001Good morning. Can everybody hear me? Morning. >> I don't know that the auditorium can hear. >> Oh, you can. Great. Are you guys ready? >> Sure. >> Secretary Jeff, are you all good to go? >> Good morning. Can you hear us? Good morning. Can y'all hear us? >> Here we go. Good morning. >> Good morning, >> Secretary Jeff Lee. Are y'all ready? >> We're here. >> Good deal. Okay. >> And can y'all hear me and Ken and Randy? Okay. Yes. Ready? >> Yes. >> General head nods. Okay. Go ahead. And it is At 9:01, we'll kick off the August 13th special State Board of Education meeting. And do we have any changes to our agenda that anybody knows about? >> No, ma'am. >> Oh, okay. Um, I'll just go ahead and preface that we have
002in the auditorium Secretary Key as well as Mr. Wood and Miss Kenir. And then online, we have myself, Mr. and Mr. Henderson. Is that correct? I think so. Okay, then we'll move along. I think what we have first on the action agenda is rules for approval and I think Miss Smith is going to present those rules and we'll start with uh looks like the rules governing maternity leave. >> Good morning. Stacy Smith, deputy commissioner. Um get the PowerPoint up for me, please. That'd be great. All right, we've got three rules we're going to present today and these are all rules that you have seen before. They were released for public comment, went through a public comment period. All three of these rules, I believe the public comment period ended on Monday. Um, we've added those
003public comments on the agenda and then today we're asking for final approval for them to move over to the Arkansas Legislative Council for review. So the first one was the rules governing maternity leave. There were two pieces of legislation this last session that made changes to the maternity leave. One was that now requires all school districts to participate in the 12-week maternity leave that was outlined in learns. Um also does 100% of the reimbursement costs for the substitute during maternity leave for districts um instead of the split cost before. Um and then it also put in some things where extended leave um due to school closures like it extends their maternity leave time. So that was one that um will move forward on to ALC for final once your approval. Do you mind if I
004go through all three of them when we do mo one motion? Is that okay? All right. The second one that was released again for public comment had 30 days out and has now come is the rules governing public school choice. Um again the public school choice law this really kind of expanded and empowers parents. It opened up some more choice options for intra districts which we did not have before and it also changed the extended the deadline for applying for school choice to July 1. And it established a uniform definition to define capacity at 95% of the classroom size before um capacity of school the classroom wasn't necessarily well defined. And so that's what those three different acts during the legislative session did and that was the updates to these rules for school choice. The
005third rule that went out for public comment that was released was governing student discipline. And this is where we really added in the um bell-to-bell no cell policies for school districts um that they're now required to um have a policy in their district. students are not allowed to have cell phones or electronic devices during the school day. Um, and it's already interesting to hear the feedback we're getting from schools that have been that have started this from day one. Um, just the difference in students. You might have had some students a little anxious about giving up their phone because they were it was their security blanket all day. Um, and the the comment I love the best is from Sheila Whitlo. She was at a school district when kids were turning in their phone and
006then she was there at the end of the day and she spoke to a little girl and she said, "Well, how was it not having your phone all day?" And she said, "Man, it was boring. Like I had to listen to the teacher all day." And Sheila said, "Oh, that learning stuff's hard stuff. You know, you're going to have to really, you know, pay attention now." And so it's just the reality of what a distraction this has been. Um, again, so this was the rules that kind of updated those pieces to it. All the change. So any kind of changes that were made in these three rules since public comment time were really just some clarifications. Someone made a suggestions about how to clarify something, but all very um minor little updates pertaining to when
007they was released and when you saw them the first time. So I would ask for a motion to approve all three of the rules. Maternity leave rules governing public school choice and the rules governing student discipline um to move on to the ALC. Madam Chair, I move that we that we approve the rules for released to the legislature leave, school choice, and student discipline. >> Thank you. >> Would these Sorry, I was on mute. Do these all need to be in separate motions or can we do them all at once? >> You can do them all at once. >> Perfect. So then I have I think I got Mr. Wood um has a motion to send rules governing maternity leave, public school choice, and student discipline. Do I have a second? >> I'll second. >>
