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. 

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 134 school districts for a total of 421 waivers. There were also requests for long-term substitutes from 54 school districts requesting a total of 146  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. Violation of Standard 2. An educator maintains competence regarding his or her professional practice, inclusive of professional and ethical behavior, skills, knowledge, dispositions, and responsibilities relating to his or her organizational position. The Professional Licensure Standards Board requests the State Board of Education order a Permanent Revocation of License or Non-Renewal by State Board of Education; no fine.

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 professional and ethical behavior, skills, knowledge, dispositions, and responsibilities relating to his or her organizational position.  The Professional Licensure Standards Board requests the State Board of Education order a Permanent Revocation of License or Non-Renewal by State Board of Education; no fine.
 

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 professional and ethical behavior, skills, knowledge, dispositions, and responsibilities relating to his or her organizational position.  The Professional Licensure Standards Board requests the State Board of Education order Probation of License for 6 months; assess a fine of $150; required to complete through the ArkansasIDEAS online portal ERC20059: Professional Licensure Standards Board Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators: Ethical Scenarios in Education (2020) Credit Hours: 1; Title: The Power Paradox: How We Gain and Lose Influence (208p) Author: Dacher Keltner ISBN 10: 0143110292 ISBN 13:978-0143110293; Title: QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life (160p) Author: John G. Miller ISBN 10: 0399152334 ISBN 13: 978-0399152337  (All costs paid by Educator Atchley).

The members of the Arkansas State Board of Education are requested to review the following:
Commercial Bond Applications -2 Second Lien and 4 Voted
With the recommendation to approve all applications from the Loan Committee and additional information provided by the school district in its application package and:
          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.

Description: Educator Dean is employed as a teacher with a five-year standard Arkansas Teaching License. Educator Dean has requested a State Board review pursuant to 16.02 of the Rules Governing the Code of Ethics for Arkansas Educators of the ethics hearing recommendation. Educator Dean is represented by Attorney Travis Ragland.
 

The Arkansas Department of Education received information that educator Peckham was found guilty of Pandering Visual Medium Depicting Sexually Explicit Conduct  Ark. Code Ann 5-27-304.  The offense is a disqualifying offense pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-17-410. 
 

Pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 6-15-103 (Act 1240 of 2015), a traditional public school district may petition the State Board for waivers granted to an open-enrollment public charter school.  
 

The Bauxite School District requests a waiver of Class Size and Teaching Load for only one Kindergarten class at its Pine Haven Elementary School.  The District requests this waiver through December of 2021.  

The Marvell-Elaine School District requests a waiver of Class Size for its Kindergarten and 3rd Grade classes at Marvell-Elaine Elementary School.  The District requests this waiver through the 2021-2022 school year.    

If a school district had an ADM of fewer than 350 students in the two years immediately preceding the current school year, Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-1603 requires the district to be annexed to or consolidated with another school district.  The district may petition the State Board for a minimum school district size waiver under Ark. Code Ann. § 6-13-1613.   The State Board shall grant the petition if the several factors set forth in § 6-13-1613 are met.
 

Virtual Arkansas has submitted a written report as requested by SBE and is available for questions if needed. 

The Westside (Craighead) School District is requesting to add K-2 to their State Board approved Digital Learning Plan.  The district will utilize district staff and Edgenuity.

The Searcy School District is requesting to add K-3 to their State Board approved Digital Learning plan.  The district will utilize Pearson.

The Little Rock School District is requesting to add Pearson as a provider to their State Board approved Digital Learning plan.

The Alpena School District is requesting to add K-3 to their State Board approved Digital Learning Plan.  The district will utilize Pearson.

The Helena/West Helena School District is requesting to add grades K-4 to their State Board approved Digital Learning Plan.

The Omaha School District is requesting to add K-8 to their State Board approved Digital Learning Plan.  The district will utilize Lincoln Learning and Virtual Arkansas.

The Lakeside Garland School District is requesting to add Virtual Arkansas for grades 7-8 to their State Board approved Digital Learning Plan.

The Piggott School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by EdGenuity.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by EdGenuity.  Class size waiver is requested; however, teaching load is not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Lee County School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by iReady for K-6 and EdGenuity for 7-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the providers.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Decatur School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the district for K-12 and Virtual Arkansas for 7-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the district and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Smackover-Norphlet School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the Arkansas River Consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2023-2024 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Fordyce School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by Arkansas River Consortium for K-6 and Virtual Arkansas for 7-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Rector School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-6.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the Tri-Region Consortium.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Buffalo Island School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the Tri-Region Consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size is requested; however, teaching load waiver is not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Lawrence County School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by Tri-Region Consortium for K-6 and Virtual Arkansas for 7-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size waiver is requested; however, teaching load waiver is not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2023-2024 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Lincoln School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-8.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the district and Florida Virtual.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the district and Florida Virtual.  Class size waiver is requested; however, teaching load waiver is not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2023-2024 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Cossatot River School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by EdOptions/Edmemtum.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by EdOptions.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Lamar School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the Guy Fenter Consortium for K-6 and Virtual Arkansas for 7-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the consortium and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Earle School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the district for K-12 and Virtual Arkansas for 9-12.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the district and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Ouachita School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the district.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the district.  Class size is requested; however, teaching load waiver is not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2021-2022 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

The Forrest City School District has submitted a Digital Learning Program for students in grades K-12.  The program will offer synchronous and asynchronous learning through a virtual approach using curriculum provided by the district, Lincoln Learning, and Virtual Arkansas.  Teachers are Arkansas State Certified and provided by the district, Lincoln Learning, and Virtual Arkansas.  Class size and teaching load waivers are not requested.  The waiver is being requested through the end of the 2022-2023 school year.  This application has been reviewed by the DESE team.

Premier High School Sprindale submitted a Digital Learning program that will follow asynchronous and synchronous instruction through virtual delivery. School instructors will be utilizing an LMS to monitor student activity and engagement in grades 9-12. The charter expires June 2026

The Charter Authorizing Panel approved the amendment for three years. 

The Academies at Rivercrest High School submitted a Digital Learning Program application that follows asynchronous and synchronous instruction through virtual delivery. The school serves grades 9-12. The charter expires June 2026. 

The Charter Authorizing Panel approved the amendment for three years. 

The Division requests that the Board release the DESE Rules Governing The Star Spangled Banner Act for public comment, pending Governor's Office approval.  

The Division requests that the Board release the DESE Rules Governing Arkansas Military Child School Transitions for public comment, pending Governor's Office approval.  
 

DESE staff will present an overview of the 20-21 Assessment and Accountability data for Arkansas schools. Information will also be shared regarding educator input pertaining to procurement of a new assessment.

To continuously improve the quality of the state’s educator preparation providers (EPP), the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) works collaboratively with Arkansas’s institutions of higher education (IHE) and nontraditional educator programs to report data via the Educator Preparation Provider Quality Report (EPPQR).
The EPPQR provides information on enrollees and graduates at the institutions and reports demographic and statistical data to inform policy decisions.