MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE AGENDA July 10, 2013 I. Call to Order II. Reading of the Minutes of April 14, 2013 Ill. General 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. Discussion of MRC Office and Staffing B. Discussion and Approval of MRC Office Budget C. Set Next Meeting Date V. Adjournment MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES APRIL 14, 2013 The regularly scheduled meeting of the Magnet Review Committee was held in the Little Rock School District Board Room, 810 West Markham Street, on May 14, 2013. Members Present: Dr. Sadie Mitchell, LRSD- Chairperson Bobby Acklin, NLRSD Dr. Robert Clowers, PCSSD Oliver Dillingham, ADE Joy Springer, Joshua lntervenors Members Absent: Danny Reed, ADE Guests: Diane Barksdale, Principal - Carver Magnet Dr. Dexter Booth, Principal - Parkview Magnet Patricia Boykin, Principal - Mann Magnet Lori Brown, Principal - Williams Magnet Dr. Cheryl Carson, Principal - Booker Magnet Dr. Felicia Hobbs, Principal - Gibbs Magnet Margie Powell, ODM The meeting was called to order at 8:15 a.m. by Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson. She immediately called for a reading of the minutes of April 9, 2013. Bobby Acklin made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, and Oliver Dillingham seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. f ,,, r,, -- "=' I J !,,, r Donna Grady Creer provided the Executive Director's report. She called the Committee's attention to an e-mail from a parent regarding her daughter's assignment to Central High School. Copies were given to MRC members, and a discussion was held with regard to this issue. No action was required by the MRC at this time. An e-mail was received from Diane Barksdale, Principal of Carver Magnet, regarding a grant that Carver received from the 3M Company. Copies were given to MRC members for their information. A memo was sent to all magnet school principals regarding the schedule for reports to the MRC on May 14, 2013. Copies were given to MRC members, but no action was required. No financial transactions were presented for payment, but Ms. Creer assured the MRC that all bills are paid. With regard to a recruitment update, Ms. Creer noted that several recruitment activities will be taking place even though the schools have entered their summer break time. The magnet principals then provided their presentations to the MRC for their annual reports. Each principal projected their PowerPoint presentation and then answered any questions from the MRC. Dr. Mitchell thanked each principal for their presentation. When no further business was brought before the Committee, the meeting was adjourned at 12:15 p.m. -2- (
.Fi:A r7:. I /ft-,r ... , ... r J Magnet Review Committee 1920 North Main Street, Suite 1 01 North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114 (501) 758-0156 {Phone} (501) 758-5366 {Fax} magnet@magnetschool.com {E-mail} June 11, 2013 Dr. Tom Kimbrell, Commissioner Arkansas Department of Education #4 State Capitol Mall Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Dr. Kimbrell: As you are aware, the Magnet Review Committee is funded by the three Pulaski County school districts and the Arkansas Department of Education. Our fiscal year ends June 30, 2013. Please verify that the stipulated amount ($92,500.00) is in the process of being forwarded to the Magnet Review Committee, 1920 North Main Street, Suite 101, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114, to fund the State's portion for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. If you need any assistance or explanation for this transaction, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, ~fuJJJ Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson Magnet Review Committee SM/DGC:sl cc: Mr. Jerald Cleveland, Assistant Commissioner for Fiscal Services -ADE Greg Roger, Associate Director for Agency Finance - ADE Oliver Dillingham, ADE Danny Reed, ADE "Pursue the Possibilities of Magnet School Enrollment" Magnet Review Committee 1920 North Main Street, Suite 1 01 North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114 (501) 758-0156 {Phone} (501) 758-5366 {Fax} magnet@magnetschool.com {E-mail} June 11, 2013 Mr. Marvin Burton, Interim Superintendent Little Rock School District 810 West Markham Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Mr. Burton: As you are aware, the Magnet Review Committee is funded by the three Pulaski County school districts and the Arkansas Department of Education. Our fiscal year ends June 30, 2013. Please verify that the stipulated amount ($30,833.33) is in the process of being forwarded to the Magnet Review Committee, 1920 North Main Street, Suite 101, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114, to fund the Little Rock School District's portion for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. If you need any assistance or explanation for this transaction, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your cooperation. Sincerely, ~ rwJ:JJ)J Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson Magnet Review Committee SM/DGC:sl cc: Dr. Dexter