By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The concept of regional high schools has advantages and disadvantages, a local superintendent said this morning.
Regional high schools and open school choice, along with increases in teacher pay, were among the recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Commission of Public Education on Wednesday.
The regional schools would provide more courses than a regular high school and draw students from surrounding schools, according to reports.
"The regional high school concept is probably good in certain instances, in that it would give students greater access to greater opportunities," said Forrest City School District Superintendent Lee Vent.
"That's not to say that small schools are not doing a good job, but you have some schools that offer far more than others, and students need to have their horizons expanded as much as possible," Vent continued. "It would allow better staffing, greater use of resources, things of that nature."
A downside to the idea would be the time and cost of commuting, "and then not really having the home town atmosphere," he said.
The regional high schools, according to a report, could be operated by existing districts or be sponsored by colleges, universities or other organizations.
Funding could be another potential downside, according to Vent.
"To allow the operation of parallel schools would be very costly to the taxpayers and patrons," said Vent. "They (the commission, followed by the legislature) really need to draw a line in the sand and say, yes, we want regional schools. Right now we have 320 high schools in Arkansas, and perhaps that's too many."
He said the majority of school districts in Arkansas account for less than half the students. In some cases, consolidation might be the answer, he agreed.
"Of course, everyone wants to keep their own high school, but sometimes you have to see what's best for the kids. I suppose as long as local patrons are willing to pay to maintain their schools, that is their option. But I think the legislature will look at where we're going, and not piecemeal it. Don't give it a Band-Aid effect. Just so long as you don't have to sacrifice quality."
The commission did recommend requiring schools that do not meet a required core curriculum or minimum teacher salaries by September 2003 to dissolve and consolidate with surrounding districts by July 2004. It recommended the state provide $4 million in incentive money for schools that consolidate voluntarily by September 2003.
The panel also approved a recommendation to amend the state's school-choice law to allow students to attend any school they choose, with reasonable restrictions to prevent racial segregation and make certain schools are not overburdened with facility or personnel needs.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Work is again progressing on the proposed transportation mall for St. Francis County after the project suffered some road blocks while waiting on a study of the proposal to be completed by Arkansas State University.
St. Francis County Judge Carl Cisco said officials with ASU have told him that the study, which was scheduled to be completed in February, should be in his hands as early as next week.
"We're expecting to finally get the study in early June. They recently completed a flyover of Interstate 40 which shows the congestion at area truck stops and along the interstate on ramps. Once we get that, then we can begin to move forward again," Cisco said.
According to Cisco, recent political ads which gave the appearance that the county had received state funding for the project were incorrect. Cisco said an application had been submitted for $400,000 in funding but no money had been received.
"There were some ads out there that made it look like we (the county) had received this funding to help with the mall project, but we haven't. What we did was make an application for the funding and that's all. We haven't heard back from the state, and we certainly haven't received any appropriations that I know of," Cisco said.
In other county business, the road department is currently in a battle with county roads as rain continues to damage the roads and subsequently slow repairs. According to Cisco, rains this year have kept road crews busy and have also kept crews away from area gravel pits.
"We're working as hard as we can, but as soon as we get one area repaired we get more rain and another area is in trouble. Today, we've got a crew with a trackhoe down in the east bottoms working to dig out an area that has washed out and caused the area to flood. We can't get down into the gravel pit to get more gravel to repair the roads because of the rain. We've used up our stockpile of gravel out at the shop, and our only other option is to go over to Vanndale to their pit, but that gets expensive," he said.
Cisco also commented on the amount of pipe work the county is doing on the roads. "We've been putting in pipes all over the county, and they are some of the bigger ones. We've got one going in that's eight feet in diameter and several others near that size going in, and we're constantly ordering more pipes, so we're trying to get the problems solved."
He also commented on the success of NEARCO in Madison. Cisco said NEARCO may be on the verge of an expansion of the services offered at the recycling plant, due in part to the success of the cardboard program. That program, according to Cisco, is also beginning to pay dividends as the price of cardboard raises.
"Right now, we've got a really good price for cardboard. It's up to about $10 right now, and we could see that go up to $20 next week, so things are going pretty well there. We're getting cardboard from four counties right now, and we're trying to extend that some more," he said.
NEARCO also shreds documents as well as collect newsprint and paper which is baled and sold.
The Forrest City Area Chamber of Commerce is in the process of selling ads for a new city map.
So is another company for a different map.
Mary Beth Doler, representing the Chamber, said as far as she knows, the other company has been honest, and has not been claiming to represent the official Chamber map.
Doler said if she or Sheila Lieblong contacts a business, it is for the Chamber map.
"If anyone wants to buy an ad in that other map, fine," said Doler. "But this is the official Chamber map, this one the Chamber puts out."