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Pine Bluff School District

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Coordinates: 34°10′55″N 91°56′56″W / 34.182°N 91.949°W / 34.182; -91.949
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Pine Bluff School District No. 3 (PBSD) is a school district headquartered in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The district has 10 schools with over 3,800 students and 500 employees.[citation needed]

It is one of the largest school districts in the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Effective July 1, 2021, the district will serve, in addition to sections of Pine Bluff and the unincorporated communities of Linwood,[1] Moscow, and Noble Lake;[2][3] Altheimer, Sherrill, and Wabbaseka. A small portion of White Hall will be in the Pine Bluff school district.[3] It also will serve the unincorporated areas of Hardin,[4] Lake Dick, New Gascony,[2] Pastoria, Plum Bayou,[5] Sweden,[2] Tucker,[1] and Wright.[5]

History

Previously the district served both black and white high school students from the Dollarway School District (DSD) as that district only went up to junior high school, with Merrill High and Pine Bluff High taking each group, respectively.[6] This ended for black students in 1955 with the opening of Townsend Park High School and for white students the same year as the Pine Bluff district stopped accepting white Dollarway high school students due to overcrowding.[7]

On July 1, 1984, the Linwood School District consolidated into the Pine Bluff school district.[1]

From 2011 to 2015 the enrollment of the school district declined by 445, mirroring a decrease in population in the City of Pine Bluff, and that meant the State of Arkansas no longer sent over $1,900,000 to the district on a yearly basis. In 2015 the district board voted 5-1 to close two campuses: Southeast Middle School and Oak Park Elementary School. Accordingly the district changed the grade alignment, with Belair Middle becoming a grade 5-6 school, and Jack Robey Junior High being a grade 7-8 school. Previously the two schools had grades 6-7 and 8-9.[8]

Michael Robinson, previously an employee at Prince George's County Public Schools in Maryland, became superintendent on June 6, 2016 and served in that capacity until June 30, 2018, when the board of directors bought out his contract.[9] Monica King-McMurray, previously the executive director of learning services, became interim superintendent. The district, in August 2018, offered her a one year contract.[10] However the State of Arkansas took control of the school district in September of that year, so King-McMurray was forced out of her position and the board was dissolved.[11]

The State of Arkansas appointed Jeremy Owoh as superintendent. Once he left to join the Little Rock School District, the state appointed Barbara Warren, effective July 1, 2020, to be superintendent of the Pine Bluff district; she already also served as superintendent of the DSD.[12]

In December 2020 the Arkansas State Board of Education ruled that DSD should merge into the Pine Bluff School District as of July 1, 2021; all seven board members approved this. The post-merger Pine Bluff school district is to operate all existing schools from both districts.[13] Accordingly the attendance boundary maps of the respective schools will remain the same for the 2021-2022 school year, and all DSD territory will be within the PBSD. PBSD will take possession of all DSD schools.[14]

Jefferson County, Arkansas school district mergers
Pine BluffLinwoodDollarwayHardinAltheimer-SherrillWabbasekaPlum Bayou-Tucker
Pine BluffDollarwayWabbaseka-Tucker
Altheimer Unified
Dollarway
Pine Bluff

Demographics

In 2002 it had about 6,600 students.[15]

In 2012 it had more than 4,279 students, with 84% being classified as low income, 96.77% being African-American, 2.13% being non-Hispanic white, and other racial identities at below 1%.[16]

In May 2020 the district had 2,921 students,[12] and then in December that year the figure was down to 2,799.[13]

Schools

High schools:

Junior high and middle schools:

  • Robert F. Morehead Middle School (effective July 1, 2021)
  • Jack Robey Junior High School - It served grades 8-9 until 2015, when it changed to grades 7-8.[8]

Elementary schools:

  • Broadmoor Elementary School - It is in southeast Pine Bluff[17]
  • 34th Avenue Elementary School - Formerly 34th Avenue Fine and Performing Arts Magnet School[18]
  • James Matthews Elementary School (effective July 1, 2021)
  • Southwood Elementary School - In South-central Pine Bluff[19]

Pre-K schools:

  • Forrest Park/Greenville

Alternative schools:

  • First Ward Alternative School - Opened in 1990 as the Sixth Avenue Learning Center and is also known as the First Ward Learning Center. It not only includes current Pine Bluff district students but also services those in the Dollarway School District (prior to the July 1, 2021 merger)[20]