Suggs, LRSD Mr. Kelsey Bailey, LRSD Dr. Sadie Mitchell, LRSD "Pursue the Possibilities of Magnet School Enrollment" Magnet Review Committee 1920 North Main Street, Suite 1 01 North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114 (501) 758-0156 {Phone} (501) 758-5366 {Fax} magnet@magnetschool.com {E-mail} June 11, 2013 Dr. Jerry Guess, Superintendent Pulaski County Special School District 925 E. Dixon Road P. 0. Box 8601 Little Rock, AR 72216 Dear Dr. Guess: As you are aware, the Magnet Review Committee is funded by the three Pulaski County school districts and the Arkansas Department of Education. Our fiscal year ends June 30, 2013. Please verify that the stipulated amount ($30,833.33) is in the process of being forwarded to the Magnet Review Committee, 1920 North Main Street, Suite 101, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114, to fund the Pulaski County Special School District's portion for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. If you need any assistance or explanation for this transaction, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your cooperation. s~ ru
rJJJ/ Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson Magnet Review Committee SM/DGC:sl cc: Mr. Bill Goff, PCSSD Dr. Robert Clowers, PCSSD "Pursue the Possibilities of Magnet School Enrollment" Magnet Review Committee 1920 North Main Street, Suite 101 North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114 (501) 758-0156 {Phone} (501) 758-5366 {Fax} magnet@magnetschool.com {E-mail} June 11, 2013 Mr. Ken Kirspel, Superintendent North Little Rock School District P. 0. Box 687 North Little Rock, AR 72115 Dear Mr. Kirspel: As you are aware, the Magnet Review Committee is funded by the three Pulaski County school districts and the Arkansas Department of Education. Our fiscal year ends June 30, 2013. Please verify that the stipulated amount ($30,833.33) is in the process of being forwarded to the Magnet Review Committee, 1920 North Main Street, Suite 101, North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114, to fund the North Little Rock School District's portion for the 2013-2014 fiscal year. If you need any assistance or explanation for this transaction, please feel free to contact me. Thank you for your cooperation. Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson Magnet Review Committee SM/DGC:sl cc: Mr. Kelly Rodgers, NLRSD Denise Drennan, NLRSD Micheal Stone, NLRSD Bobby Acklin, NLRSD "Pursue the Possibilities of Magnet School Enrollment" Magnet Review Committee 1920 North Main Street, Suite 1 01 North Little Rock, Arkansas 72114 (501) 758-0156 {Phone} (501) 758-5366 {Fax} magnet@magnetschool.com {E-mail} July 1, 2013 The Honorable D. P. Marshall, Jr. Judge, U. S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas 500 West Capitol Suite B-149 Little Rock, AR 72201 Dear Judge Marshall: The Magnet Review Committee is in the process of working with the Little Rock, North Little Rock, and Pulaski County Special school districts, the state of Arkansas, and the Joshua Intervenors to complete the budget document process for the six Stipulation interdistrict magnet schools. The Magnet Review Committee submits finalized budgets from the previous school year and the projected budget information for the coming school year by June 30th . We are behind our self-imposed budget submission timeline, due to schedule conflicts, pressing district/state issues, and teacher salary negotiations. This year, we anticipate the completion of the budget process during the month of September. The Magnet Review Committee is committed to maintaining the existing quality of the Stipulation interdistrict magnet schools. We will continue to work with the host district as we exercise stringent oversight of the magnet schools' budget in an effort to achleve and ensure efficient management and cost containment to the greatest extent possible. Sincerely, Dr. Sadie Mitchell, Chairperson Magnet Review Committee SM/DGC:sl cc: Office of Desegregation Monitoring Magnet Review Committee "Pursue the Possibilities of Magnel School Enrollment" MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE BILLS TO BE PAID 1. American Home Life (MRC's Rent for July, 2013) 2. American Home Life JULY 10, 2013 (MRC's Communication Expenses for June, 2013) 3. CompSys (Monthly Billing to Provide Services for Hosting MRC's Website) TOTAL BILLS TO BE PAID 825.00 182.50 48.33 $1,055.83 FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013 5B PrincipaOlsK d' forH allM, cCellaMn, ann CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSASD EMOCRAT-GAZETI'E The Little Rock School Board approved the appointments of new principals for Hall High, McClellan High and Horace Mann Middle School at a special meeting Thursday night. Henry Anderson, currently the principal at Jacksonville High in the Pulaski County Special School District, will be the new principal at McClellan High. Anderson, a 1988 graduate of Little Rock Central, is a former high school principal in Crosssett and previously worked at the Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences and the Arts in that school's