Schools OK’d to raise caps on enrollment

Board declines to review decisions of charter panel

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Board of Education on Thursday approved amendments to the charters of four open-enrollment and conversion charter schools, including the addition of a kindergarten-through-12th grade Northwest Classical Academy campus in Rogers.

The nonprofit Responsive Education Solutions of Texas charter management organization that already operates several charter school campuses in Arkansas — including the Northwest Classical Academy in Bentonville — had requested approval for a classical academy campus to be constructed on Dodson Road in Rogers

Responsive Education planners have said they intend to open a kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school to start in 2022-23 and add the high school grades by 2024, both on the Dodson Road site. After the high school’s opening, the Bentonville school would shift from kindergarten-through-12th-grade to kindergarten-through-eighth grade. All high school students would go to the Rogers campus.

Also Thursday, the Education Board gave approved the Springdale School District to raise its Tyson School of Innovation student enrollment cap from 2,000 to 8,000.

The Fayetteville School District received approval to expand its Virtual Academy from a maximum enrollment cap of 500 in fourth-through 12th grades to as many as 5,000 to be spread over kindergarten-through-12th grades.

Arkansas Virtual Academy, an open-enrollment charter school based in Little Rock but serving students statewide, received approval to increase its enrollment cap from 3,000 to 4,000.

In each case, the Education Board endorsed the recommendations of the state’s Charter Authorizing Panel without having its own hearing on the proposals. The charter panel decisions on charter applications and amendments are subject to review by the Education Board, which has the authority to accept the panel decisions or hold its own hearing on a proposal before making a decision.

The requests from the charter schools for the increases to their online school enrollment caps come at a time when the school systems have to be ready to

serve students who can’t or won’t be able to attend classes in a traditional classroom in the coming year because of the threat of the contagious coronavirus.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Education Secretary Johnny Key have said traditional campuses must at a minimum open for face-to-face instruction starting Aug. 24 but also can offer online-instruction options. Additionally, school districts must be prepared to pivot to online instruction in the event of a viral outbreak making it necessary to close a campus or a district.

Amy Johnson, head of Arkansas Virtual Academy, told the Education Board she anticipates her school will be close to the new 4,000-student cap at the end of the first week of school.

Marcia Smith, an associate superintendent in the Springdale district, said the increase in the Tyson School of Innovation is necessary to give a online instruction option to all who desire it. So far, 2,637 students in the 23,000-student system are enrolled in the School of Innovation, Smith said in response to Education Board questions.