Latest news with #KimberlyMundell
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Thousands of Arkansans apply to school voucher program as universal access offered for first time
The majority of private schools that participated in the inaugural year of Arkansas' voucher program have reapplied for the second year. They're joined by more than two dozen new applicants. () Nearly 37,000 students have been approved to participate in the state's school voucher program during the 2025-2026 academic year, the first time it's open to all Arkansans. Created by the LEARNS Act, a 2023 law that made sweeping changes to the state's K-12 education system, the Education Freedom Account program provides state funds for allowable education expenses such as private school tuition. The program was phased in over three years with expanding eligibility. As of Monday, the Arkansas Department of Education had received 42,624 applications — 27,752 from private school students, 14,866 from homeschool students and six incomplete applications. Applications could be considered incomplete for a variety of reasons such as someone not entering a school in the application, ADE spokesperson Kimberly Mundell said. ADE had approved 36,855 applicants as of Monday — 25,569 private school students and 11,286 homeschool students. In the first two years of the EFA program, participation was capped at 1.5% and 3% of the total public school enrollment, roughly 7,100 and 14,000 students, respectively. ADE is projecting approximately 40,000 participants for the 2025-2026 academic year, Mundell said. With no cap in year three, participation will be limited by available funding, which is worrisome to Courtnei Jackson, principal and teacher at Shiloh Excel Christian School in Little Rock. 'It is a concern to know that there's a possibility of funds running out and we still don't have families that have renewed or applied yet,' she said. Shiloh Excel had 13 students last year, the majority of whom participated in the EFA program. Jackson expects around 20 students to enroll for the 2025-2026 academic year. EFA students are eligible to receive up to $6,994 per student next year. Students who previously qualified for the Succeed Scholarship Program, which was absorbed into the EFA program, will receive up to $7,771. For the 2025-2026 academic year, $277 million in state funds have been approved for the EFA program, Mundell said. Asked if applications are expected to exceed available funding and if per-student funding would be reduced if that happens, Mundell said funding hasn't yet been exceeded and 'there is no plan to reduce the amount of funding per pupil at this time.' To manage the large influx of applications, ADE is evaluating and approving applications based on funding priority categories within designated application priority windows, instead of a first-come, first-served basis, according to the education department's EFA website. Three-week priority windows began in early March. The application portal was closed from May 26 to June 1, before reopening for the fifth application window on Monday. Once a priority window closes, all submitted applications are reviewed together, with priority given to students in higher funding categories. The students with highest priority are returning EFA participants, followed by students with specialized needs. The program will continue processing applications in three-week windows until Jan. 31, 2026. If the number of applications exceeds available funding, applicants in the highest priority groups will be awarded first until all funds have been allocated, according to ADE's website. Any remaining eligible students will be placed on a rolling waitlist and considered for funding as openings occur. Private schools that have participated in every year of the EFA program say they're grateful the funds have helped cover families' tuition costs and increase their enrollment. But they also say technological issues persist and worry how the program might change. Smaller class sizes are key to providing an effective education at Shiloh Excel, but the school may soon expand from 20 students to 100 because of the EFA program, Jackson said. 'We have been [considering expanding] over the years, but we're really considering it now, especially since we have the vouchers that are available…so it's possible that we could really increase quickly, and we want to be able to accommodate that,' she said. Joshua Academy in Van Buren opened in 2023 with 37 students. Enrollment grew to 47 by the end of the Christian school's first year and to 121 during the 2024-2025 academic year when 97 students participated in the EFA program. Enrollment is expected to be around 160 this fall and the EFA program has been 'a huge part of it,' Head of School Kara Witzke said. Joshua Academy serves 'a fairly underserved population' in a rural county with about a quarter of students qualifying for free or reduced lunch and more than 70 ACE scholarships expected next year, Witzke said. Founded in 2000 by a group of people that included Walmart heir John Walton, ACE Scholarships are designed for families that make up to 350% above the poverty level ($112,525 for a family of four in 2025). 'The fact that everybody's getting it, the families are so relieved, those especially that have been paying full price for our school or relying on outside scholarships to do so,' Witzke said. 'They're so relieved to have that big burden taken care of.' Tuition will cost $9,000 for elementary school and $9,500 for middle school next year, and with the EFA program covering the majority of that, Witzke said it creates an opportunity for the outdoor-based school to launch its first annual fund. Heads of Arkansas private schools participating in state voucher program cite aid to families Private schools often rely on donors to pay for operational costs not covered by tuition, she said, so an annual fund would allow some families to donate part of what they would have paid in tuition and receive a tax deduction. While tuition increases are common, Jackson said she's cautioned her school's board not to raise tuition too much because it's important for families to have EFA funds for other things like uniforms and supplies. Shiloh Excel's tuition will increase from $4,250 to $5,000 this fall. At Clear Spring School in Eureka Springs, tuition will stay the same next year, ranging from $9,000 to $10,500 for K-12 students. Roughly 85% of the school's students receive scholarships, so the EFA program helps alleviate concerns about how much the independent school needs to raise for tuition assistance, Head of School Jessica FitzPatrick said. Though EFA funds are available, technology can make them difficult to access. Beyond the initial application, families must submit invoices through an online portal for quarterly payments to be disbursed to schools. Joshua Academy families often have phones but not computers, so some use the school's main office computer to access the online EFA portal, Witzke said. With a smaller enrollment of 69 students, FitzPatrick said staff can generally remind families to submit invoices or assist those who aren't 'tech savvy at all.' 