Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet consolidating with Blevins

Yea, and the people raised their voices, and the word they spake was Blevins.

Residents of Emmet overwhelmingly preferred an administrative consolidation with the Blevins School District to any others presented at a special meeting/public hearing of the Emmet School Board Tuesday, March 9, at the Ross Gymnasium. Between 200-300 people packed the home side of the stands to discuss the consolidation issue after learning the district had been denied charter school status.

The districts mentioned about consolidating with were: Blevins, Prescott, Nevada, Saratoga, Hope and Spring Hill.

Steve Otwell, Emmet board president, pointed out the advantages and disadvantages of an administrative consolidation with all of the districts.

Saratoga: Emmet would be the lead district and keep its elementary and high school and be in control. But, the district's aren't contiguous and Emmet would lose one board member. The two districts combined wouldn't survive a consolidation if the numbers are raised to500, and there are questions about being able to meet the criteria of the Arkansas Department of Education or getting approval.

Blevins: The elementary and high school would remain at Emmet, and the district would survive if the numbers are increased to 500 or 750. The districts share a contiguous border, but Emmet would lose two board members.

Prescott: Student population counts wouldn't be an issue, ADE criteria would be met and the districts share a contiguous border. But, Emmet could lose its high school and possibly the elementary school. Emmet would lose four board members.

Hope: The districts have contiguous boarders and there would be no problem surviving future consolidation efforts. But Emmet could lose its high school and elementary school and would lose four board members.

Nevada: The borders are contiguous and the districts could survive future consolidation efforts and meet ADE criteria. But, all Emmet students would likely be transferred to Nevada, as it has plenty of room to accommodate them. Nevada was originally built to handle about 900 students and currently has about 400.

Spring Hill: The benefit would be surviving consolidation, but the problems are the non-contiguous border and loss of local control. A consolidation with Spring Hill also wouldn't guarantee being able to meet ADE criteria.

"We need to keep in mind," Otwell said, "we only get one shot at this and Saratoga is academically distressed and in need of program improvement. We have to show where education will be improved."

State Rep. Chris Thomason was at the meeting to answer questions. He discussed how the initial number dropped from 1,500 to 350 students and how Act 60 became law without Gov. Mike Huckabee signing it.

Thomason said for him the issue was always good school/bad school, not big school/little school.

He praised Emmet Superintendent Dr. Gene Ross for being ready to discuss any issue brought up during the session, and doing so in a calm and rational manner. Some superintendents of small school, he said, were their own worst enemies.

"We may have lost the battle with numbers as a baseline, but we haven't lost the war," he said. "Originally, the plan was to create regional high schools."

Huckabee's first proposal was to create districts of 1,500 students from grades 9-12, thereby making regional high schools and initially leaving K-8 alone. The key word, Thomason said, was "initially".

Thomason voted against the House Bill that became Act 60, saying he didn't believe consolidation should be based on numbers. Act 60, he said, was by far the best of all the options brought up in the special session, as it applied administrative consolidation and left schools where they are so children could be educated at home.

Ross said the Prescott, Blevins and Saratoga districts had been contacted about a possible administrative consolidation, while Nevada wasn't considered. All three, he said, expressed interest in merging with Emmet.

Otwell said by going to Blevins, before any annexation of student could occur the Blevins campus would have to be expanded to handle the influx. He added students can apply the school choice route if they aren't happy with who the district consolidates with.

It was repeatedly pointed out there are no guarantees after the first year. Under the administrative consolidation, Emmet would remain pretty much "as is", with the exception of Ross no longer being superintendent as Emmet is not the lead district.

After discussing the pros and cons of the surrounding districts, it boiled down to two considerations  Blevins and Prescott, though Prescott was not seriously considered by the majority. In fact, in a show of hand, only about six preferred merging with Prescott, while the rest opted for Blevins.

Under an administrative consolidation with Blevins, Emmet will have three people on the newly formed school board, while Blevins will have four. This board will make the decisions for both schools and could vote to annex Emmet to Blevins after the first year.

However, the administrative consolidation can be opposed, as the charter application was, which could throw a monkey wrench into the situation. Additionally, the merger would have to be approved by the ADE.

Ross said he talked to Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon, who said Prescott had room for Emmet. Donnie Davis, the Blevins superintendent, he continued, said they would leave the school at Emmet for now.

Otwell told the audience no contract would be binding after the first year. This is because there will be a new school board in place. School elections are held every September.

Questions were raised about what Emmet could do if Nevada protests the proposed administrative consolidation. Otwell said there isn't much Emmet could do if such an objection is filed, and it would be up to the ADE to decide.

It was also decided to join in the Arkansas Rural Educators Association lawsuit in federal court to enjoin the enforcement of Act 60. The idea is if the federal court rules against Act 60, Emmet could retain its district.

In a show of hands for which district Emmet patrons preferred, no hands went up for Nevada, Hope, Spring Hill or Saratoga. More than 99 percent of the people voted for Blevins, while about six raised their hands for Prescott. The board followed with a unanimous vote to pursue administrative consolidation with Blevins.