NPBOR hosts local school districts panel breakfastent
September 15-21, 2014
By Becca Bona
On Monday, Sept. 8, 2014, the North Pulaski Board of Realtors hosted a panel discussion featuring local public school system superintendents, who discussed updates before a Realtor audience at the North Little Rock Chamber of Commerce.
Those present were Dr. Kenny Rogers, superintendent of the North Little Rock School District, Dr. Belinda Shook, superintendent of the Beebe Public School District; Dr. Tony Thurman, superintendent of the Cabot Public School District; Dr. Jerry Guess, superintendent of the Pulaski County Special School District; and Daniel Gray with RE/MAX in Jacksonville, who spoke about the need for a separate school district within Jacksonville.
Each speaker had a fifteen minute platform to update and promote milestones achieved by the various districts.
First up, Daniel Gray spoke about the ongoing concern for the Jacksonville area and the question of whether or not there should be a separate school district established. Gray, who said his own children attend school in the area, focused on the lack of facilities and the need for a drastic update.
“The school is in a temporary building and it’s been there since the sixties,” he said. His outlook was positive – Gray believes a separate Jacksonville school district would have a positive effect on property values in the area. In closing, he said: “What I think this is going to do for the opportunity of housing and real estate values in Jacksonville and the North Pulaski area, I think it’s going to open up some options and give us hope.” The push for a separate school district is being put to voters on Sept. 16.
Next, Dr. Jerry Guess spoke on the PCSSD, highlighting the flurry of changes and activity. He also focused on some of the changes that have already been made as of his instatement in 2011, when the district was placed in financial distress.
In terms of the desegregation suit opened in the early eighties by the Little Rock School District against the PCSSD and the NLRSD, a settlement was reached in January 2014, establishing an inter district relationship between the three, and calls for phasing out the yearly payments from the state which aided in desegregation practices. The NLRSD has full unitary status, while the PCSSD is currently working on six areas it has left to improve, including, among others, facilities.
Dr. Guess outlined the goals for the 20.7 million that the PCSSD will receive for the next three years from that settlement. “My goal is to also get the district unitary as quickly as possible,” he reinforced, before describing plans for the various campuses across the district.
The plan includes building a completely new facility for Mills High School, with loose plans to do the same for Robinson, and update features at Sylvan Hills, depending on ongoing talks with various parties.
Addressing Jacksonville, Dr. Guess said, “We believe it will be a long term benefit to Jacksonville and a long term benefit to PCSSD, [but] we also believe it is a short term risk for a Jacksonville school district to exist, it hasn’t ever been done, it’s going to be new.”
Following Dr. Guess, Dr. Belinda Shook gave a brief overview of the state of the Beebe Public School District, a small, yet healthy community. She identifies as a badger herself, saying, “Once a badger always a badger,” as she introduced quick facts.
Dr. Shook could not contain her excitement for the introduction of the new Career and Technology center. “We have a broadcasting class, computer engineering, medical professions, and three EAST labs. There is a also a Badger store within the building, and a marketing class runs it,” she detailed.
The 235 mile district is made up of 36 bus routes that transport 2800 students to far-reaching communities such as Floyd, Garner and Antioch, making it an important part of the area.
Next, Dr. Thurman from the Cabot School District spoke, detailing the push of the newly unveiled Freshman Academy as of this year. He explained the thought process for creating the academy, from his own teaching experience: “Those kids that came to me behind in the ninth and tenth grade, those were the kids that I had the most struggle with getting across the stage.”
Thus the academy takes kids who are at risk and teaches them keystone courses. These courses explain the importance of caring about a transcript and thinking about college as a fifteen-year old. Dr. Thurman also highlighted volunteer programs such as Hallway Heroes, and the strength of the community within the CSD.
North Little Rock’s Kelly Rogers echoed all of the superintendents by saying, “Our School district in North Little Rock, just like these districts, are the foundation of a community.”
He highlighted positive changes within the NLRSD, including the changes in the district’s website, which is now more interactive than before. Parents can log on and enter an address and see which zone their children would fall under, as well as many new features.
He was also happy to announce the successful opening of the first new building in years for the NLRSD campus, Meadowpark Elementary. Rogers also showed a brief video that was made, as he says, “with input not only from the staff, but also the students,” highlighting the strides being made within the district.
The breakfast panel served as a good opportunity for North Pulaski Realtors to familiarize themselves further with far-reaching areas of their community, as Dr. Thurman said, in relation to the relationship between the districts: “Our enemy is not each other – you know that the quality of your public school is in direct relation to the quality of your community.”
