Days of Change for Perry-Casa School District

The last two days have been a series of coincidences for the Perry-Casa School District. Early morning fire Sunday destroyed two of the district`s buildings. State Police are investigating but so far, there`s no word on whether they suspect arson. Then Monday, the State Board of Education gave the district permission to become part of its neighboring district, Ola. The districts are located just over an hour northwest of Little Rock. The annexation comes at the same time as the debate over consolidating smaller districts at the capitol, but that too is just a coincidence. "I think it`s needed, we`ve so few kids, our basketball teams can`t compete with other schools," said Kim Townsell, a parent and employee of the Perry Casa district. While Perry-Casa students were home Monday as the district recovers, their neighbors down the street are making room at the Ola School District. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with the people of Perry Casa," said Earl Jamison, the Ola superintendent. Perry Casa has about 107 students. "Our numbers are just so low. Some grades have 2 students, it`s not fair to kids. They need to be with bigger groups and have more options," said Townsell. With an enrollment five times that of Perry Casa, Ola School Superintendent Earl Jamison says they hope to help. "We offer physics, chemistry both each year...we have complete vocation agriculture, vocational home economics," said Jamison. Starting next school year, the current Perry-Casa school campus will become the Casa campus of the Ola Elementary Schools. Ola will maintain the Ola elementary and high school campuses and the Perry Casa School District will be no more. The Perry-Casa superintendent says bigger isn`t always better but in this case it might be.