2013 Senior Art Exhibit Parkview Arts/Science Magnet High School Little Rock, Arkansas April 9-April 16 THEA Foundation Center for the Arts John Kohn Tenenbaum Gallery 401 Main Street North Little Rock, AR Gallery Hours: 9am to 12 noon, 1 pm to 5pm Monday-Friday Public Reception: Tuesday, April 16th, 6:00-7:30 pm Senior Recognition Ceremony, 6:45 pm MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE AGENDA APRIL 9, 2013 I. Call to Order - Roll Call II. Reading of the Minutes of February 12, 2013 Ill. Executive Director's Report A. Correspondence B. Financial Transactions C. Newspaper Articles D. Recruitment Update E. LRSD Original Magnet Schools Personnel - Vacancies and New Hires IV. Business and/or Action Items A. Stipulation Magnet School Evaluation Report - Update B. MRC Policy for Sibling Preference - Discussion C. Schedule Annual Report from Magnet Principals V. Adjournment MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES February 12, 2013 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Magnet Review Committee was held at Mann Magnet School, 1000 East Roosevelt, Little Rock, Arkansas on Tuesday, February 12, 2013. Members Present: Dr. Sadie Mitchell, LRSD- Chairperson Bobby Acklin, NLRSD Dr. Robert Clowers, PCSSD Oliver Dillingham, ADE Danny Reed, ADE Joy Springer, Joshua lntervenors Guests: Patricia Boykin, Principal of Mann Magnet Margie Powell, ODM The meeting was called to order at 8:50 a.m. by Chairperson Dr. Sadie Mitchell. She immediately called for a reading of the minutes of January 15, 2013. Danny Reed made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, and Dr. Robert Clowers seconded the motion. The minutes were unanimously approved as presented. Donna Grady Creer provided the Executive Director's report. She called the Committee's attention to several items in correspondence. The letters and emails were thank you letters and memorandums to all personnel and associates who assisted to make Magnet Fair a success. Copies of the correspondence were given to all MRC members, but no action was required by the MRC. Bills in the amount of $8,034.67 were presented for payment. Ms. Creer provided a brief recap of the expenses and noted that most had to do with early enrollment and Magnet Fair costs. Danny Reed made a motion to pay the bills and Oliver Dillingham seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. A listing of all newspaper articles since the previous MRC meeting was given to all MRC members for their information. Ms. Creer provided a brief recap and reminded Committee members that copies are available upon request through the MRC Office. An article from Magnet Schools of America was also given to MRC members for their perusal. Ms. Creer noted that this article provided information about magnets still being a viable school choice. With regard to a recruitment update, information received from the Little Rock School District's Student Registration Office was given to all MRC members. This report provided a listing of students who have been assigned to the Stipulation magnet schools and the vacant seats still available. Joy Springer said she has to study the report and, if she has questions, she will let the MRC know. A copy of the letters sent to rising 5th and 8th grade students from North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School District students was given to MRC members for their information. The letter provided parents with the procedure for application for their student as they enter either the 6th or 9th grade. No action was required by the MRC. Magnet Fair was a success. Schools are reporting that several tours have been scheduled as a result. People applauded the larger stage at McCain Mall. All in all, the change of venue this year seems to be proving to be an asset. Dr. Mitchell described some of the activities going on at the school booths at Magnet Fair, and Oliver Dillingham observed how the schools tried to attract people to their booths. On Monday following Magnet Fair, Parkview Magnet did an "Arts Night Out" at their school. It was a good idea but not a lot of people participated. -2- Central is doing events for Black History Month and Chinese New Year. Ms. Creer is planning to attend the Chinese New Year activity. Patricia Boykin, Principal of Mann Magnet, will be doing the presentation for Mann Magnet before the Little Rock School District Board soon. She was not able to attend the meeting with the other Stipulation magnet principals in January, due to illness. Dr. Clowers asked if there is any information to support the fact that having the Magnet Fair at McCain Mall helped to recruit more students from PCSSDa nd NLRSD. Ms. Creer said we are looking into those numbers at present. Little Rock School District's Elementary Science Fair was held at the Metroplex. Overall, the top award went to a magnet school, and there were several winning entries from magnet schools. Dr. Mitchell informed the MRC that another activity in Little Rock School District will be taking place during March. This activity is called Artistry in the Rock and will be a two-day event. More details will follow. With regard to personnel vacancies and new hires in the Stipulation magnet schools, there are none to report at this time. When Ms. Creer made her report before the Little Rock School District Board, she reminded the School Board members that the MRC does an evaluation report for the Stipulation magnet schools. Dr. Karen DeJarnette is ready to start the next report cycle, and Ms. Creer will be working with her to provide her with our research questions for the new report. Ms. Springer asked that the MRC Office share with MRC members before the final evaluation is accepted. This data needs to be shared with MRC to see if the final report is on target. A discussion was held with regard to the MRC-generated policies. The option of adding sibling preference at the middle school level was the main topic of -3- S" '/ discussion. Ms. Creer is doing research on this question. The trend is to continue the sibling preference in middle schools as they have in elementary schools. Many will be adding sibling preference because of declining enrollment. There are several ways of incorporating it. She has talked with the people at the Student Assignment Offices, and they all thought it would be a benefit. Danny Reed asked if it looked like it would increase the enrollment numbers. Ms. Creer said that because it is only three grades, she doesn't know. She has heard from other districts, and they say that the most important thing is to get the word