ALTHEIMER RESTRUCTURED INTO DOLLARWAY

"The General Assembly should enact legislation which restructures ... Arkansas' existing 311 school districts into not more than 134 "administrative units" where an administrative unit is defined as "one superintendent and an associated superintendent's staff." (Murphy Commission, "Streamlining and Cost-Saving Opportunities in Arkansas' K-12 Public Education System," September 1998)

(July 2006) Administrators in the Altheimer School District will be restructured into the Dollarway district, the sixty-sixth restructuring to occur since the Murphy Commission, a Policy Foundation project, recommended eliminating K-12 administrators to save tax dollars in 1998.

The state Board of Education approved the Altheimer restructuring at its July meeting. The decision means Arkansas will have 245 K-12 districts. There were 311 districts in 1998 when the Commission made its recommendations.

Fiscal problems in the Altheimer School District led to the action.

The administrative restructuring proposed by the Murphy Commission does not imply a reduction in classroom instruction or elimination of sports teams. The Policy Foundation emphasized administrative restructuring in its 1998 report, noting, "Every school can keep its mascot, football and basketball team and preserve long-standing rivalries with other schools."
The Policy Foundation estimated its 1998 recommendation would save taxpayers $175 million over a 10-year period.

The 1998 report, "Streamlining and Cost-Saving Opportunities in Arkansas' K-12 Public Education System," is available for free at www.reformarkansas.org.