Teachers allowed to attend hearing

Star City Superintendent Jordan Frizzell has responded to a claim made by Sen. Breanne Davis that his decision to give two teachers a personal day to speak on the LEARNS Act violated Department of Education policy.

“Nice to have the Star City School District teachers & admin with us today to witness successful passage of #SB294,” Davis tweeted Feb. 22, after the bill’s hearing in the Senate Education Committee. “That does not excuse the fact that the superintendent allowed for blatant violation of its policy. @ArkEducation must investigate & hold leadership accountable.”

The policy Davis referred to bars schools from using school time, property, personnel or equipment from “furthering the interests of any political party, the campaign of any political candidate or the advocacy of any political issue or ballot issue whether partisan or non-partisan.”

Frizzell said in a Feb. 27 letter responding to Davis that he allowed two teachers from the school district professional leave to attend the hearing, and that was consistent with district policy that allows for professional leave for “meetings and conferences related to education.”

“Since the Senate Education Committee was directly related to education, and a significant piece of legislation that impacts teachers, this was absolutely an appropriate use of professional leave under our policy,” Frizzell wrote. “Had Senator Davis contacted me with her concerns, I would have been pleased to share our District policy and the rationale for my decision.”