Update: Arkansas Department of Education Vote Keeps DeWitt's Gillett Elementary Open
By: KARK 4 News
Updated: December 10, 2012
Update (12:00 p.m.):
DeWitt School District's Gillett Elementary will remain open.
That was the decision of the board of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) today in Little Rock.
The ADE board vote on closing Gillett Elementary was a tie, so the board decided to take no taken, allowing the school to remain open.
Original Story (10:30 a.m.):
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is considering a petition from the DeWitt School District to close Gillett Elementary.
The DeWitt Superintendent told the ADE this morning in Little Rock that more than $240,000 is lost per year if Gillett stays open.
The city's mayor says those numbers are not accurate and pleads with the ADE not to close a high performance school on outside pressure. He says if Gillett Elementary is closed, no small school in the state will have a chance.
The superintendent says savings will come from closing school and claims all staff will move to DeWitt Elementary.
According to the DeWitt School District website, there were about 65 students enrolled at Gillett Elementary in the 2010-11 school year in Kindergarten through 5th grades. In 2009, Gillett Elementary started a new ABC preschool for three-and four-year-olds which had an enrollment of 15 students in 2010-11.
DeWitt School District's Gillett Elementary will remain open.
That was the decision of the board of the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) today in Little Rock.
The ADE board vote on closing Gillett Elementary was a tie, so the board decided to take no taken, allowing the school to remain open.
Original Story (10:30 a.m.):
The Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) is considering a petition from the DeWitt School District to close Gillett Elementary.
The DeWitt Superintendent told the ADE this morning in Little Rock that more than $240,000 is lost per year if Gillett stays open.
The city's mayor says those numbers are not accurate and pleads with the ADE not to close a high performance school on outside pressure. He says if Gillett Elementary is closed, no small school in the state will have a chance.
The superintendent says savings will come from closing school and claims all staff will move to DeWitt Elementary.
According to the DeWitt School District website, there were about 65 students enrolled at Gillett Elementary in the 2010-11 school year in Kindergarten through 5th grades. In 2009, Gillett Elementary started a new ABC preschool for three-and four-year-olds which had an enrollment of 15 students in 2010-11.
