The Little Rock School Board voted to consolidate several elementary schools in a meeting Thursday. Carver Elementary will merge with Washington Elementary to become Washington Carver elementary. This means the Carver building will be repurposed for district offices and support programs.
In a second plan, students at Brady Elementary will be relocated to schools across the district. The majority, 136 students, will go to McDermott Elementary while the other students will be split among other elementary schools.
The vote was 5-4. Board members who voted yes said it was an uncomfortable but necessary decision. The no voters worried the consolidation could hurt teachers and students.
This comes as the LRSD has been forced to close down several schools. The Arkansas LEARNS Act passed in 2023 allows districts in financial distress to be taken over by charter school companies. Superintendent Jermall Wright has worked since then to cut programs and schools to save money. Last year, he cut about $16 million to keep the district from going into financial distress. He is calling the plan Optimizing LRSD 2.0.
Over the past week, Wright listened to public feedback on the plan in meetings held at local elementary schools. One of the most outspoken members against the plan was community member Dr. Anika T. Whitfield. She is a local podiatrist and activist with a child at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in the district.
“You can not increase a district when you decrease places for people to go to school,” she said, adding that moving students abruptly was “offensive.”
“We are being told by you, Dr. Wright, that basically this is our option, so suck it up and deal with it.”
Whitfield said the district needed to find other ways to cut the budget.
Wright responded: “I hear you.” He said he would have gone with other “viable options” if he thought they existed.
“I don't know any of those,” he said.
Whitfield said Wright had not considered halting construction on Little Rock West High School of Innovation.
Wright and former board member and history professor Jim Ross explained that Little Rock West High School was funded by a millage approved by voters. Even if construction stopped on the building, the district would not recoup the cost.
“This is the most painful thing to have to do as a superintendent,” Wright said. “To stand here in front of the proud people and staff and families and say we're going to have to close your school.”
He stressed a small bright side of the decision would be that the plans would make it easier to hire teachers to the district.
The night of the vote, both Ross and Whitfield spoke on opposite sides of the decision. Whitfield wore black to express her grief and mid-meeting held up a sign that said “white privilege.”
“I am asking you to look at the budget. Talk to Mr. Bailey,” she said referencing Kelsey Bailey, the district’s Chief Deputy Finance Officer.
Later at the meeting, Bailey spoke in favor of the plan to consolidate schools.
Ross talked about the history of racism in the district before asking the board to vote yes.
“You find yourself in a rough position, Dr. Wright is asking you to make a very tough decision,” he said.
“You all have shown you will not forsake any kids in our city. While this move hurts us all, this temporary setback allows us to invest more money in these kids, the very resources the last speaker spoke of.”
Board member Vicki Hatter joined three other board members in voting no. She said the plans were underdeveloped and that she needed more information.
“I have to ask myself, would I allow my daughter to go through this and not know when and what to expect? I can't even answer questions from parents at the school.”
Hatter was recently censured by the board over alleged behavioral issues.
Osyrus Bolly is a newly-appointed member of the board, filling in for Sandrekkia Morning who stepped down.
“I understand tough decisions have to be made,” he said. “But sometimes we have to come up with tough solutions.” He said, historically, closing schools has torn up “intentional communities.”
Another new board member is Tony Rose. He recently filled the position held by Leigh Ann Wilson in the last election. Rose voted no. He said he would not vote for the proposal until he knew what would happen to the teachers in the schools, one of whom included his wife.
“I trust that this plan has been sifted through,” he said. “But I want the whole plan in place before I vote for it.”
After the vote, board member Greg Adams said LRSD may be transitioning into a smaller institution.
Board member Evelyn Callaway, a former educator, said she would vote for the measures “with a broken heart.”
“I think public education is going to go the way of the world if we don't do something,” she said. Looking up at the room she exclaimed:
“We're trying to save the district, people.”
At an earlier community meeting, a representative from the LRSD said families affected would be notified after the vote.