Consolidation Partners Found

The new era of administrative consolidation ushered into Arkansas by the last special session is getting a little less mysterious. Today the state board of education gave the nod to five merger petitions covering eight districts. Alread and Scotland will now be annexed into Clinton. Delta Special and Arkansas City will become part of McGehee. The growing Bryant school district is set to take on tiny Paron. Even with the partner question answered, those areas have many details to work out to offer kids the best of a blended district by the fall. Transportation will be an issue in the Bryant-Paron pairing. Only 26 miles separate the schools systems, but the road that connects them is poor. And it takes 45 minutes to travel. Distance learning and teacher sharing issues have yet to be worked out. The state board will take on 12 more petitions on Monday. Seven districts couldnt find a partner or refused to by the April first deadline. The state board of education will have to pick partners for those districts.