CCSB Approves MOU for Kingsland

RISON - The Cleveland County School Board voted Monday night to enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Arkansas River Education Cooperative (AREC) at Pine Bluff to use the Kingsland School campus as an alternative learning environment for students from Cleveland County and three other school districts. In addition, the school board voted by a 4-3 margin to move the Cleveland County Head Start operations currently at Kingsland to the Rison School campus next school year.Superintendent Jerrod Williams told the school board during its regular monthly meeting Monday night that he has been meeting with the administrators from the Fordyce, Hampton and Woodlawn School Districts about creating a school that would offer an alternative to those students who struggle in a traditional school setting. While schools already provide an "alternative learning environment" (ALE) somewhere on campus to help those students, Williams said this new facility can also help students who are experiencing what he called "life situations," like becoming a parent or having to tend to an ill family member. He said the proposed school at Kingsland would offer a more flexible class schedule to help those students.In addition, he said districts could use the school as an alternative to suspension or expulsion by continuing to provide those students with an education away from the regular school campus.Williams said he got the idea from the Flex Academies that AREC has been operating in Pine Bluff for the past three years. He said those schools are shared by the Pine Bluff, Watson Chapel, White Hall and Stuttgart School Districts. The proposed school at Kingsland is currently being called Connections Academy, Williams said, since it "connects" four different school districts from three different counties.Willians said the MOU approved Monday night is "tentative" since the three other school districts will need to participate to make it financially feasible. He said if one of the…