REORGANIZE THE PARKIN SCHOOL DISTRICT

The Murphy Commission recommended administrative restructuring of the Parkin School District in 1998. It’s time to enact that recommendation.

(September 2005) The Murphy Commission, a Policy Foundation project, recommended the administrative restructuring of Arkansas’ 311 K-12 districts in 1998 “into not more than 134 administrative units,” defined as “one superintendent and an associated superintendent’s staff.” The recommendation, ignored at the time, was partially implemented in 2004 when 59 districts the Policy Foundation had identified were finally reorganized under PA 60.

The Parkin School District in Cross County was classified as a “fiscally distressed system” last month by the state Board of Education. Parkin operated with a deficit budget in the 2004-05 school year, and is likely to operate with a shortfall in the current 2005-06 year. The Policy Foundation recommended administrative restructuring of the Parkin School District in 1998. It’s time to enact that recommendation when the state Board meets Wednesday, Sept. 7 to decide the district’s future.

Administrative restructuring does not imply a reduction in classroom instruction or elimination of sports teams in the Parkin School District. The Policy Foundation noted in its 1998 report, “Every school can keep its mascot, football and basketball team and preserve long-standing rivalries with other schools.”

The Policy Foundation estimated taxpayer savings of $170 million over a 10-year period under its administrative restructuring recommendation. The APF study (“Streamlining and Cost-Saving Opportunities In Arkansas’ K-12 Public Education System”), published in September 1998, is posted online at www.reformarkansas.org