Helena-West Helena School District placed under Level 5 ADE supervision

The Arkansas Board of Education placed the HelenaWest Helena School District under Level 5 supervision Thursday, the most intensive amount of support from the state, according to a story in today’s Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Staff from the state Division of Elementary and Secondary Education will take over teacher recruitment, hiring and scheduling in the district, removing the Helena-West Helena school board's oversight of personnel decisions, the statewide newspaper reported.

Stacy Smith, director of the Office of Coordinated Support and Service and deputy commissioner for the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education, said her team was not asking to dissolve the district's school board. Instead, she said she hoped to work directly with the board, with personnel recommendations going to the education commissioner.

"We want to do it working with the board instead of completely removing it as we move forward," Smith said. "If that becomes a hindrance, or we're not working together to accomplish things, we might come back."

Before the decision, state officials concluded that the Helena-West Helena School District needs intensive intervention because of a lack of licensed teachers and because of management issues. The issue arose after the district applied to extend its Act 1240 waiver, which allows it to hire unlicensed teachers.

During their visits to the district, Smith and Arkansas Education Secretary Johnny Key said they found problems ranging from a lack of necessary equipment in special education classrooms to students not being assigned the classes they needed to graduate.

She said the Office of Coordinated Support and Service in August sent the district a letter with the violations they found. Since then, staff members from the department have returned regularly to provide direct support for scheduling and special education.

Going forward, the office will continue to lead the support for the district, Key said. Under the Level 5 supervision, the office will assign a deputy state superintendent to oversee the day-to-day "human capital work and liaise with the District and Division concerning staffing decisions."

At the state board meeting, Smith said staffing had been a significant issue in the district. She said she believed the district's leaders had made decisions to let employees go when they shouldn't have.

"Every week, we're visiting someone, we are trying to establish some relationships, but there is a lack of follow-through on some pieces," Smith said. "And then, the person's gone, and and I think our frustration is the person's gone not because they had to be gone."

For example, one of these employees was the district's literary specialist, whom the department staff had worked with all year, Smith said.

Key said in a statement that the children of the Helena-West Helena School District deserve great educational opportunities, but these are not possible without quality teachers, administrators and staff.

"Whether it is due to board and/or administrative action or inaction, the fact remains that the district's human capital system is unstable and ill-prepared to adequately serve students as we enter the 2022-23 school year," Key said.

In light of the decision by the state board, the Division of Elementary and Secondary Education and the Office of Coordinated Support and Service will immediately begin the process of "restoring stability and ensuring student access to academic courses, instruction and support."

Key said the groups will also review the district's systems of operation and report findings to the state board, making additional recommendations if needed.

During the meeting, the state board also unanimously approved Helena-West Helena School District's request for a Act 1240 waiver for the next school year.

Deputy Commissioner Ivy Pfeffer presented the waiver request and said the district had originally asked for a blanket extension.

Pfeffer said that's not what the division would want in the long term, but within the Level 5 relationship, she believes the department has flexibility, as the hiring decisions will ultimately come to the education commissioner.

The reason for approving the waiver would be to keep employed the 36% of teachers who were hired under a waiver or employed under a waiver last school year, she said.

"We would be asking for the 1240 waiver to be extended for one year," Pfeffer said. "That'll give us a good chance to really understand what that human capital system looks like and then come back to you all for later decisions."