008Seconded by Mr. Bragg. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Hearing none. Motion passes. All right. Moving on. Unless there's anything else, Miss Smith. >> No. Thank you very much. >> All right. Looks like we have an update to the Arkansas Better Choice program renewal grants from Miss Williams. >> Yes, you all as a board approved quite a number of programs back in the early spring. We had a communitybased program in Mansville that we've worked with over the years that serve 60 children, but they have decided to close. Uh I think they're retiring. Um, and the school superintendent, Joe Stton, quickly moved in as these children attend his school in Mansfield. Um, and we've been working with him for about the past month. So, it was a very quick situation. I know
009that, uh, Joe is on the line and is available to answer questions, but we're essentially asking to transfer slots that you all approved to a community-based provider called Mansfield ABC to Mansville School District. And we put it on just so that we can start the payment process. We were going to put it in September, but Stacy said maybe we could get it started and get that money flow going for them. But they are serving those children, and I just want to applaud the school superintendent for jumping in so quickly to make sure these little ones get their services and get to school um started on time. So, they started on Monday and I talked to him yesterday and they had a very uneventful day. But Joe is on to answer any questions that you may
010have. >> Thank you. Good morning. Uh Mr. Mr. Satin, can you hear me? >> I can. Yes. >> Well, thank you first of all for joining us. Um, I wanted to hear a little bit about this process because I understand it was pretty quick for you guys to uh take this on. >> It did. Um, I I guess it really kind of started back when the district um was pursuing a reconfiguration and and I announced then that in the future we had plans of starting a a prek, an ABC. Um, but that would have been down the road. But that I guess prompted the owners to to start thinking about options and they reached out to me and around the 1st of July uh with a with the opportunity mid July our board acted on
011it and then we started the process of working with um lensure and early childhood education and to get this completed as quickly as we could. Well, I appreciate that and I really commend you for that. I understand that in Mansfield these might be the only spots available to families. Uh there just isn't a lot of choices. So, you being able to >> It is there there aren't any other place spots in our our community for children to go. >> Well, I appreciate you taking this on because I know July is chaos for um a superintendent as you're wrapping up and um every all the preparations for the beginning of school. So, um tell us about decision. What What in the world prompted you to take this on in the busiest time of the year for
012a superintendent? >> I just wanted to be sure or to to continue to pro provide this service to our community, to our kids, uh keep this opportunity here. I have uh some history at other schools I work with working with ABC programs. My wife's an ABC teacher and director and um it's just been a passion for me to bring that into the school and hopefully expand it in the near future. >> Well, I appreciate that and I hope that as we sort of um talk with other superintendents that are interested but maybe a little hesitant, I might give them your name and uh absolutely >> the department I know it's it was a short turnaround and a difficult time of year to get it done, but the department uh licensing, early childhood have all been
013extremely helpful and I'm appreciative to them. >> Well, that's wonderful and I'm sure you've learned some lessons in your short uh month and I appreciate your willingness to support others in that decision. Thank you. >> Thank you as well. >> Any other comments? Okay. Then I believe we need a motion to approve the transfer of the six ABC slots over to Mansfield. Do I have a motion? >> I'll make a motion to approve the transfer of the slots to Mansfield. >> I have a motion by Miss Kener to transfer the slots. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> By Mr. Henderson. >> Yes, ma'am. And >> um all in favor say I. >> I. I >> any opposed? >> Hearing none. Motion passes. >> And thanks for taking time out of your very busy
014first week of school to give us the opportunity to visit. I appreciate that. >> Yes, >> I appreciate y'all very much. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> All right. And now we are moving, I think, to our last agenda item, which is the Bllyville School District Transformation Contract. We're calling back up, Miss Smith. Um, it's my understanding, so correct me if I'm wrong, we're just authorizing the ability to enter into the contract. We're not actually approving the contract. >> That is correct. >> Yes. In the last motion that we did for Bl school district when the state board made the decision for um level five and for the takeover and dissolving their their their board. Um, we directed the commissioner or the secretary to begin investigating what a transformation contract would look like. So during
