Michael Poore
The Little Rock School District is working to regain local control by July, Superintendent Mike Poore told the Rotary Club of Little Rock on Tuesday.
It has been under state control since 2014.
Poore also said the district will have to cut its budget over the next few years, perhaps by as much as $10 million in 2016-17, because it will lose $37 million in state funding in 2018 as part of the settlement of the decades-old federal desegregation case.
Closing schools will be part of that discussion, Poore said. Public forums will be held for people to ask questions and provide input if closures are necessary, he said.
“I believe we can cut the budget but also grow the district from working together,” Poore added.
He said he wanted to overcome the budget issue by being transparent, timing cuts correctly, restructuring the district’s debt, encouraging community support programs and supporting positive public relations.
Poore said he wants to see career development centers in 2017 that are business-driven and offer students internships, projects to work on and more. For K-10 students, the superintendent said he wants to see a project- and problem-based approach to learning.
Most of his address to the Rotary Club evolved around a “power of us” theme and call to action. Poore said better education requires a united front and that individuals can make a difference — even in a school district that serves thousands of students.
Poore described how a local church adopted Wilson Elementary, a school where 95 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. A local church donates backpacks for students, arranges their health and dental screenings, fingerprints them for safety and helps provide student uniforms, he said.
Poore said the district needs others to demonstrate that level of commitment to schools.
The superintendent also outlined what he said is working, including preschool, junior ACT scores that have improved at every school this year, and partnerships with the city, faith-based organizations, businesses, alumni and neighborhood associations.
Immediate challenges include removing five schools from academic distress; improving the academic status of 23 other schools; increasing graduation rates; providing equal support for wraparound services; halting the loss of enrollment at the middle school level; updating antiquated business systems; and changing the public perception of the district, he said.
The superintendent said he wants to pursue short-term “low-hanging fruit” solutions as well as long-term solutions, and to involve local universities in helping the district.
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