DECATUR — The Decatur School Board passed a resolution, choosing to move forward with one of two proposed school board election zone maps at its Feb. 20 school board meeting.
Decatur school board zones have to be redrawn because of population changes brought to light by the 2010 U.S. Census.
Jeff Hawkins, of the Northwest Arkansas Planning Commission, drew two proposed zone maps that would substantially equalize the population and race of the five zones, Decatur superintendent Larry Ben told the school board.
Because the Decatur School District has a population of more than 10 percent minorities, it falls under the Arkansas law requiring the district to be divided into zones in order to comply with the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, which enforces the “equal protection” clause of the Constitution, Ben explained.
That means that Decatur must divide its school district into zones of substantially equal population and elect a board member from each zone, Ben said.
“It’s supposed to be a way to get equal ethnic representation on the school board,” explained board member Kevin Smith.
Both proposed plans were drawn so the current school board members would still live in their respective zones. Plan 1 is most similar to the current school board zone map,while Plan 2 would carve out a small zone in the center of Decatur, with a very large zone in the rural area northwest of the city and three medium sized zones on the south and east of town.
School board president Ike Owens pointed out that Plan 1 gives each school board member a zone that includes an area inside the city limits and in the rural area around Decatur.
After some discussion, board members Aaron Owens, Ike Owens, Darleen Holly and Kevin Smith voted on a resolution to move forward with Plan 1. Board member Justin Thompson was not present.
The plan must be approved by the Benton County Board of Election Commissioners, filed with the County Clerk and then approved by the Department of Education before it becomes final.
The current school board members will probably get to complete their terms instead of all positions being up for re-election next fall.
While the law requires a new school board election after rezoning, Ben told the board that it is school attorney David Matthew’s opinion that the district is exempt from needing to reelect all members since it complied with the Federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the past and the zones are just being changed toreflect new census data.
The district will have to send a letter to the Arkansas Department of Education explaining how the district has complied with the law in the past and pointing out the provision of the law that makesit exempt, according to information in the school board packet.
Safe room
School board members voted to pass a resolution applying for state funding for a proposed safe room at the Decatur Northside Elementary School.
The district has already applied for a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that could pay for up to 75 percent of the building.
Now the district will be asking for state partnership funds, Ben told the board.
The availability of partnership funds is calculated by the district’s wealthindex, which is based on the number of students who qualify for free and reduced lunches, Ben said. In Decatur more than 80 percent of students qualify for free and reduced lunches, so the partnership money could potentially pay for 40 percent of the project.
Ben pointed out that 40 percent and 75 percent add up to more than 100 percent of the project. While the school won’t receive more than 100 percent of the costs, the entire project could potentially be paid for, Ben said.
The next school board meeting will be held a week later than usual - at 6:30 p.m. on March 26 - because of spring break.
News, Pages 8 on 02/29/2012