There are a lot of reasons people give for some of the malaise that Pine Bluff finds itself in, but on any short list of areas that need improvement would be education.
For that reason, the story in Saturday’s Pine Bluff Commercial was thoroughly refreshing.
The Pine Bluff School District has been under state control for a few years now, with fiscal problems being one of the chief culprits. And if that wasn’t scary enough, the Pine Bluff district had to absorb Dollarway, another failing district, just last year. Think of a sinking boat — and then inviting more people to hop aboard.
By state law, if the state Education Department deems it necessary to step in and take over a district — as happened with both Pine Bluff and Dollarway — the department has five years either to fix things or to merge the failing district with another district.
The time on the clock expired before Dollarway was ready to stand on its own feet, which is why it was moved into the Pine Bluff district. But the clock is also ticking on the Pine Bluff district, with the zero hour occurring in late 2023. If you’ll check your calendar, that’s not far away.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
This week, however, the deadline seemed not so ominous. At the “annual report to the public assembly,” Superintendent Barbara Warren was joined by Stacy Smith, a deputy commissioner with the state Education Department. And at that meeting, Smith, who stays in close touch with what’s going on in Pine Bluff, said she thought the district might be able to return to limited-authority local control by next January, several months ahead of what would be the last possible moment.
One of the driving forces in the determination of whether the Pine Bluff district stays afloat is money. The district — consistent with what’s going on in the city — continues to lose students and the enormous revenue that goes with them. And as hard as it is to plan when the revenue numbers keep dropping, it’s something that Pine Bluff has to do — and should have done.
We recall that when Pine Bluff was first taken over by the state, one school board member said the board could blame only itself for letting matters get so bad.
Now, however, under state control and Warren’s leadership, the bottom line is growing. As the story pointed out, there was some $3.6 million in the bank in the 2017-18 school year and more than $5.4 million in 2020-21.
As Smith said, new school board zones need to be established within the newly expanded school district, with the district looking at some version of board control being established later in 2023.
“Looking at mid-next year, some type of board, the state could either do an appointed board, they could do an elected board, or half-and-half,” Smith said. “Between now and then, it’s about how to get something formed like that, and most likely, it would be a limited-authority board.”
Baby steps, for sure, but steps nonetheless. And completion of the journey only happens if the district continues to head in a positive direction.
The Pine Bluff School District, at one time, was on par with some of the best school districts in the state. When people moved to town, they were eager to enroll their children here. The fall from that level of excellence has taken decades, and the trip back to a place where we are once again proud of our district is long and difficult.
But if you have been holding your breath as you worry about the fate of the district, the news last week was cause for some relief. Perhaps, just perhaps, the district is on its way back.