Dollarway School District students made slight improvements in the last quarter but too many students do not read at grade level. These developments arose at a recent Arkansas Department of Education meeting. Dollarway has been in academic distress since 2010, as fewer than 49.5 percent of students have scored at a proficient or advanced level in math or literacy. Dollarway entered fiscal distress in April 2016.
Dollarway Superintendent Barbara Warren discussed a report that evaluated Dollarway students during the fourth quarter of the 2016-2017 academic year. She provided a written report that said “the most negatively impacting indicator is student behavior and that our efforts must be spent improving our district and school culture for everyone — teachers and students alike.”
“We have come to a variety of conclusions, many of which are tied to climate issues,” Warren said. “While we have had some progress for teachers, it is hit and miss. We are working with respect to culture and climate on some major initiatives on teacher community feedback to help us to make improvements. We have several members of our community who are helping us to write a strategic plan.”
Appointed to her current post in December 2015 by the Arkansas Board of Education, Warren took the reigns when the state dissolved the Dollarway board of directors because the district was struggling fiscally and academically. Arkansas Board of Education member Charisse Dean called for Dollarway parents to support their children by taking them to the library and checking out books. She asked for churches to sponsor a literacy program for one week apiece in the summer to teach reading.
“Parents, get your child in a summer reading program,” Dean said. “Children slip further behind in the summer. Eighty percent of your kids are behind by three grades. I want to implore the parents: do what is necessary to help your child. We cannot leave it all on the teachers.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
ADE Public School Program Manager Richard Wilde said Dollarway suffers from employees leaving after a short period of employment. Board of Education member Diane Zook sounded the alarm bell, noting time is passing with students falling behind.
“We are not educating children,” Zook said. “You do not get up overnight and not know how to read. We have got to do something. This is not acceptable. Kids do not read and do math. … We have got to figure out some way to save these children. Their careers do not look bright. We have way too many students. It makes me want to cry.”
ADE Commissioner of Education Johnny Key responded to Zook by saying she is exactly right. He cited the campaign Reading Initiative for Student Excellence [R.I.S.E.] Arkansas, which encourages a culture of reading by coordinating a statewide reading campaign with community partners, parents and teachers.
“It is no longer acceptable for a high school social studies teacher to say I am not a reading teacher,” Key said. … Senator [Joyce] Elliott sponsored legislation so that all teachers have an awareness on the science of reading. You are going to see 50 percent of kids behind. One percent is not acceptable. … It is heightened in districts like Dollarway. We have seen 20 percent improvement numbers. We need people like Ms. Zook to recognize the problem. We have to be in it for the long haul. … I do not think anyone like Ms. Warren takes it negatively. We are highlighting the deep hole.”
Zook noted she does not even know the Dollarway students yet she is sad on their behalf.
“Help! One problem in Dollarway is getting the kids to come,” Zook said. “If we are not there to help them, then shame on us.”
Warren said her district will take part in the RISE Arkansas, noting they are trained and purchasing materials. She specified that she is always careful not to sound like she is making excuses.
“We have a montage of problems,” Warren said. “We need to stop, drop and read. We are trying to have the buy-in of teachers. Having the same face makes a big difference. We have nurtured long-term substitutes and help them understand why they are important. … I am not happy about where we are but I am happy about our progress.”
Key wants school boards to think about who they are hiring as principals.
“I am not happy with where we are but I am encouraged with where we are going,” he said.
Warren said Dollarway has many people who are really trying. She credited University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff students for mentoring Dollarway students.
“I think you have heard about the Go Forward Pine Bluff initiative,” Warren said. “We have teachers who are phenomenal but they’ve got to live too. There are many people who are stepping up. I want to represent the support we are getting.”
Arkansas Department of Education spokeswoman Kimberly Friedman cited A.C.A. § 6-15-430 in response to a question asking what is the Arkansas Department of Education’s responsibility in improving Dollarway. The law states the State Board of Education may take these actions:
Remove permanently, reassign, or suspend on a temporary basis the superintendent of the school district and:
(A) Appoint an individual in place of the superintendent to administratively operate the school district under the supervision and approval of the Commissioner of Education; and
(B) Compensate from school district funds the individual appointed to operate the school district;
(2) Suspend or remove some or all of the current board of directors and call for the election of a new board of directors for the school district, in which case the school district shall reimburse the county board of election commissioners for election costs as otherwise required by law;
(3) Require the school district to operate without a board of directors under the supervision of the superintendent or an individual or panel appointed by the Commissioner of Education;
(4) Waive the application of Arkansas law, with the exception of The Teacher Fair Dismissal Act of 1983, and the Public School Employee Fair Hearing Act,
(5) Require the annexation, consolidation, or reconstitution of the school district;
(6) In the absence of a board of directors, direct the commissioner to assume all authority of the board of directors as may be necessary for the day-to-day governance of the school district.