District could fracture if dissolved
Posted on Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Arkansas State Board of Education members indicated that while placing Greenland under state oversight and attempting to correct the financial problems, the district should be evaluated to be broken up among multiple neighbors if annexation becomes necessary.
The state hasn't approved any boundary line adjustments in conjunction with school consolidations since 1993.
Education Commissioner Ken James warned that while the state can make boundary line adjustments, it is a complex process because debts by the dissolving dis- trict have to be split up.
"That's not something we're ready to do (today )," he said.
"That whole region needs to be looked at," state board member Ben Mays said. "Population centers change."
State board Chairman Randy Lawson recalled that it didn't make much sense at the time in 2004 when Winslow asked to be annexed with Greenland instead of West Fork, but the board granted that proposal. Winslow was annexed after a new consolidation law was passed that mandated districts maintain an enrollment of at least 350 students.
State board member Jim Cooper asked if any promises were made about that merger.
Greenland Board of Education President Bill Groom said he wasn't on the board at the time but the prior members had said they would keep the Winslow schools open as long as it was "financially feasible," which wasn't well-defined. Many students later transferred elsewhere after Winslow High School was closed.
Greenland board member Terry Reed, who represents Winslow area patrons, alleged that then Winslow Superintendent Roger Oge might have thought he could get a job if the district went with Greenland over West Fork.
State board members also questioned West Fork School Distr ict Super intendent Diane Barrett about that district's willingness to take in Winslow students without the benefits of their property tax dollars. The West Fork School District receives state aid for enrollment of students there.
Barrett said in her two years as superintendent, she has not increased bus routes or staff to accommodate transfer requests. The largest influx came during her predecessor's tenure, she said.
The state board also asked Barrett about the district including the Sunset area in the far southeast corner of Washington County. The area was separated by Greenland and Winslow from most of West Fork's coverage area, making the West Fork district a noncontiguous system.
Barrett said the spot annexation of Sunset occurred decades ago, and she did not know why it was originally annexed to West Fork.
James said any boundary line adjustments will have to be brought back to the state board later.
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