Closed schools

Secondary
  • Merrill High School (school for black students)
  • Belair Middle School - It was in eastern Pine Bluff. In 2012 the school had 282 students, with 95.74% being African-American.[21] It served grades 6-7 until 2015, when it changed to grades 5-6.[8]
  • Southeast Middle School - Closed 2015[8]
Elementary
  • Belair Math/Science Magnet School[22]
  • W. T. Cheney Elementary School - It was in far southeast Pine Bluff[23]
  • Forrest Park Elementary School - It received an expansion in 1992, including media, office, and nurse facilities and four Kindergarten classrooms[24]
  • Greenville Elementary School[25]
  • Indiana Street Elementary School - Built 1948[26]
  • Lakeside Montessori School[27]
  • Oak Park Elementary School a.k.a. Oak Park Foreign Language and Communications Magnet School[28] - Closed 2015[8]
  • Sam Taylor Computer Technology Magnet School - It was Sam Taylor Elementary School until it became a magnet school in 1992.[29]

References

  1. ^ a b c "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Note that Plum Bayou consolidated into the Wabbaseka Tucker school district in 1983, the Linwood district consolidated into Pine Bluff in 1984, then the Altheimer-Sherrill and Wabbaseka Tucker school districts consolidated into Altheimer Unified in 1993, which in turn consolidated into Dollarway in 2006, and then will consolidate into Pine Bluff on July 1, 2021. Therefore this district already serves Linwood and will serve Tucker and Plum Bayou effective July 1, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "General Highway Map Jefferson County, Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2021-03-05. - See locations of Lake Dick, Moscow, New Gascony, Noble Lake, and Sweden
  3. ^ a b "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Jefferson County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Note that, while the Altheimer Unified School District's boundaries are indicated, the district had already consolidated into Dollarway School District at the time the map was made. The entirety of the Dollarway district in turn will consolidate into the Pine Bluff district effective July 1, 2010.
  4. ^ Pickhardt, p. 358. Since the Hardin district joined the Dollarway district, it will in turn join the Pine Bluff district.
  5. ^ a b "School closures hit a community". The Pine Bluff Commercial. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2017-08-04. The former Altheimer district included students from Altheimer, Wabbaseka, Sherrill, Tucker, Pastoria, Wright and the Plum Bayou communities. - Alternate location Archived 2016-12-27 at the Wayback Machine at the Arkansas Department of Education (PDF page 3/13)
  6. ^ Pickhardt, John B. (Winter 2009). "We Don't Intend to Have a Story: Integration in the Dollarway School District". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4). Arkansas Historical Association: 357–387. JSTOR 40543600. - Cited page 359.
  7. ^ Pickhardt, John B. (Winter 2009). "We Don't Intend to Have a Story: Integration in the Dollarway School District". The Arkansas Historical Quarterly. 68 (4). Arkansas Historical Association: 357–387. JSTOR 40543600. - Cited page 360.
  8. ^ a b c d e Worthen, John (2015-03-05). "PB School Board votes 5-1 to shut 2 campuses". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  9. ^ "PB School Board buys out superintendent Robinson's contract". The Pine Bluff Commercial. 2018-06-27. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  10. ^ Dorn, Alicia (2018-08-01). "PBSD offers 1-year contract to interim super". The Pine Bluff Commercial. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  11. ^ Dorn, Alicia (2018-09-13). "STATE TAKES OVER PB SCHOOL DISTRICT". The Pine Bluff Commercial. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  12. ^ a b Howell, Cynthia (2020-05-23). "Dollarway's Warren chosen to lead Pine Bluff School District too". Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  13. ^ a b Howell, Cynthia (2020-12-11). "State votes to combine Dollarway, Pine Bluff schools". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  14. ^ "Annexation/Transition FAQ". Pine Bluff School District. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  15. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020705093152/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/demograph.htm
  16. ^ "LEA APPLICATION FORSCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT FUNDS TITLE I, SECTION 1003(g) Belair Middle School" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Education. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  17. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20021205210400/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/broadmoor.htm
  18. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020803063806/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/34ave.htm
  19. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20021123050306/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/southwood.htm
  20. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020703074648/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/1ward.htm
  21. ^ "LEA APPLICATION FORSCHOOL IMPROVEMENT GRANT FUNDS TITLE I, SECTION 1003(g) Belair Middle School" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Education. p. 7. Retrieved 2021-02-25.
  22. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020604085919/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/belair.htm
  23. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020604085834/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/cheney.htm
  24. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020802084252/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/forrestpk.htm
  25. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020802084252/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/greenv.htm
  26. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020802084252/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/Indiana.htm
  27. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020803065853/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/Lakeside.htm
  28. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20021118105949/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/oakpark.htm
  29. ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20020630112455/http://pbweb.arsc.k12.ar.us/samtaylor.htm

Further reading

34°10′55″N 91°56′56″W / 34.182°N 91.949°W / 34.182; -91.949


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