Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Emmet patrons blast Nevada district

Emmet's School District was denied becoming a charter school, and this was brought out at a public hearing/special meeting of the Emmet School Board.

The board held the hearing Tuesday, March 9, and informed the public of its options, which had been narrowed down to administrative consolidation or annexation by another district.

The board and crowd discussed the pros and cons of becoming administratively annexed with the following districts  Blevins, Prescott, Nevada, Spring Hill, Saratoga and Hope, during the two-and-a-quarter hour meeting at the Ross Gymnasium.

The audience reacted angrily whenever the Nevada School District was mentioned, especially after being informed attorneys for the Nevada District sent a letter to the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) opposing Emmet's application to become a conversion charter school district.

Steve Otwell, Emmet board president, read the letter sent from the Nevada attorney to the ADE, which stated, in part:

Emmet is on the list for consolidation under Act 60;

Emmet discussed avoiding consolidation, and preferred to merge with a district with a larger number of minority students, which would have an impact on surrounding districts; and

Emmet is the defendant in a lawsuit in which the district knowingly permitted residents of the Nevada District to attend the Emmet school. This litigation is currently in the discovery/preparatory stage and won't be completed until summer.

Emmet's attorney responded Nevada's district is in error as to the reasons for Emmet wanting to become a charter school, and it had nothing to do with avoiding consolidation;

The motivation of becoming a charter school had nothing to do with racial makeup of the district, as a conversion charter school could not accept students from outside its borders. Emmet discussed becoming a charter school for almost a year before taking any action; and

The Nevada suit's assertions on the racial aspects are a lie, because nowhere in the suit is it shown to relate to race, and no relief is sought accordingly.

Otwell read there are four black students from Nevada who transferred to Emmet under the school choice law, and there is no due process or reason for Nevada to be notified of Emmet's plans on becoming a conversion charter school.

The intent to become a charter school, he said, was published in the Nevada County Picayune, though the lawyer for Nevada asserted the district had no idea Emmet was trying to achieve charter status.

"We had hoped tonight would be a victory celebration," Otwell said, "but that's not the case.

Emmet was notified of the denial by the Arkansas State Board of Education (SBE) Monday, March 8. The SBE said Emmet has had problems meeting academic requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, and it wanted to preserve the district's imminent consolidation, which was recently required for all districts with fewer than 350 students.

According to information from the SBE, Emmet Superintendent Dr. Gene Ross said he did not develop the charter plan as a method of avoiding consolidation, but it was a good way of improving student achievement.

During the public meeting, any mention of the Nevada District met with negative comments, and neither the public nor school board considered a possible administrative consolidation with Nevada.