Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching:
Justin Leflar, K-6 Science
Melissa Henry, K-6 Math
Kimberly Meyer, K-6 Math
Amy Sandy, K-6 Math

Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching:
Cassie Kautzer, 2014 K-6 Science
Diedre Young, 2015 7-12 Science
Ashley Kasnicka, 2014 K-6 Math
Daniel Moix, 2015 7-12 Math

The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has named Little Rock School District teacher,
Vicki Stroud Gonterman, the NCSS Teacher of the Year (Elementary Division) for 2016-2017.

The members of the Arkansas State Board of Education are requested to review the following:
Commercial Bond Application – 1 Second Lien
With the recommendation to approve from the Loan Committee and additional information provided by the school district in its application package:
• Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-805 concerning the Revolving Loan Program, the State Board of Education, in its discretion and after considering the merits of each application with the loan committee recommendation, may approve a school district revolving loan application for the full amount of the proposed loan, approve the application for a loan of a lesser amount than requested, or disapprove the application.
• Pursuant to Arkansas Code Annotated § 6-20-1205 concerning school district bonds, a school district shall not sell bonds until the issue is approved by the State Board of Education. Therefore, the State Board of Education, in its discretion and after considering the merits of each application with the loan committee recommendation, may approve a school district bond application for the full amount of the proposed bond issue, approve the application for a lesser amount than requested, or disapprove the application.

The applicant data from this information is used to compile the Applicant Flow Chart forms for the Affirmative Action Report, which demonstrates the composition of applicants through the selecting, hiring, promoting and terminating process.  The information is needed to measure the effectiveness of the agency's recruitment, hiring and promotion efforts and is in conformity with federal government guidelines, which require the agency to compile statistical information about applicants for employment.

Good Shepherd Humane Society of Berryville is submitting a site application to be a Community Service Learning site provider and work with the Berryville School District per Community Service Learning Act 648 of 1993.

The proposed high school science courses were distributed across the State for the purpose of allowing
educators, parents, and other stakeholders to provide feedback on the proposed course work.  A summary of the feedback is provided for consideration by the State Board of Education.

Arkansas Code Annotated §6-17-309 requires local school districts to secure a waiver when classrooms are staffed with unlicensed teachers for longer than 30 days.  Requests were received from 44 school districts covering a total of 153 waivers.  There were also requests for long-term substitutes from 61 school districts requesting a total of 171 waivers for long-term substitutes.  These requests have been reviewed, were either approved or denied by Department staff, and are consistent with program guidelines.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom. The Professional Licensure Standards Board Ethics Subcommittee recommends that the State Board order a one (1) year suspension; assess a $100.00 fine; require that she complete courses HWB14402 – Act 1236 or 2011: Child Maltreatment (January, 2014) and IAD14492 Classroom Management: Building Effective Relationships, 2nd Edition through ArkansasIDEAS; and submit a written reflection on each course addressing how the training will impact her future relationships with students both in and outside the classroom.  Both training and written reflections will be completed and submitted to the PLSB office within ninety (90) days of the State Board’s final order.  All associated costs paid by educator.  Ms. Rorie accepted the recommendation on August 16, 2016.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom. The Professional Licensure Standards Board Ethics Subcommittee recommends that the State Board order a license suspension until June 30, 2017; assess a $100.00 fine; require that he complete course IAD14492 Classroom Management: Building Effective Relationships, 2nd Edition through ArkansasIDEAS; and submit a written reflection addressing how the training will impact his future conduct in the classroom.  Both training and written reflection will be completed and submitted to the PLSB office within ninety (90) days of the State Board’s final order.  All associated costs paid by educator.  Mr. Freeman accepted the recommendation on October 26, 2016.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom. The Professional Licensure Standards Board Ethics Subcommittee recommends that the State Board order a one (1) year license suspension; assess a $100.00 fine; require that she complete course IAD14492 Classroom Management: Building Effective Relationships, 2nd Edition, through ArkansasIDEAS; and submit a written reflection addressing how the training will impact her future interactions with students.  Both training and written reflection to be completed and submitted to the PLSB by the end of the suspension period.  All associated costs paid by educator.  Ms. Graves did not respond within the required time period.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom. The Professional Licensure Standards Board Ethics Subcommittee recommends that the State Board order a written warning; require that he complete courses TCC14435 Professional Licensure Standards Board (PLSB): Social Media Guidelines and TCC14436 Professional Licensure Standards Board (PLSB): Digital Citizenship Curricula K-12 through ArkansasIDEAS; and submit a written reflection on each course addressing how the training will impact his future interaction with students.  Training and written reflections to be completed within sixty (60) days of the State Board’s final order.  All associated costs paid by educator.  Mr. Derkovitz did not respond within the required time period.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom. Violation of Standard 2.  An educator maintains competence regarding his or her professional practice inclusive of skills, knowledge, dispositions, and responsibilities relating to his or her organizational position.  The Professional Licensure Standards Board Ethics Subcommittee recommends that the State Board order a written warning; require that he complete course IAD14491 Classroom Management: Managing Challenging Behavior through ArkansasIDEAS; and submit a written reflection addressing how the training will impact his future interaction with students and classroom management.  Training and written reflection to be completed within sixty (60) days of the State Board’s final order.  All associated costs paid by educator.  Mr. Shedd accepted the recommendation on October 23, 2016.

