LRSD News

A recent approval by the Board of Directors of the Little Rock School District means more than a dozen elementary school principals will be reassigned to different campuses for the 2012-2013 school year.  Superintendent Dr. Morris Holmes made the recommendation to transfer 17 of 36 middle and alternative school principals, saying the change would offer a fresh approach at the schools.  The school board voted 5-2 to approve the recommendation.   Here are the new principal assignments:
Elementary
Baseline – Katina Ray
Brady – Tyrone Harris
Dodd – Deborah Mitchell
Fulbright Sherkeyer Jackson
King Magnet – Karen Carter
McDermott – Scott Morgan
Meadowcliff – Ada Keown
Romine – Beverly Jones
Terry – Sandra Register
Western Hills – Teresa Richardson
Williams Magnet – Lori Brown
Wilson – Eleanor Cox
Woodruff – Lillie Scull

Secondary

Cloverdale – Wanda Ruffins
Forest Heights – Connie Green (Interim)
Felder – Willie Vinson
Hamilton – Keith McGee (Interim)

In accordance with board policy, the Board of Directors for the Little Rock School District will hold two special meetings, Monday evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m.  The meetings were called in response to special petitions by citizens and will be held in the board room of the administration building at 810 W. Markham. 

•    5:30pm - 6:30 pm  Western Hills Special Meeting
•    7:00pm - 8:00 pm Williams Magnet Special Meeting
 
The meetings will also be televised live on LRSD's educational access channel which airs on Comcast Channel 4 or Channel 99 on ATT U-verse.

The Arkansas Department of Education sent out this memo today, dated June 22, 2012, regarding the School Choice Act:

Friday afternoon, the federal district court judge presiding over the lawsuit involving the Arkansas Public School Choice Act stayed his June 8, 2012 order.  The stay is in effect pending appeals of the June 8, 2012 order to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis.  The stay means that while the appeals are pending, the Arkansas Public School Choice Act (Ark. Code Ann. § 6-18-206) and the Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing the Guidelines, Procedures, and Enforcement of the Arkansas Public School Choice Act may once again be relied upon and followed as written.  The Arkansas Department of Education will continue to update school district leaders concerning the status of the case.

     The next time you see Dr. Vickie Logan of Parkview, congratulate her!   Logan was recently named among  97 math and science teachers by President Obama as recipients of the prestigious Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching.   The educators have been invited to the White House  to receive their awards in Washington, DC next week.
     The Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is awarded annually to outstanding K-12 science and mathematics teachers from across the country.  The 2011 awardees teach 7th through 12th grades.
     In addition to the distinction of being selected, winners also receive a $10,000 award from the National Science Foundation to be used at their discretion. They also are invited Washington, DC, for  a special ceremony and several days of educational and celebratory events, including visits with members of Congress and the Administration.
      Logan has been an educator for 24 years and for the past 9 years has taught Advanced Placement Biology at Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School in the Little Rock School District.
     "Student success continues to be my benchmark, whether in the classroom, on standardized exams, in higher education, or in the workplace after graduation. As retirement nears, the Presidential Award is both a validation of a successful career in education and a reminder that there is still much to be done. I consider the Presidential Award to be ongoing and jointly earned by my students, their families, and myself as we continue to move forward together through the experience of learning," said Logan. 
     She has been honored for her service to education locally by three Arkansas governors:  Frank White, Bill Clinton and Mike Huckabee.  Some of her accolades for excellence in education include the Siemens award, the Stephens award, the Wal-Mart award, the Parent Teacher Association award, and Arkansas Gifted and Talented Educator.
     Logan is a fitting honoree by President Obama as he has committed to strengthen science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and prepare 100,000 effective science and mathematics teachers over the next decade.

     The Little Rock School District Child Nutrition Department is participating in the Summer Food Service Program. Meals will be provided to all children (18 and under) without charge. There will be no discrimination in the course of the meal service regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, or disability.  Meals will be provided at the sites as follows:

Bale (June 6-June 29), Baseline (June 11-Aug. 2), Booker (June 11-July 26), Brady (June 11-Aug. 2), Cloverdale (June 11-July 6), Dodd (June 11-June 22), Dunbar (June 11-Aug. 2), Forest Heights (June 4-Aug.10), Franklin (June 11-July 13), Geyer Springs (June 11-Aug. 2), Hall (June 11-July 26), Henderson (June 11-July 18), J.A. Fair (June 11-June 29), Mabelvale ES (June 11-July 13), Mabelvale MS (June 5-June 27), McClellan (June 11-June 29), Otter Creek (June 11-June 29), Rockefeller (June 4-Aug. 10), Romine (June 11-Aug. 2), Stephens (June 11-Aug. 2), Terry (June 11-July 13), Wakefield (June 6-July 3), and Washington (June 11-July 13). For more information on times at specific sites, please click here.