015that time, we actually put out an RFP. We had eight different um groups that showed interest in doing that. We actually um had six that went through the full application process. Four made it to final interviews with the committee um in Bllyville. Um and today we have um are very proud to have a recommendation to the state board for us to continue to enter into a transformation contract with um Academy for Math and Science. Um they are they have a charter they're a charter management organization that actually has charter school established in the Little Rock area. Um but I'll tell you when they came in and actually did the presentation for the community. Um the thing that the committee all said was that this was a group that was committed to Bllyville and committed to
016understanding the community in Bllyville. Um Eric is on the Zoom today, Eric Greenberg and Christine Christina um Winters is on there. Um they've spent days um before they ever even came to interview that they they spent like 11 different days just living in the community talking to people at restaurants. Um and when they got in front of the committee, they were actually talking about family and friends that people on the committee knew about. um they they pointed some things out that were very personal to folks in Bllyville about what was important about their community and they were about one of the only groups who actually showed that they had a real interest not just in running the school but being part of the community. Um they they definitely sold themselves to the folks who were
017on the committee that day. Um, I wanted to show you this picture because this is a picture of a bathroom in Bllyville when this is the expectation that we have for students, right? We got a long ways to go when you talk about transformation. Um, Sheila's team has been on the ground tirelessly working at the district. This is that bathroom. Now, transformation is beginning, but we have a long way to go in Bllyville, right? Just because we put some paint on some walls, some paint on some bathrooms, made sure toilets were working, um actually secured toilet paper with screws instead of double-sided tape dispensers. I mean, there's just the the care that even went into the bathroom, much less the care that went into classroom instruction and making sure we had quality. Um, there's transformation
018happening. The school looks like a school. It's clean. It's ready. It was ready for kids this last week. And that is because of Sheila's team and the work that they have poured into it this summer. Um, AMS has been on the ground working with us, ready for this transition. There are people that have been there um in the last um couple of weeks ready for the transition. Um great community events in which AMS folks were there as well supporting what was happening. So at this point um our recommendation is that the state board approved for us to enter into a transformation contract with AMS. Um again their personnel is already on site. They'll be responsible for the daily operating procedures, setting the standard for operating procedures, curriculum, instructional support, direct support to personnel, all of
019your HR, um, professional development. They brought in a complete robust community engagement plan within their plan. They continued to talk about how they wanted to have a community advisory board in which was, you know, giving feedback to them about how the school was doing and how it was operating. and they're going to conduct their own superintendent search. Um, and so today, um, again, Eric is on the Zoom if you guys have any specific questions or comments to them, but we would ask the state board approve that the Bllyville school district could enter into a transformation contract. Any comments, questions? None. All right. And I need a motion to approve the ability for the department to enter into the transformation contract. >> Hear a motion um to approve um the department care that they enter into
020the transformational contract. >> I have a motion with >> I have a motion by Mr. Henderson. Do I have a second? >> Second by Mr. Wood. All in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed hearing? None. Motion passes. >> Chair Woods, can I can I make a comment? Um, >> please. >> So, first, thank you all um for the support and we're really excited to enter into this transformation contract, which is still kind of new to the state of Arkansas, and we're we're lucky that Arkansas Learns gives our agency the ability to do that. And when we made that decision to dissolve the board and go into level five support for black school district, that's not an easy decision. That that was a culmination of a year's worth of work trying to get things sorted.
