City is pushing for own schools Sherwood panel to study feasibility

CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

Just two of Arkansas 15 most-populous cities lack their own public school districts, both of which are in the Pulaski County Special School District. One of them, Sherwood, is in the early stages of exploring the formation of an independent school system, modeling from steps taken over three decades by the other, Jacksonville. The Sherwood City Council in April authorized the appointment of a committee to examine the feasibility of forming a school district that would be independent of the Pulaski County Special School District. In addition to Sherwood, the 18,000-student Pulaski County district also serves Jacksonville; Maumelle, which has put out feelers about forming its own school system; parts of Little Rock; far west Pulaski County; and southeast Pulaski County. The new Sherwood Public Education Foundation, with retired educators Linda Remele and Beverly Williams as co-chairmen, has been meeting since July. The community would like to have more input and control of its schools, Williams said last week of the citys reasons for forming the committee. The foundation has applied to the Internal Revenue Service for tax-exempt status and has made tentative arrangements with a consultant to study the feasibility of a new school district that could serve 4,400 students now in eight existing schools: Sylvan Hills High, Sylvan Hills Middle, Northwood Middle and five elementary schools. The foundation has also set up a Facebook page facebook.com/sherwoodeducation and opened a bank account. Its members passed out fliers about the foundation at Sherwood Fest in September. No one thought it was a bad idea, Williams said. Everyone said, Its about time, Thank you, dear Lord, or We really support you. I think it is something that the citizens of Sherwood are welcoming. The foundation is now ready to raise money and make some public presentations to let the community know what is underway, Williams said last week. Our citizens deserve, and our city government has made the decision that we deserve, to explore this possibility. It would be prudent for us to do so. It would be unfortunate for our stakeholders, our citizens and the children of Sherwood, if we didnt take this initiative. The first presentation to the public will be from 7-8 p.m. Tuesday in the Sylvan Hills Church of Christ education building at 117 W. Maryland Ave. in Sherwood. The second information session is set for 6:30-7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 in the New Dora Baptist Church at 317 Jamison Ave. in North Little Rock, in the McAlmont community behind Harris Elementary School. Our goal is to be as transparent as possible, Williams said last week. We want to tell people what a feasibility study entails and about the kinds of data we will be researching. Well answer questions. We want citizens to know what the steps are to be done. The foundation will also seek contributions to support its work, she said.

We have a consultant ready. We need to have the funds to sign a contract and get him on board to collect the data. The foundation would like to raise at least $25,000 for all phases, including the hiring of a former superintendent, Norman Hill, to do the feasibility study. The foundation can collect money but cannot guarantee that the donations will be tax-deductible until the group attains tax-exempt status from the IRS. The foundation already made an initial presentation to the Sherwood City Council. This is the fruit of their labor, Williams said of the foundation and the City Council. We wanted to tell them, Heres where we are. The foundation has been in contact with Jerry Guess, superintendent of the Pulaski County district, and Arkansas Education Commissioner Tom Kimbrell about its efforts. Guess didnt take a position on the Sherwood initiative in an interview last week. I really think its too early, Guess said. They have a lot of fences to jump before they really know themselves whether a district is a feasible course to pursue. They have got to know the wealth of that area and what that wealth would do in terms of impacting the funding of a new district. Theyve got to know how many kids are there, and theyve got to know what the tax base would be and what kind of employee salary schedule they can put together. While there is a state law that establishes a means for the Jacksonville residents to work toward creating their own district, Guess said that law doesnt fit Sherwoods situation. I think there will have to be changes in legislation to enable the separation of that district, Guess added. They would have to propose a change in legislation in 2015 thats when the next regular legislation session will occur. They have a lot to do. There are a lot of questions to answer. Jacksonville residents have worked, in fits and starts, over decades to form a separate district for the city. As it stands now, the Pulaski County Special School District has endorsed the idea because an independent Jacksonville system would benefit the remaining part of the Pulaski County district. Jacksonville planners asked the state Board of Education earlier this year to seek federal court permission to schedule an election on forming a Jacksonville district. Federal court permission is considered necessary because the Pulaski County district is a party in a long-running school-desegregation lawsuit. A 2003 attempt to set an election on a new district was rejected by the federal court. A new district would take in 10 Pulaski County schools that are in need of repair or replacement. The new district would likely be eligible for more state aid for those building projects than would the Pulaski County district. It would really help with the more efficient management of the remaining Pulaski County Special School District, Guess said about a possible Jacksonville school system. I dont know if that would be true with a Sherwood district. I dont know if there would be an economic benefit, because we dont know how much wealth they have or how many students they would take. Its too early to speculate, because there are too many unknowns. Sherwood and Jacksonville are not alone in the Pulaski County district in considering forming their own districts. The Maumelle City Council in April passed a resolution as a starting point for examining the possibility of a district for that city. Maumelle Alderman Preston Lewis said last week that he has talked to at least one out-of-state

firm about doing a feasibility study, but he is putting the focus on getting the state law changed in 2015 to allow a city other than Jacksonville to form a new district in Pulaski County. Once that law is amended, then we will push very aggressively for a feasibility study and raising funds for it, Lewis said. Williams said the Sherwood foundations members have watched the Jacksonville efforts. Our committee compliments Jacksonville, she said. We believe in what they are doing, and we believe we would be foolish not to pursue a similar kind of study to benefit our citizens and our children.