On Monday January 14th, the 89 General Assembly of Arkansas convened in Little Rock. On the same day, the State Board of Education met and held hearings for 8 District Conversion Charter Schools that had applied to open across the state. Here is a quick synopsis of the State Board Meeting, and a rundown of education bills filed in the legislature.

Details on the applications for each of the eight district conversion charter schools can be found in the full State Board agenda. Here are the highlights of the schools and the Board’s actions:

• Blytheville High School – A New Tech School, Blytheville School District: Proposed to serve 1,000 students in grades 9-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. The Board voted to approve the charter unanimously. The proposed facility is located at 600 North 10th Street, Blytheville, Arkansas
• Rogers New Technology High School, Rogers Public Schools, Rogers, AR:  Proposed to serve 600 students in grades 9-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. The Board voted to approve the charter unanimously. The proposed facility is located at 2922 S. First St., Rogers, Arkansas.
• Murfreesboro High School, South Pike County School District: Proposed to serve 600 students in grades 7-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. The Board voted to approve the charter unanimously. The proposed facility is located at 605 Third Street, Murfreesboro, Arkansas.
• Brunson New Vision Charter School, Warren School District:  Proposed to serve 300 students in grades 4-5. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. The Board voted to approve the charter unanimously. The proposed facility is located at 212 Scobey Drive, Warren, Arkansas.
• Miner Academy, Bauxite School District: Proposed to serve 500 students in grades 6-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. However, citing the need for more information on finances, the Board voted to table the charter application, and revisit it at a later date. If eventually approved, the proposed facility is located at 800 School Street, Bauxite, Arkansas.
• The Academies at Jonesboro High School, Jonesboro School District: Proposed to serve 1,800 students in grades 10-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. The Board voted to approve the charter unanimously. The proposed facility is located at 301 Hurricane Drive, Jonesboro, Arkansas.
• America’s Charter School, Lincoln School District: Proposed to serve 500 students in grades 8-12. There was no opposition from the district or any other entity. However, citing the need for more information on instructional delivery (the application said that the instruction would be blended, delivering both online instruction, and instruction in a brick-and-mortar environment), and confusion about who would be chartering the school (NewTech had not yet approved the blended learning model) the Board voted to deny the charter application. There is more information in this news article.

In General Assembly news, several education bills were submitted to the education committees. Among the bills:

• Rep. Mark Biviano submitted House Bill 1040, a bill to create a Public Charter School Commission removing the burden of charter school approval from the State Board of Education and placing it on the Public Charter School Commission. Read more in the Bill’s text. 
• Se. Joyce Elliott (D-Little Rock), Vice Chair of the Senate Education Committee, introduced Senate Bill 66, to establish “Districts of Innovation” that will have schools with waivers from laws, rules, and local policies that will improve the educational performance of children. Other states, such as Kentucky, also have Districts of Innovation. These districts and schools sound somewhat familiar. You can read more about Districts of Innovation in the Bill’s text.
• Just prior to a Judge’s ruling that the Arkansas School Choice Law does not violate state desegregation agreement, Senator Johnny Key (R-Mountain Home), the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, introduced Senate Bill 65, to amend the public school choice act of 1989. Senator Key’s Bill essentially strips out any language in the original bill that denied student transfers based on the student’s race and the racial composition of any school potentially affected by the transfer. You can read more in the Bill’s text.

We’ll be bringing more legislation to you as it unfolds. In the meantime, you can search Bills as they are introduced using the following Bill Tracker websites:

• Recently Filed Bills on the Arkansas General Assembly Website (Free)
• Open States, Arkansas Bill Tracker (Free)
• LobbyUp (Paid Web Service, Free Service through Smartphone App)