LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - Frustration over facilities at Wilbur Mills University Studies High School bubbled up into a student protest Thursday, Oct. 25, when dozens of them joined parents and alumni outside the Pulaski County Special School District facility.
Protesters were also angry over the pace of change in the long effort to desegregate and balance the district. The campus, just south of Little Rock, is largely a construction site, with outward signs saying that the school is being modernized. But for the students and parents who loudly voiced their concerns, those efforts are not happening fast enough or in the right places.
It started quietly with adults bringing signs but then was joined by dozens of students leaving their lunch period. Mills is caught in the middle as the PCSSD spreads limited capital funds over several schools.
A significant amount has gone to renovations at Joe T. Robinson Middle and High Schools in west Little Rock. Even the federal judge overseeing the decades-long desegregation case could see the imbalance in a ruling last month. His opinions distilled into demands from these people today.
Curtis Johnson, the new executive director of operations for the district, tried to answer questions as best he could.
“Right now there's current litigation that's in place so I'm unable to really kind of discus in great detail,” the Mills alum said. “What I will say is there are some things by comparisons that we as a district have to address.”
Among the items four students complained specifically about in an impromptu discussion in the rain, was a leak that they said: “Made it rain right into our classroom.” Johnson addressed that directly and said it was an air conditioner malfunction.
“The system which is a chiller type system back-flowed water into the system and overfilled the system,” he said. “It allowed the water to basically spew out, and when it did it dampened. it wet, it got two classrooms wet.”
Robinson said the change in seasons and some repairs should prevent it from happening again. The school district sent out an eight-point response to all the concerns.
The Pulaski County Special School District was made aware of concerns from
the Mills University Studies High School in regards to its facilities. According to a post on the Mills Alumni Association Facebook page, there were eight areas of concern. Those points, as pulled from the post, are as follows:
1. 53 million dollars was to be used to build a new Mills High and renovate the old Mills High according to the district Plan 2000.
2. Teachers are sharing classrooms in new Mills High School.
3. The science lab in Driven Program was cut from the plan to save money resulting in, so the students in the Driven Program have to share a lab with other science classes, meaning these students get less laboratory experience.
4. New TV broadcasting is SHORT ON SPACE AND EQUIPMENT to produce a broadcast for
announcements and sharing educational information with the school. Builders failed to follow through with original design.
5. The new Gymnasium only has 1002 seats and according to AAA policy, it must have at least 2000 seats to host the state tournaments which is a major fundraising event for any school.
6. The new Mills High school has NO WEIGHT ROOM for the athletes to workout and they are expected to walk a quarter of a mile on their “special sidewalk” to the weight room in the field house.
7. There is NO SPACE to accommodate the girl's soccer team or softball team in outdoor facilities and not softball field to play on, which are both VIOLATIONS of Title IV federal law.
8. There is only ONE janitorial closet in the whole building. Custodians are expected to carry water for
clean-up on second floor from first floor closet.
1. The original plan included $50 million for construction of a new high school Mills High and $5 million for renovation to Mills Middle School.
2. Teachers are, in fact, sharing classrooms in new Mills High School. There are five teachers who are on a rotation with other teachers for classroom space. This plan will remain in place for the time being.
3. There were not any science labs cut from the original plan. The two labs that currently exist at Mills High School were part of the original plan.
4. Space is limited for broadcast and multimedia education. Rather than cut an additional classroom to enlarge the broadcast area, the decision was made to accommodate the broadcast in a slightly smaller area than originally planned.
5. According to AAA policy, a gymnasium must have a capacity of 2,200 seats to host a state tournament. It was originally planned to have an athletic facility that met this requirement. However, due to funding issues, seating was cut. The new gymnasium has 1,182 seats.
6. The original weight room still exists and is currently being used for all athletes. A second weight room, in the new gym, was scratched from the budget as it was determined to save that space for classrooms.
7. There is one baseball field that is shared with the girls’ softball team. Additionally, the soccer team practices on the football field. PCSSD is aware of the possible Title IV issues and plans to address these swiftly and appropriately.
8. There are three storage closets and one janitorial closet at the new Mills High School. Operations and construction teams are looking into the requirements to add plumbing into one of the closets on the second floor to better accommodate the custodial staff.
Administrators allowed the students to make their protest but only if they had free time during lunch.