distance- learning program. His base salary will be $101,820. He replaces Clausey Myton, who has been the school's interim principal. Larry Schleicher will be the new principal at Hall High, replacing John Daniels, who was recently named the district's athletic director. Schleicher, who will earn a base salary of $93,096, is the former six-year principal of Stevens Middle School in downtown St. Louis. Before that, he was a physical-education teacher and football coach at Cleveland High in that city. Before his education career, he was in the U.S. Army for a dozen years. Introducing himself, Schleicher told the board that he led the middle school from being the worst-rated in Missouri to a point where it was the only middle school in the city in 2011 to meet its annual achievement goals as required to comply with the federal No Child Left Behind Act. "I'm very student-oriented," he said. "I'm going to challenge students to do things that they have never done before, and I'm going to challenge teachers to do what they have never done before. I promise you every decision we make will be based on data. The answers are in the data, and that data has to be turned inside out and upside down. My goal is to make Hall the best school - period." Keith McGee will be the new principal at Horace Mann Middle School. The current coordinator of the district's Hamilton Learning Academy alternative school, McGee will replace Patricia Boykin, who has been the principal at Mann for seven years and was a Mann assistant principal before that. Boykin will become co-coordinator at Hamilton, according to district documents. The board made permanent some of the interim appointments made in the school year that just ended. Connie Green, interim principal at Forest Heights Middle School, will now hold the position for the long term at a base salary of $101,820. Shoutell Richardson, named interim supervisor for elementary education earlier this year, received a more permanent appointment to the job at a base salary of$98,568. Cassandra Norman, interim director of career and technical education, also will drop the "interim" from her title. Her base salary is $lll,360. Shameka Montgomery will be the administrator of the Metropolitan Career Technical Center at a salary of $82,404. She was, to date, the interim coordinator at the campus. School Board member Mike Nellums praised the selection of Anderson for the McClellan job, calling him a highly qualified, outstanding educator, but he abstained from voting as the vote went 5-0 for the appointments. He said in a later interview that he had questions about the high school principal selection process, including the criteria used to select applicants for interviews. Also Thursday, the board approved stipends of $10,000 each to Kelsey Bailey, chief financial officer, and Dennis Glasgow, associate superintendent for accountability, for their work on a three-member leadership transition team after the March resignation of Superintendent Morris Holmes. A $20,000 stipend was approved for the third member of that team, Marvin Burton, the district's associate superintendent for high schools. Burton has served as the district's interim superintendent, a job he will continue until July 1, when new Superintendent Dexter Suggs takes the position. DelayOK'd in ongoing school trial Report by July 26, judge orders sides CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSADSE MOCRAT-GAZETTE U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr., the presiding judge in the Pulaski County school desegregation lawsuit, Monday "reluctantly" approved a request to delay court hearings on partial unitary status for the Pulaski County Special School District. Those hearings to determine whether the Pulaski County Special district has complied with its desegr_egation plan and is entitled to be released from some federal court monitoring were scheduled for Aug. 20, sept. 3, Sept. 17 and Oct. 1. Attorneys for black students known as the Joshua intervenors requested delays, last week in light of t):i.eil lness of Rep. John Walker
D-Litt:le Rock, the lead attorney for the ,intervenors. Walker had lung cancer surgery in January and is continu~g treatment. The Joshua intervenors are challenging the Pulaski County Special District's assertions that it has complied with its desegregation plan and is entitled to partial unitary status and release from' federal court supervision in certain areas of its operation. , , "The Court is concerned - about counsel's health, and about addressing these issues promptly," Marshall wrote. "They need attention." -..- The-judge..directed.attor-. neys for the school district, Joshua a11d the state to submit a report to hima.n d,propose, a new hearing. schedule by July 26. iri the'same Monday' o~der but regarding a diff~rent aspect of the desegregation case, Marshall set a schedule for the Little Rock School District/ Joshua intervenors -and the Arkansas attorney general's office to trade repor.ts from the experts they intend to call to testify in a December court hearing. That Dec. 9-20 court hearing will center on whether the state should be relieved of commitments it made to the three Pulaski County districts 'and the Joshua intervenors in a 1989 settlement. Those commitments include the state's payment of desegregation aicl to the districts, which amounts to about $70 million a year.' , Marshall said state attorneys should have submitted the reports froiri the experts when they reporte'd the experts' names to the judge May 31. Attorneys for' Little 'Rock and Joshua should not have waited until their deadline for disclosing their own experts before complaining about the state submission