out. Ms. Springer said she has no objection to it. After evaluation, we may need to go back and look at MRC policies. Danny Reed then made a motion to change the sibling preference policy by extending it to middle schools. Dr. Robert Clowers seconded the motion, and the motion carried unanimously. Dr. Clowers asked if someone new comes into the district, and a seat is open, can they seat the child during semester. This cannot be done if someone is coming from one of the other districts in Pulaski County, but it can if they are new to the county of Pulaski. Mr. Dillingham said we need to look at a three-year period to see how many times this occurred, and then see if the other districts are being hurt by this. A listing of dates for the rest of the school year for MRC meetings was provided to all Committee members. Dr. Clowers informed the MRC that he will be unable to attend the meeting scheduled for March lih. It was noted that the schedule for the annual report from magnet school principals needs to be scheduled. When no further business was brought before the Committee, Oliver Dillingham made a motion to adjourn the meeting, and Bobby Acklin seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 9:37 a.m. -4- I MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE BILLS TO BE PAID APRIL 9, 2013 1. CompSys (Monthly Billing to Host MRC's Website) 2. Staples Advantage (Supplies for the MRC Office) 3. Capital Business Machines (Monthly Billing for MRC's Maintenance Contract for the MRC Office Copier) 4. Central Arkansas Newspapers (Advertising during Early Enrollment and Magnet Fair) 5. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Subscription Renewal) 6. Leader Publishing (Advertising During Early Enrollment) 7. American Home Life (MRC's Office Rent) 8. American Home Life (MRC's Communications Expense) 9. Capital Business Machines (Monthly Billing for MRC's Maintenance Contract for the MRC Office Copier) 10.CompSys (Monthly Billing to Host MRC's Website) 11.Staples (Supplies for the MRC Office) 12.Central Arkansas Newspapers (Advertising) TOTAL BILLS TO BE PAID 48.33 5.50 77.76 632.00 60.00 170.40 825.00 182.50 77.76 48.33 81.32 351.00 $2,559.90 Desegregationh earingss et Pleaso n docketf orr eleasef roms upervisionca, shc utoff CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSASD EMOCRAT-GAZETTE U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr., the presiding judge in the 30-year-old Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit, on Friday announced dates for a series of court hearings to take place before the end of the year. The topics of the various hearings fall into two categories: the Pulaski County Special School District's request to be released from court supervision of some of its desegregation efforts, and Arkansas' request to be released from the multimillion- dollar payments and other obligations imposed in a 1989 settlement agreement with the three districts in Pulaski County. The first of the hearings on the Pulaski County Special District's request for partial unitary status and release from court supervision will focus on the district's efforts in the areas of special education. That court hearing will be Aug. 20-22. The second hearing will be I c:
T, L 3-5a nd will focus on the .1~trict's steps to address the use of one-race classrooms in the 18,000-student system. The third hearing will be Sept. 17-19 on whether the Pulaski County Special District has met its desegregation commitments in regard to staffing and personnel. The fourth in the series of hearings will be Oct. 1-3 and will be on the district's compliance with the secondary gifted education program and Advanced Placement program provisions in its desegregation plan. In the order, Marshall also sets dates for the parties to engage in "discovery," or collecting information for their cases, and he set dates for the parties to exchange their exhibits and the lists of people they will call as witnesses. He scheduled a 1:30 p.m., pretrial conference meeting with the attorneys for Aug. 6. The Joshua intervenors, who represent the black students in all three Pulaski County districts, are opposing Pulaski County Special's request for partial unitary status. Regarding the state's motion to be relieved from the 1989 financial settlement agreement, a two-week hearing is set for Dec. 9-20. A pretrial conference is scheduled for 9:30 am. Nov. 22. As a result of the decades- old settlement, the state is now paying the three Pulaski County school districts a combined $70 million a year, with about $40 million going to the Little Rock School District for the operation of magnet schools and the majority- to-minority interdistrict student transfer program, as well as teacher health insurance and retirement costs. The Little Rock School District is leading the opposition to the state's efforts to be released from the 1989 settlement. The state has argued that it should be released in part because the Little Rock and North Little Rock districts have been declared unitary and released from court supervision of their desegregation efforts. Attorneys for the district have countered that the state must prove it has remedied its constitutional violations that resulted in the state payments. INTERDISTRICT MAGNET SCHOOL ENROLLMENT POLICY Adopted December 21, 1988 Revised December 12, 2000 Revised February 15, 2005 1. Vacant seats at entry levels (K, 6th , and 9th) will be apportioned in accordance with percentages set forth in the Stipulation. 2. Preference will be given to PCSSD and NLRSD students for vacancies occurring in grades 1-5, 7-8, 10-11-12. If PCSSD and NLRSD are unable to fill their allocated seats, Little Rock School District students may be seated. 3. Students who apply for magnet school seats, and who have a sibling in the school for which they are applying, will be given priority on the waiting list. This will apply to the elementary level only. 4. Students will not be guaranteed placement from one organization level to the next. Originally adopted in December, 1988, this policy governs enrolhnent. The content has been changed to include sibling preference provisions. The February 15, 2005 revision changed the grade levels to coincide with the reorganization which took place when middle schools and four-year high schools were established.
This project was supported in part by a Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives project grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Council on Library and Information Resoources.

<dcterms_creator>Arkansas. Department of Education</dcterms_creator>