021But this is a district that couldn't even get a toilet to work, right? So when the expectation is that basic facilities can't work, how can we expect students to learn? and Sheila and the AD team and board member Henderson and the community in the last two months since we've made that decision have really made getting this first day of school right for students and families their number one priority. They have worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The AMS team has been on site. They've been meeting with families and the amount of excitement around Bllyville schools is contagious and I think the press has been there every single day. Um, students are telling teachers and administrators that they feel like this might be the first time they may actually learn something. And to
022flip an entire school district around, a lot of times people tell you it takes three years. Like that's what the literature tells us. It takes three years to change a school culture and to change the way procedures and processes work. This group did that in two months. They need to be commended. This is such an exciting time and we're going to see monumental gains very quickly because we are now focused on students and not adults. And it's welld deserved. And I just want to publicly thank uh that team that that's been boots on the ground. And it's it's a lot of folks that have have been spending a lot of time in that area of the state and it's welld deserved. So this is this is a big deal and congratulations to them. So thank
023you. >> Um that does end our action agenda. I don't think we have anybody signed up for public comment, but I would love Secretary if you would just take a second. Can you tell us how yesterday's meetings went with the governor and with Secretary McMahon? >> I I'd be happy to. So, I'm never shy of making our own public comments. So, first I I just want to say um what an awesome start to the school year we're seeing across the state. And I know there's some schools that started even today, some started yesterday, some started Monday, some may have started last week. But this is the time of year where um our administrators and our school leaders work all summer long to welcome our young scholars back into the hallways. And for me, this is
024probably one of the most exciting times of the year because there's just such a new energy and excitement and buzz happening across our state. So, um we're we're off to a wonderful start. Lots of positive feedback. And in fact, um, Secretary Linda McMahon from USD is visiting states and schools around the nation. and um we were very fortunate and and blessed to welcome her to the great state of Arkansas yesterday and visited some schools here in Little Rock and want to give um a big big shout out to Don Roberts Elementary School and their administrators and and their school board and superintendent in Little Rock for highlighting and showcasing the wonderful work that our teachers are doing in our classrooms each and every day to make sure that our students are being prepared to be
025successful in We also had an opportunity to tour Seline Technical Center um which was amazing to see the partnership that the high schools have there with the tech center so that students um can get industry certifications, hands-on experiences, a lot of those students are getting recruited right out of the classrooms there and entering into the workforce. So when when we see the work that we're doing with Arkansas Learns and we see the work we're doing with access and making sure that our system is designed to ensure that students are are are leaving high school ready to be enlisted, enrolled or employed. We were able to share that uh firsthand hands-on happening in our classrooms in our schools with the Secretary of Education and uh Governor Sanders. And it was um it was wonderful to to
026have some roundt discussions and share some insights and feedback about what we see as a state and what kind of support we might need at the federal level and how we want to continue our relationships and make sure that we're putting our priorities where they belong and that's on students and in classrooms. So um I know we have some board members that were able to attend the round table discussion. maybe they would like to chime in and talk about the experience as well, but um it really excited to start off the school year on a high note. >> Yeah, I I don't mind to say something. Um yesterday I I I was walking around the school and I had my, you know, state board member name tag on, but the truth is I was, you
027know, actually wearing my dad hat because I was so proud that all three of my kids had gone to the school that uh the secret the US Secretary of Education and a US Senator and the governor of Arkansas were walking around touring and and seeing the the absolute best in Arkansas. And um it was it was a wonderful showcase. Uh Arkansas's best foot was put forward. I I think that there there can only be high opinions of what's going on in Arkansas based on the the the tours, the experiences that they had yesterday. I was very very proud of of yesterday. It was a great day. >> I was surprised and I shouldn't say surprised, but I was most impressed with her ability to model that leadership. She um I expected the round table to
028start with the speech from her or some sort of grand speech, something. And I don't know that she said any more than thank you for having me. And she sat there and listened to educators, to administrators, to all board members from Arkansas and took it all in and um I think it was a really cool opportunity for those teachers to get the chance to be heard and um it was just she was just exceptional. It was great. and and I know Secretary McMahon's goal is is to really get insight and feedback from practitioners and um when she's going around and listening, she she's wants to put together a system of best practices of what we know works in schools to support schools and states. Um she fully understands that a one-sizefits-all approach does not work
029and does not need to be levied or mandated down at the federal level. also how do we support local control and states in making decisions that they know works best for students? And for her to really come to the table with an open mind to hear from practitioners um firsthand is something that's special and we're really um grateful that we had that opportunity. >> That's amazing. I think I said yesterday in my board briefing call, I think this was Mr. Helmick's school, correct? The master principal designation that we made last month. So that's a shout out to him, too. Apparently, he did a wonderful job. >> He did. >> Sad that I missed it. Are there any other comments, questions before we end? If there's none, then I think we can be adjourned. >> Thank
030you. Good to see you. >> Thank you so much. I have a warrant.