Marshall . wrote. "All parties .i:nust do better," Marshall said. "Too much must b'e done between now and December for any more foot dragging. The Court admonishes counsel to turn square corners, redouble cooperation and notify the Court as soon as any problem aris-es." kJ< Schoolruling correctf,i ling advises court Charterst' ies to 1989d eal only tenuous, state argues CYNTHIA HOWELL ARKANSASD EMOCRAT-GAZETTE Attorneys for Arkansas and for independently run charter schools in Pulaski County are urging a federal appeals court to allow the charter schools to operate unfettered by a 1989 agreement in a 30-year-old desegregation lawsuit. Senior Assistant Attorney General Scott Richardson defended a lower-court decision to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, saying that U.S. District Judge D. Price Marshall Jr. in January correctly rejected efforts by the Little Rock School District and black students who are known as the Joshua intervenors in the case "to expand the desegregation remedies in this case." "The remedies imposed by the federal courts must be tailored to curing the initial constitutional violations," Richardson wrote on behalf of the Arkansas Department of Education. "Here, neither the Little Rock School District nor the Joshua intervenors have ever made any showing that their allegations about open-enrollment charter schools have anything at all to do with the initial constitutional violations in this case." A team of attorneys headed by Jess Askew III of Little Rock and former state Rep. Mike Wilson of Jacksonville represent the Pulaski County charter schools that were permitted to interven~ on a limited basis in the case to , protect their interests. The intervenors elaborated on the state's defense of Marshall's decision supporting charter schools but also asked that if the case is returned to the district court for further action that they be allowed to broaden their arguments to challenge the legality of desegregation efforts in Pulaski County. Those efforts include the use of "unlawful racial quotas" in the operation of magnet schools and majority-to-minority interdistrict student transfer programs, attorneys for the intervenors said. "The false premises of LRSD's motion to enforce [the 1989 settlement] have their roots in the mists and myths of history and do not survive reasonable examination," the Askew and Wilson See SCHOOLPSa, ge 78 Schools Continued from Page 1 B legal team wrote. "The pendency of this case has retarded economic development in Pulaski County and rendered LRSD in many respects unaccountable to the state for the way it delivers education. It is time for a fresh voice to be heard to say, in effect, 'The emperor has no clothes."' Marshall ruled Jan. 17 that the establishment of nearly a dozen open-enrollment charter schools in Pulaski County does not violate the 1989 agreement between the state and the three Pulaski County school districts. That agreement committed the state to support desegregation efforts in the three Pulaski County school districts, largely in terms of providing to the districts special desegregation aid that now amounts to about $70 million a year. The judge concluded that the terms of the 1989 settlement did not address charter schools, that the charter- school enrollment in Pulaski County has had minimal effect on desegregation efforts - specifically the six original magnet schools and majority- to-minority interdistrict student transfer programs - and that the Little Rock district waited too long to challenge the charter schools, the first of which opened in 2001. The Little Rock district and the Joshua intervenors are appealing Marshall's decision to the appeals court. 1n documents sent to the court in May, attorneys for the school district argued that the lower court must protect desegregation efforts in the county by imposing conditions on charter schools so that they don't adversely affect the de-segregation and racial balance goals of magnet schools and majority-to-minority student transfer programs. 