PBSD’s freedom is a phenomenal victory

Congratulations to the Pine Bluff School District for improving enough to be released from control by the state Education Department. It’s been a long road, and the end was coming one way or another.

For the Dollarway School District, five years of state control wasn’t deemed enough to be set free. That’s when that failing district was combined with the Pine Bluff School District, which was already under state control. At the time, it was hard not to consider an analogy of more passengers being loaded into an already listing ship.

But the interest and resolve from a cadre of Pine Bluff residents has been rather phenomenal. They showed up at state Education Department board meetings when the future of the Pine Bluff district was on the agenda. They argued. They pushed. They prodded. They also got a millage passed for a new high school. All that activity was absolutely noticed by the state board.

“I think it’s clear that we’re not giving control back to the school district,” said state board member Adrienne Woods of Bentonville. “The community took it back.”

Kudos to state-appointed Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree for guiding the district’s path to this successful point. Thanks also to Barbara Warren, whose tenure was cut short by the state but who undoubtedly laid some of the foundation for what eventually transpired.

One of the most outspoken supporters of retaking ownership of the district was the limited-authority board president Sederick Rice.

“I’m excited. We’re blessed,” Rice said at the meeting where the vote was taken to free the district. “We’ve got a great superintendent. We’ve got a great board. We’ve got a great community. We’re moving forward.” Barbaree also thanked those in the local education sphere. “You’re only as good as your support and your team,” she said. “And, so, we couldn’t do this without the support from the department, support from the board, support from our community, but most importantly our administrators and our teachers and parents, everyone that’s here. This is a victory for Pine Bluff. We did it, and we’re going to keep going.”

Those are very encouraging words and sentiments. Pine Bluff absolutely needs a viable school district if this community is going to grow and prosper. Bring all the jobs you want to town, but if the school system is undesirable, families will live around Pine Bluff but not in Pine Bluff. Let’s all hope and support the idea that this represents the first steps to a better tomorrow.