KUAR | By Antoinette Grajeda / Arkansas Advocate
The Arkansas Board of Education has called a special meeting for Friday to consider allowing the Marvell-Elaine School District to enter into a “transformation contract” with the Friendship Education Foundation.
If approved, the contract between the public school district and the charter management company would be the first of its kind under Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ signature LEARNS Act.
The new law makes several changes to the state’s education system, including creating a process through which public school districts with a “D” or “F”-rating or in need of Level 5 – Intensive Support can partner with an open-enrollment public charter school or another state board-approved entity in good standing to create “a public school district transformation campus.”
John Sykes/Arkansas Advocate
The Arkansas State Board of Education held a public meeting in the Marvell-Elaine High School gym to discuss the future of the Marvell-Elaine School District on April 13, 2023.