Pine Bluff schools name community advisory committee
The Pine Bluff School District has announced a community advisory committee to advise and support district leadership on the design and implementation of what it calls a strategic plan and “long-term vision that could set in motion new opportunities for its schools and the greater community.”
The school district has been operating without a local board since September 2018 and expanded on July 1 with the annexation of the Dollarway School District, growing from six campuses to nine.
“The overall goal of our work together is to create the optimal conditions for all students in Pine Bluff to be successful, both in school today and in the future,” District Superintendent Barbara Warren said in a news release. “We have an opportunity to capitalize on widespread community commitment to become the achieving district of choice for the entire Pine Bluff community.”
Committee members include:
Nyeshia Aldridge of the Boys and Girls Club of Jefferson County; LozAnne Calhoun of Southeast Arkansas College; Robert Carr Jr. of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Marguerite Flannigan of Divine Nine Organizations; Zola Hudson of the city of Altheimer; Juawana Jackson of the Sixth Division Circuit Court; Dennis Johnson of the school’s district child nutrition department; Bessie Lancelin of Southeast Arkansas Behavioral Services; Angela Lopez of the Department of Human Services; Maj. Gary McClain of the Jefferson County sheriff’s office; Marceinia Peoples, principal of Forrest Park/Greenville Preschool;
Freddie Scott Sr. of Pine Bluff Community Thought Leaders; Kourtney Smith, a Dollarway High teacher; Calvin Thomas, a Pine Bluff High School teacher; Allison Thompson of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County; Fred Toney of the Pine Bluff branch of the NAACP; Jesse Turner of the Pine Bluff Faith Community Coalition Ministerial Alliance; Eric Walden Jr. of Go Forward Pine Bluff; Kimberley West, family and community engagement coordinator with the school district; and Leondra Williams, principal of Dollarway High.
According to the release, Warren – who will spearhead the committee – has chosen a team of facilitators from WestEd, a nonpartisan, nonprofit agency that partners with school districts on similar strategic planning efforts.
The facilitators will help the committee by structuring conversations, informing discussions with national research and analysis of the local context and ensuring that the broader public is engaged with and informed of the strategic planning process.
“The strategic planning process will enable Pine Bluff School District to approach this unique moment of opportunity with bold vision, ambitious goals centered on the instructional core, engaged community partners and a thorough, thoughtful plan of action,” Warren said.
The process, officials say, will take place in four phases over the upcoming year — to set the direction and vision for the district, determine specific strategies to move forward, garner community-wide commitment and set in motion specific action steps to reach the goals.
The committee meets monthly for one year.
“Beyond the committee members, the Pine Bluff community-at-large will have multiple opportunities to provide input and feedback into the vision, priorities, goals and action plans of the strategic plan,” according to the release.
“This input will be used to inform a final strategic plan which will be shared with the public. The first opportunity for the community to give input will be in January through a survey about the vision for the Pine Bluff School District,” it read. “By this time next fall as a result of this project, Pine Bluff School District staff will be poised to implement and monitor a concrete plan of action to accelerate the district’s progress forward and ensure that all Pine Bluff students have what they need to succeed.”