1n his response for the state that was made public this week by the appeals court, Richardson argued that the 1989 settlement is "silent" on charter schools and does not restrict the state's authority to create new schools in Pulaski County. While the language of the settlement protects the sovereignty of the Pulaski County Special and North Little Rock districts, it doesn't do that for Little Rock, Richardson said. The settlement actually "contemplates that some other entity may be responsible for education in Little Rock." He also said that the Little Rock district case "suffers from a failure of proof." in that only 324 students transferred from magnet schools to op~n enrollment charters over SlX years, or 54 students per year. Richardson urged the appeals court to que 7tion th_e Joshua intervenors oppo~1- tion to the charter schools m light of the number of black students who attend open-enrollment charter schools. Of Pulaski County's approximately 4,000 charter-school students in 2010-11a,b out 2,025 were black. "The Joshua Internvenors have made no attempt to explain how their joinder in LRSD's motion to enforce serves the interests of these African-American students," Richardson wrote, adding that the courts have authority to take action when conflicts arise within a certified class in a lawsuit. That can include redefming the class, recogniz- ing a sub-class and appointing an attorney to represent that sub-class or even decertifying the class. "African-American students and parents at open-enrollment charter schools are also entitled to representation fr?m the class representative," ~chardson said. "The Joshua mtervenors should not take positions so clearly contrary to the interests of the African- American students, parents, and patrons of open-enrollment charter schools." Richardson said the enrollment of black students in the charter schools removes those students from the Little Rock district, "and, therefore, may actually assist in providing greater racial balance in LR.SD schools." "These schools also attempt to provide enhanced educational opportunities to students who would be ineligible to attend the stipulation magnet schools because of their race," Richardson wrote. The stipulation magnet schools are the six original magnet schools: Booker Carver, Gibbs and William
elementary schools, Horace Mann Middle School and Parkview High School. The schools, all in Little Rock but open to students from all three Pulaski County districts, offer special academic programs to attract a 50-50 mix of black and white students to schools that would otherwise be difficult to desegregate because of their locations. More black students apply to the schools than do whites. The Little Rock district has said that without sufficient numbers of white students to fill available seats, not all seats for the black students can be filled if there is to be an equal racial mix. The state pays 50 percent of the cost of educating the students in the magnet schools and all of the transportation ':Ost_s - . a funding _system that is unique to just those six schools. The team of lawyers for the charter-school intervenors argued that the Little Rock district is basing its arguments in support of magnet schools on a 1987 magnet stipulation with the state and not the 1989 settlement. That 1989 settlement does not incorporate the earlier magnet stipulation. The 1989 agreement actually releases the state from all obligations and claims not in the settlement agreement. "By virtue of this release, LRSD's bait and switch must fail," the legal team wrote in a 74-page brief. "While its bait is the settlement agreement, it switches to the 1987 magnet stipulation to make its argument. But the state's obligations under the 1987 magnet stipulation, to the extent not set forth in the settlement agreement, were 'released, acquitted and discharged,' in the settlement agreement with the approval of this Court. "It is hornbook law that a release and discharge of a party from a legal obligation, even a judicial decree ... is a complete defense and bar to later efforts to enforce the discharged obligations." Chris Heller, an attorney for the Little Rock School District, said in an e-mail Tuesday evening, "I haven't sent anything to the Board and I haven't even finished reading the brief so I don't have anything to say at the moment. Our response is due August 1 but the Court is in recess and I don't expect that we will have oral arguments before October." MAGNET REVIEW COMMITTEE Projected Budget Information for 2013-2014 Expenditures Through June 30, 2013 Budgeted Ex2enditures Budgeted 2012-2013 2012-2013 2013-2014 CODE Salaries 99,064.59 99,064.59 99,064.59 Fringe Benefits 48,157.41 48,157.41 48,157.41 Total Salary 147,222.00 147,222.00 147,222.00 Prof & Tech Serv. 1,166.67 1,091.67 1,200.00 63900 Other Purchased Svc. Technology Related Repairs & Maintenance 1,500.00 1,217.21 1,500.00 64320 Rental - Building 9,900.00 9,900.00 9,900.00 64410 Rental - Equipment 887.76 887.76 888.00 64420 Travel Out of Dist. 0.00 -0- -0- 65860 Travel in District 1,800.00 1,800.00 1,500.00 65810 Postage 400.00 361.00 400.00 65320 Communications 2,190.00 2,190.00 2,190.00 65310 Advertising 9,995.57 9,488.10 15,000.00 65400 Printing 1,630.00 1,625.86 1,800.00 65500 Supplies 1,500.00 1,451.80 1,500.00 66100 Periodicals 250.00 239.00 400.00 66430 Dues & Fees 600.00 590.00 500.00 68100 Technology Related -0- -0- 1,000.00 67340 Equipment ( over $1,000) Totals 31,820.00 30,842.40 37,778.00 TOTAL SALARY 179,042.00 178,064.40 185,000.00 AND EXPENDITURES
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<dcterms_creator>Arkansas. Department of Education</dcterms_creator>