Students are sent back to Decatur

Seven Gravette students told they must return to Decatur Schools or move into Gravette district

— Seven students who transferred from the Decatur School District to the Gravette School District last year under the School Choice Act are being forced to return to school in Decatur.

The recall of students will affect children in three families who transferred to Gravette in 2010, according to Decatur Superintendent Larry Ben. Students who transferred to Gravette in previous years will not be affected because the Decatur School District doesn’t have records of the School Choice transfers prior to 2010, he explained.

A total of 12 students who live in the Decatur School District and attended or planned to attend Gravette Schools will no longer be able to do so, either because they were denied School Choice transfers and School Board to School Board transfers, or because they were recalled, according to Gravette Superintendent Andrea Kelly.Two families - accounting for five of the seven students who have been recalled - have made plans to move into the Gravette School District, she said Monday.

The Decatur School District ended the 2011 school year with more than 470 students, Ben said. The state gives Arkansas school districts around $6,000per year for each student, according to the Arkansas Department of Education website.

Ben explained the process for requiring the students to come back to the Decatur School District. He said he asked Kelly to investigate whether student transfers made under the School Choice law in 2010 were legal.

The School Choice Act of 1989 does not allow students to transfer to a school where there is a higher than acceptable percentage of students of their race.

The acceptable range for Caucasian students in Benton County is 58.99 to 75.84, according to the Arkansas Department of Education. While Decatur fell within the acceptable range of white students in 2010, with more than 58 percent white students, Gravette was above the acceptable range with more than 80 percent white students.

Ben said he received a letter from Kelly last week saying she has investigated the situation and the seven students will be forced to return to the Decatur School District.

Ben explained that, according to the law which requires the above process of inquiry and investigation, once the superintendent from the receiving school district determines that a student is attending their district illegally, the receiving superintendent is required to inform the family and ban the students from his or her school.

The recall of Decatur students is technically a residence issue, according to Ben. Because the transfers were not legal under School Choice, the students are now attending school in the wrong district.

There are three main avenues for students to transfer into another district, Ben explained.

◊School Choice - Parents can apply to transfer a student to a non-resident district by June 30 of each year. The receiving district can choose not to accept the student if they wouldhave to hire another teacher or build another classroom to accommodate additional students. Certain restrictions, such as the racial element of the law, also apply.

◊Board to Board Transfer - Students can transfer to a non-resident school district if both school boards approve the transfer.

◊Change in residence - Students can transfer to another school district if they physically move into that district.

Another less common avenue is a law that allows students to transfer to a better school if their school is on school improvement, Ben said. The Decatur High School has not been on the school improvement listin the past, although this year’s list has not yet been released by the ADE.

The Decatur Northside Elementary School was on the list last year, as were the elementary schools in Gravette and Gentry, in varying categories, according to the ADE website, so it does not appear that transferring for school improvement would be a viable option for Decatur students, Ben said.

Students that transferred to Gentry last year under School Choice will not be affected because the Gentry School District was within the acceptable range of Caucasian students.

Dodie Evans contributed information to this article.

News, Pages 1 on 07/27/2011