Springdale’s transfer policy eyed

Officials weigh revision

SPRINGDALE — School District officials are considering revising a policy on in-district student transfers and how athletic eligibility should factor into those moves. The review comes on the tail of a controversy when the district ordered a story in a high school newspaper, along with the paper’s editorial on the subject, be removed from the newspaper’s website in early November. The district announced Dec. 4, a few days after the administration’s decision made national news, it would allow the articles to be reposted online. Deputy Superintendent Jared Cleveland, Athletic Director Wayne Stehlik and the high school principals are reviewing policy JC, which covers school attendance areas. They hope to develop options for the School Board to consider within the next several months, Cleveland said recently. “I can predict there will be a change. There’s got to be. It’s time,” he said. Policy JC hasn’t been changed since 2005, the year Har-Ber High School opened as the district’s second high school. The policy states transfer requests may be considered when space is available at the receiving school. And the request must fit one of five reasons. One of those reasons is “special curriculum or educational opportunities.” Springdale High School and Har-Ber High School offer somewhat different academic programs. Springdale High School offers career “academies,” whereas Har-Ber organizes its students by “houses” emphasizing broad interests, such as architecture and construction, arts and communication, and agriculture and business. Springdale High School also differs from Har-Ber in that it offers the International Baccalaureate program, which features an advanced curriculum touted as being similar to what students will find in college. The district also has the Tyson School of Innovation, a charter school which enrolls students in sixth grade through high school. High school students granted a transfer must sit out a year of participation in athletics unless the Arkansas

“I can predict there will be a change. There’s got to be. It’s time.” — Jared Cleveland, deputy superintendent

Activities Association waives that requirement, which the association frequently does if the district recommends it, Cleveland said. Interest in a school’s sports program isn’t an acceptable reason for a student to transfer. A story published by the Har-Ber High School newspaper in October questioned last year’s transfers of six Har-Ber football players to Springdale High School and whether the students transferred for academic offerings or for football reasons. Records provided by the district show 262 students asked to transfer from one of the high schools to another from January through November. Nineteen of the requests were denied. Some transferring from Har-Ber to Springdale High wanted to enroll in one of the career academies. One Har-Ber student who played football wanted to transfer because he was “not happy” at Har-Ber; that request was denied, according to records. One girl living in the HarBer attendance zone asked to transfer because she lived closer to Springdale High. That request was denied. Cleveland said it’s worth considering whether the difference between Har-Ber’s houses and Springdale’s academies is large enough to justify transfers. He added there are implications to weigh from a hiring standpoint. “What if you have a flood of students who all want to go to Springdale High or Har-Ber High. As the personnel guy, how do I manage that? There are so many nuances to this thing and how it could impact the schools,” he said. Springdale doesn’t necessarily want to limit students’ choices, either. Cleveland recalled his own experience as a student when he transferred from one school district to another as an eighth-grader. He wasn’t allowed to participate in athletics that year because of the transfer — a memory that still stings him, he said. “We don’t need to be in the exclusion business, we need to be in the inclusion business,” he said. “Until you’ve been excluded, you don’t know what that feels like.” The Rogers and Bentonville school districts, which also operate more than one high school, take different approaches to in-district transfer requests. Tanya Sharp said she can think of just a few times Bentonville has granted a transfer request at any level since she became the district’s director of student services five years ago. “It’s very rare,” she said. Bentonville officials listen to why a request is being made, she said. “If it’s a concern they have with the school or with the building or with a teacher, lots of times we refer them back to the principal, and things get worked out,” Sharp said. Rogers receives more than 100 in-district transfer requests a year and approves most of them, though there has to be a compelling reason for each, said Charles Lee, assistant superintendent for general administration. Rogers will consider requests made on the basis of a mental health doctor’s diagnosis, a student’s physical handicap or a particular hardship. Students also may transfer to be in the same building in which a parent works. Other reasons will be considered. One example is the high school senior who moves out of one school’s zone and into another. That student likely will be allowed to “transfer” back to his original school so he can finish his schooling there, Lee said.