch National School Studios, Inc. / Phillip Martin / 501.664.5550 / rapack@lifetouch.com / www.lifetouch.com
LifeTrack Services, Inc. / Cassie Dunn / 800.738.6466 / cassie@lifetrack-services.com / www.lifetrack-services.com
Midwest Bus Sales, Inc. / Tim Toolen / 479.474.2433 / ttoolen@midwestbussales.com / www.midwestbussales.com
Milestone Construction Company / Kelli Gemmell / 479.751.3560 / kgemmell@mstonecc.com / www.mstonecc.com
Nabholz Construction Corporation / Jake Nabholz / 501.505.5126 / sandra.cook@nabholz.com / www.nabholz.com
National Playground Compliance Group / Darwin Sharp / 866.345.6774 / janna@playgroundcompliance.com / www.playgroundcompliance.com
Preferred Meal Systems, Inc. / Tom Romano / 717.321.4141 / tom.romano@preferredmeals.com / www.preferredmeals.com
Pro Benefits Group, Inc. / Gary Kandlbinder / 501.321.0457 / pbfsi@sbcglobal.net / www.pbfsi.com
Quality One Painting / Troy Hudson / 501.664.3083 / q1paint@aol.com
Rave Mobile Safety/ Don Basler / 508.532.8935 / dbasler@ravemobilesafety.com / www.ravemobilesafety.com
Raymond James / David Fortenberry / 501.671.1238 / david.fortenberry@raymondjames.com / www.raymondjames.com
School & Office Products of AR, Inc. / Scott Greene / 501.663.5500 / scott@sopainc.com / www.school-officeproducts.com
Seon / Marsha Severyn / 877.630.7366 / marsha.severyn@seon.com / www.seon.com
Southern Bleacher Company / Carla Herndon / 800.433.0912 / info@southernbleacher.com / www.southernbleacher.com
Sport Court / Patti LaFleur / 501.316.2255 / sportscourtsouth@aol.com / www.sportcourtsouth.com
Stephens Inc. / Jason Holsclaw / 501.377.2297 / jason.holsclaw@stephens.com / www.stephens.com
SubTeachUSA / Tammy Winn / 870.239.6608 / tammywinn@subteachusa.com / www.subteachusa.com
The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS/TAPS) / Mickey McFatridge / 870.926.9250 / tips@reg8.net / www.tips-usa.com
The Learning Institute / LisaWalker / 501.760.5525 / lisa.walker@tci.net / www.tli.net
The Playwell Group, Inc. / Jeff Popenoe / 501.625.7529 / jeff@playwellgroup.com / www.theplaywellgroup.com
Trammell Piazza Law Firm, PLLC / Chad Trammell / 870.779.1870 / kelley@trammellpiazza.com / www.trammellpiazza.com
Van Horn Construction / Chad Weisler / 479.968.2514 / cweisler@vanhornconstruction.com / www.vanhornconstruction.com
Virco, Inc. / Bruce Joyner / 501.908.9461 / brucejoyner@virco.com / www.virco.com
Voyager Sopris Learning / Farrah Lemoine / 337.258.1323 / farrah.lemoine@voyagersopris.com / www.voyagersopris.com
Whatley Sign Company / Brittney Spriggs / 870.773.2139 / zwhatley@whatleysign.com / www.whatleysign.com
Witsell Evans Rasco / Eldon Bock / 501.374.5300 / ebock@wearch.com / www.werarch.com
Wittenberg, Delony & Davidson, Inc. / Glen Woodruff / 501.376.6681 / gwoodruff@wddarchitects.com / www.wddarchitects.com
Take care and God bless
Editor’s Note: Jerry Don Woods has
resigned from the Dardanelle School
Board for family reasons and under
ASBA’s by-laws can no longer serve as
ASBA’s president (story, page 3). Here,
he offers some lessons learned during
more than 23 years of school board
service.
In 1991 a dear friend of mine, Dr.
Jerry Hodges, suggested that I consider running for the Dardanelle School
Board. He had been a member of the
board during some turbulent times. His
experiences combined with his familiarity with my personality led him to
suggest that I should try my hand at the
office.
I had never considered that role, and
the idea of placing my name on a ballot
along with someone else and asking
people to pick between us was a bit intimidating. But as I considered the idea
I asked myself the question, “What’s the
worst that could happen?”
Little did I know that this recommendation would start me on a journey that
would be life-changing. Before my first
meeting, and for several more to come,
I remember praying, “God, please don’t
let me mess this up.”
Since I have resigned my position on
the Dardanelle board and this is my last
Report Card article, I thought I would
share some lessons that I have learned
over the years in hopes that it might be
helpful to some of you.
School board governance is the
only elected position in our society
that cannot become political. In recent
years we have seen partisan politics become a spectator sport, as each party has
fought for a majority so it could have
its way. As a result, we have witnessed
concepts such as No Child Left Behind
create such an emphasis on objective
metrics that children’s needs ultimately
fell through the cracks. As everyone
raced to the top, children were left in the
starting blocks. School board members
and their superintendent and principal
colleagues stood in the gap and protected children’s interests.
When board leaders become chess
pieces in the game of politics, children
lose. When a board convenes, partisan
by Jerry Don Woods
Former ASBA President
politics must be invited to leave the
room, and children must take priority
over all else.
When it is time to hire a superintendent for your district, follow the
phrase I once heard applied to premarriage therapy: “Choose wisely;
treat kindly.” This person is not only
the single most important person in
your district according to the law, but he
or she also is your best resource. Your
relationship with your superintendent
individually and as a board will directly
influence the achievement of your children. Your role as a board member is not
diminished by a strong superintendent.
Neither is their role in any way undermined by a strong board/board member.
Instead, both are elevated. Don’t be
hesitant to engage this person. Like you,
they are vested in the process.
Hire the best principals you can
afford. They not only set climate and
strongly influence education culture, but
they also are the instructional leaders
in your buildings. Good ones can take
timid rookie teachers and create inspirational world changers. Their role in
student achievement is invaluable. And
once you’ve hired them, support them to
the limit.
The decision to teach is a calling with
divine implications. Insist on the best
you can find, regardless of their relationships or popularity. William Arthur
Ward said, “The mediocre teacher tells.
The good teacher explains. The superior
teacher demonstrates. The great teacher
inspires.” Always insist on inspirational
teachers, those that will encourage children to dream about what could be, not
what the world tells them they must be.
A bond forms among individuals who
come together under a common cause of
promoting the best interests of children.
One of my favorite phrases comes from
the old hymn by Thomas Grinfield,
“Oh How Kindly Hast Thou Led Me.”
It goes like this; “Oh how kindly hast
Thou led me, Heavenly Father day by
day. Found my dwelling, Clothed and
fed me, Furnished friends to cheer my
way.”
Over the past few years as I have
traveled the state and nation representing
the state of Arkansas and the Arkansas
School Boards Association, I’ve experienced many things. But one constant
has remained – the encouragement of
fellow board members to cheer me along
the way. I’ll miss that. You’ve validated
my efforts, and reinforced my resolve
to defend public education, its children,
teachers, administrators and staff. I will
always be a passionate advocate for public education. But I’ll miss my friends.
Take care. God Bless.
Flippin Elementary School | Northwest Entry
Flippin Elementary School | Aerial View
Flippin Elementary School | Library Interior

No child with dyslexia left behind

Transcription

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