LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Supporters of the Little Rock School District have found frustration at every turn, as they try to bring it back under local control. They went as high as they could Wednesday, bringing their case to both the Governor and Lt. Governor.
Approximately 30 students, parents, and advocates for the LRSD met at the State Capitol to deliver a petition to Gov. Asa Hutchinson. The petition had more than 1,600 signatures and called for the district to once again have a locally-elected school board, instead of management from the State Board of Education and Superintendent Johnny Key.
“It’s time for them to give us our district back,” said Anika Whitfield, co-chair of Grassroots Arkansas. “It’s time for these students to have an excellent education, no matter what school they go to in Little Rock School District.”
Whitfield, a vocal supporter of the LRSD, organized Wednesday’s small rally. The students came from several different schools, and some of them have recently organized protest actions and student groups on their campuses. Some of them spoke to the group about the injustices they see, and why fighting for the district is so important.
“The Little Rock School District has had 12 schools to be closed as of this year, and that’s unacceptable,” Whitfield said. “And we are continuing to lose students from the Little Rock School District because the state continues to hold us in bondage. We want to be free.”
Governor Asa Hutchinson passed by the group as the stood on the stairs outside his office and chatted briefly with some of its members, but went into his office and did not take the petition. Someone from his staff did accept it and promised to get it to him.
Some of the members of the group were able to meet with Lt. Gov. Tim Griffin. Lt. Gov. Griffin is a Little Rock resident, and Whitfield said they hope to talk to him, “recognizing that he has a powerful voice.”
But ultimately, he did not strike the note they hoped to hear.
“For me, this is not just some policy issue: it’s personal,” he said afterward.
“It’s not something that, as Lt. Gov., I have authority over,” he added. “But I certainly, as a concerned parent, keep a close eye on what’s going on in the district.”
He mentioned that he has a son enrolled in a LRSD school right now and plans for his one-year-old to join him. But he thinks the BOE and Commissioner Key should remain in charge.
“A lot of the problems that LRSD has faced are taking a while to address,” he explained, “and I think there’s been some progress. I think there’s still a lot more to be done.”
Whitfield argued that progress has not been made. When the state took over the LRSD in 2015, its rationale was that six schools were in academic distress. The grading system the state uses has changed since then, but there are now 22 schools considered to be in academic distress, half of the schools in the district.
“Since they’ve taken over, they’ve not only weakened our district by worsening the academic successes of students,” Whitfield said, “but they’ve also weakened our district by closing our schools. So, we must speak out, we must stand up, we must not let them continue to hold us in bondage.”
Lt. Gov. Griffin, who emphasized that he believes in school choice and supports public charter schools, as well, said he believes LRSD will return to local control, “at the appropriate time.”
Arkansas law states the Department of Education can only control a local school district for five years, meaning it must decide to close LRSD, merge it with another district, or re-form its board by next January.