ADE Briefs

Board member Vicki Saviers asked Wilson about her past involvement in OCABS, a former charter school in Osceola that had numerous problems. Wilson said she left the school to focus on research and the wrong person replaced her.

The second application for a charter on the SBE’s agenda Tuesday is the Diploma School. The applicant, Sally Wilson, said she came to believe the best way to serve drop-outs in eastern Arkansas is through a charter school. “We devised a school to move around the obstacles, such as having night classes,” she said. Jonesboro [...]

Board member Toyce Newton said she hasn’t heard what unique formula Responsive Ed is offering that is different from what Texarkana is doing.  She said she wanted to avoid simply shifting kids at risk for failing to another campus. Cook said the teachers don’t lecture but tutor. He said once the charter begins, the Texarkana [...]

Board member Mireya Reith asked whether Texarkana school officials view the charter as a critique on their efforts. School officials responded that they feel they are doing a good job, have a quality alternative program and don’t need another school taking their kids because they love their kids. Reith asked Cook why Responsive Ed wants [...]

In a rebuttal, Cook said Responsive Ed isn’t trying to “take over” the Texarkana school district. He said his group’s focus is helping drop-outs. He said the district is doing a great job but there are kids that “are not being served.” He said he expects 50 to 70 percent of the teachers will be [...]

The superintendent of the Texarkana school district, Russell Sapaugh, presented for the opposition to the Responsive Ed charter. District officials said they have cut down on fights in the district. Matt Coleman, an instructional facilitator at Arkansas High School in Texarkana, said state benchmark scores have increased. Wayne Smith, the mayor of Texarkana, “We are [...]

Chuck Cook, CEO of Responsive Education Solutions, presented the application for a charter school in Texarkana to the State Board of Education. Responsive Ed exists to offer hope to parents who are disenchanted with their current education setting, Cook told the board. Supporters say that numbers show their scores have consistently increased at charters they [...]

The board unanimously denied the application by KidSmart citing questions about operational capacity, managerial experience, and the availability of qualified teachers.

KidSmart seeks to provide bilingual education at a proposed charter school in southwest Little Rock. Chris Heller, attorney for the Little Rock district, told the board that there are concerns that KidSmart could negtively affect desegregation efforts in Little Rock. Further, he questioned the group’s proposed budget counting on all of the students being eligible [...]

Board member Mireya Reith said she hasn’t seen enough to demonstrate that the school would have the capacities to serve the troubled students. The board voted to delay a decision until January to allow the supporters time to provide more information to the State Board. Dr. Kimbrell said the ADE would do whatever the board [...]