Violation of Standard 1. An educator maintains a professional relationship with each student, both in and outside the classroom.  Mr. Pickett voluntarily consents to the permanent revocation of his license.

The LRSD Community Advisory Board has completed the required training as documented.

Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-421 the ADE shall report to the State Board and the General Assembly the name, address, and superintendent of any high school in which more than twenty percent (20%) of the students received a letter grade of "b" or above but did not pass the end-of-course assessment on the first attempt.

Jeri Lyn Odom holds a standard teaching license and has not completed the required training as ordered by the State Board of Education. Ms. Odom has not responded to reminder letters.  The PLSB staff respectfully requests the suspension of Ms. Odom’s license until the training is completed and confirmation provided to the PLSB.

Mary Jill Davis holds a standard teaching license and has an outstanding fine of $75.00, as ordered by the State Board of Education.  Ms. Davis has not responded to collection attempts.  The PLSB staff respectfully requests the suspension of Ms. Davis’ license until the fine is paid in full.

Act 1240 of 2015 allows a school district to petition the State Board of Education for all or some of the waivers granted to Open-Enrollment Public Charter Schools that serve students who reside in the school district.  Representatives of the County Line School District are appearing before the Board with a petition of waivers.

When charged with the task of revising the previous  English Language Arts standards, a group of qualified individuals from across the State came together to craft standards that were specific for the schools and students of Arkansas. The result of this work is the Arkansas English Language Arts Standards (ELA). As an extension of this work, high school courses were developed using the newly adopted English Arts Standards. The Arkansas High School English Language Arts courses are respectfully submitted to the State Board of Education for adoption.

When charged with the task of revising the previous  mathematics standards, a group of qualified individuals from across the State came together to craft standards that were specific for the schools and students of Arkansas. The result of this work is the Arkansas Math Standards.  As an extension of this work, high school courses were developed using the newly adopted math standards. The Quantitative Literacy course is respectfully submitted to the State Board of Education for adoption.

When charged with the task of revising the science content standards for high School, a group of qualified individuals from across the State came together to craft standards that were specific for the schools and students of Arkansas. The result of this work is the Arkansas K-12 Science Standards. Reflecting what Arkansas educators know to be best for students, these standards are based on the Next Generation Science Standards and ensure that students are college and career ready and on track for success. The high school courses of the Arkansas K-12 Science Standards are respectfully submitted to the State Board of Education for adoption.

Prior to October 2015, APPEL was governed by a set of rules from 2012 titled, ADE Rules Governing the Non-Traditional Licensure Program. In October 2015, the State Board approved the Arkansas Department of Education Rules Governing Educator Licensure and incorporated the previous rules under Chapter 5: Nontraditional Licensure. Section 5-2.0 ARKANSAS PROFESSIONAL PATHWAY TO EDUCATOR LICENSURE (APPEL) states that an applicant for a provisional teaching licensure under APPEL shall adhere to and abide by all the policies and procedures as outlined in the published APPEL Program Handbook for the year of admission. It is our understanding that substantive changes to the APPEL Program Handbook should be approved by the State Board of Education as rules for APPEL had been previously approved. 

The State Board will attend the Arkansas School Boards Association Luncheon in the Ballroom at the Marriott.

Helena-West Helena School District has one school classified in Academic Distress. The Arkansas Department of Education appointed review teams to conduct onsite reviews and to provide recommendations. Recommendations were provided to the district in June 2016. School and district leadership will present current status of progress towards Recommendations 1 and 3.

Pulaski County Special School District has one school classified in Academic Distress. The Arkansas Department of Education appointed review teams to conduct onsite reviews and to provide recommendations. Recommendations were provided to the district in June 2016. School and district leadership will present current status of progress towards Recommendations 1 and 3.

The 2016 Arkansas Teacher of the Year will report on current topics of opportunities for educators.