Board Of Education Starts Approval Process
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
The state Board of Education has approved
the first of 16 school merger petitions that it plans to hear today.
The board voted four-to-three to approve the annexation of the
Bright Star School District into the Fouke School District. The
deeply divided board approved the request despite concerns from
black parents in the Bright Star district about sending their
children into a new district that currently has no black students.
Both districts are in southwest Arkansas.
Board member Luke Gordy told parents that while he understood
their concerns, the board considered students educational
opportunities to be more important.
The parents had wanted Bright Start to merge with Bradley, which
is more racially balanced but is also not meeting progress goals
set by federal education law.