To file a complaint of discrimination, write to:
USDA, Director, Office of Adjudication
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250-9410
or call (866)632-9992

En Español - Servicio De Comida Gratis Programa De Verano

The Little Rock School District has adjusted to its new summer hours: 7:30 AM to 4:00 PM. 

Please also note that LRSD offices will be closed Wednesday, July 4th, 2012, in observance of the holiday.

The state of LRSD’s financial affairs was discussed during a special budget workshop Thursday evening.  In a meeting televised on LRSD’s educational access channel, Superintendent Morris Holmes and chief financial officer Kelsey Bailey explained two options for the districts 2012-2013 budget:  one that is similar to the current $338 million dollar budget and another that considers the possible loss of desegregation money.  The desegregation funds dedicated to the district total nearly $40 million dollars and represent money for magnet schools, teacher retirement and health insurance, the majority-to-minority student transfer program and M-to-M transportation.

Over the past decade, the district’s average fund balance has been 4.28.  Currently, the fund balance is only 5.51%, or approximately 3 weeks of LRSD’s annual expenditures - $18,636,326.  However, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends a minimum unrestricted fund balance of no less than two months of general fund operating revenues or expenditures – which means the district needs to have at least $56, 326,330 to meet that goal. 

Accountants use the term “Fund Balance” to describe the net assets of governmental funds in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.  The fund balance serves as a measure of the financial resources available in a fund and is typically generated with you have more revenue than expenditures over the same time period.

Thursday’s meeting set the stage for future budget discussions.  For a detailed look at last night’s presentation, click here.  You may also see a rebroadcast of the televised discussion on LRSD’s educational access channel Sunday, June 3, 2 p.m.; Monday, June 4, 7 p.m. and Thursday, June 7, 7 p.m.

Fifth grader Antwan Tucker, 11, stayed home when the boys in his neighborhood rode their bicycles. But that changed today for Tucker – and for all of the fifth graders at Washington Interdistrict Magnet Elementary School – when the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity donated a bicycle for every student in the fifth grade class.

“I’m going to ride with my friends,” Tucker said as he looked at the bicycle proudly. “I was the only one in my neighborhood without a bicycle.”

The donation of the bicycles was one part of what  the Little Rock Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity does annually for the students at Washington Elementary. During the school year, professionals from the fraternity go into the school and mentor the young men, encouraging them to do well in school, according to Gus Swain, a retired  counselor from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock who coordinates the mentoring program for the fraternity.

Dr. Dexter Booth, principal at Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School, a member of the fraternity, and the chair of the bicycle drive, said that the fraternity’s program was an offshoot of another program  that began six years ago in conjunction with  “Stop the Violence.”  The fraternity adopted Washington Elementary in 2010. This was the second year that the group has given a bicycle to every fifth grader at the school.

As students in the three fifth grade classes walked out onto the basketball courts, they were visibly excited. The brand new bicycles had been separated into the three groups for the three classes, and each one was tagged with a fifth grader’s name.  Students gave the fraternity members a laminated thank you poster with all of their signatures on it, and at the teacher’s prompting shouted, “Thank you Kappa Alpha Psi.”

Booth said, “Well, this  just made our year. We can all  go home and enjoy our summer vacation.” The pride that the men took in their endeavor to help the students was obvious.

In 2010, the Little Rock Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Fraternity adopted the school because it was a place they felt showed the greatest need, according to Swain. The fraternity, which was founded in Indiana, boasts 55 active members with the Little Rock Alumni Chapter.  Many of those members donated “one, two or three bikes,” Swain said, but other donations came from as far away as Memphis, Tennessee.

 “Several of the staff and members of the military donated a bicycle,” said Randy Ward, Project Manager for Watson Services in Camp Robinson.
According to Katherine Snyder, principal of Washington Elementary, the mentoring  program that the fraternity members provide has made a difference to her students . “They see these men who have gone to college and are professionals, and it has a profound effect on them.”

The gift of the bicycles was a pat on the back for the hard work and educational growth of the entire fifth grade class, and worked to help encourage students to become more active.

“We have stressed how important physical fitness is to the body’s overall well-being,” Snyder said, adding that those bicycles would give students an alternative to television and video games.

Booth estimated that the 90 bicycles cost about $9,000.

Contributed by Judith Murray, Journalism teacher