'It's not hard, but if you've never done it, it's a challenge and it's usually our lower-income families that it's the biggest challenge for, which is who they're trying to help,' FitzPatrick said. 'But there's a disconnect there between the lowest income and their hurdles to technology.' Beyond technical glitches, some private school leaders have concerns about how the EFA program could change in the future. Opponents of the program have called for private schools receiving state funding to be held to the same standards as public schools. Some lawmakers have proposed laws to require just that. If program requirements change such that the state dictates the direction of Clear Spring, that could be a problem because it goes against its accrediting body's guidelines for independent schools to set their own mission, vision and philosophy, FitzPatrick said. Likewise, Witzke said the EFA program seems like it's often 'under attack' and she's worried about efforts to repeal the program or attach 'strings that would make it impossible for a Christian school, for instance, to maintain their freedom and curriculum choice.' 'I hope that the spirit of the LEARNS Act is maintained and that fidelity is maintained forever, but I am concerned,' she said. 'If it were to go away and we have 200 students at our school that all of a sudden lose 80% of their funding, we would at that point have to rely on donor funding to keep the kids here, and that would be more challenging.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Arkansas' rising 3rd graders will be first to be held back under new literacy standards
A group of elementary schoolchildren take a test. A 2023 Arkansas law requires third graders who fail to meet literacy standards to be held back beginning with the 2025-26 school year, but the rules haven't been written yet. (Getty Images) Arkansas students entering the third grade at public schools and open enrollment charter schools this fall will be the first cohort to be retained if they don't meet literacy expectations, a policy established by the 2023 LEARNS Act. 'By the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year, if a public school student has not met the third-grade reading standard, as defined by the state board, or the student does not have a good-cause exemption, as provided under this subsection, the student shall not be promoted to fourth grade,' the law states. This new requirement could have extreme implications, considering a 2024 assessment showed that only about 36% of the state's third graders could read proficiently. Would the state of Arkansas really require all but 36% of the state's public school third graders to be held back? It's currently unclear. State education officials haven't yet set the new literacy standard by which third-grade reading will be measured for the 2025-2026 academic year. Kimberly Mundell, spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Education, didn't answer specific questions about how the policy would play out. 'The law affects this school year's second graders, who will be third graders next year,' Mundell said. 'More information and details will be provided in the future.' The LEARNS Act — a 2023 law that overhauled K-12 education with increased teacher pay, a controversial school voucher system and new volunteer requirements for public school students — tasked the State Board of Education with establishing the literacy standard for third graders. Alisha Price, associate legal counsel for the state education department, said the nine-member board hasn't yet crafted rules related to the literacy requirements, but it will be discussed this year. 'These rules have not started the drafting process but will soon,' Price said. 'It usually takes a few months to go on a board agenda for approval, then public comment, but I do not yet have an estimate on that date.' As with other requirements set by the Arkansas LEARNS Act, mandatory retention for third graders who fail to meet reading standards applies only in public schools. Private school and homeschool students are exempt. Annual comprehensive testing typically occurs in April and May, near the end of the academic year. The current round of testing is expected to end Friday. While the standard for next year isn't set, data from an existing assessment — the Arkansas Teaching and Learning Assessment System (ATLAS) — showed that most third graders had not achieved proficiency, and had only a basic literacy understanding in 2024. ATLAS replaced the ACT Aspire assessment that was used from third to 10th grade from 2016 through 2023. Last year was the first time school districts used ATLAS. State education officials have said the assessment created a new baseline that should not be compared to previous methods. Of 250 public school districts included in state ATLAS data, a dozen reported that at least half of its third graders tested at the lowest level for reading, meaning students showed limited skills. Low reading scores also typically correlated to low English language arts (ELA) scores, another component of literacy testing within ATLAS. Among the lower performers was Blytheville School District in Mississippi County, where 70% of its 109 students showed a limited understanding of reading and another 26% showed a basic understanding. According to last year's state ATLAS data, only about five Blytheville third graders could read proficiently. The same data was reported for the school's English language arts scores. Last week, Education Secretary Jacob Oliva said he intended to recommend to members of the State Board of Education that Blytheville School District should receive the highest level of state support due to declining enrollment and administrative challenges, the Arkansas Advocate reported. Little Rock School District, which had the highest number of third graders in the state in 2024 — more than 1,500 — reported one in three children had only limited reading skills last year. The district's English language arts scores matched within a few percentage points of its reading results. How those figures will compare to new literacy standards remains to be seen. States have authority over day-to-day operations and curriculum standards in schools, making apples-to-apples comparisons among states tricky. Though that process leads to varying standards nationwide, the National Assessment of Educational Progress — known as 'the nation's report card' — tracks average reading scores and how they change over time. These national reports focus on fourth grade reading attainment, rather than third. The congressionally mandated program within the U.S. Department of Education reported that no states saw improvements in reading scores among fourth graders from 2022 to 2019, and Arkansas students' average scores decreased by three points. The state's decrease was on par with the national trend among all public school fourth graders. While the literacy standard the State Board of Education has been tasked to establish will apply to most third graders in public schools, there are some exceptions. The education board has already adopted rules outlined in the LEARNS Act to set good-cause exemptions for promotion to the fourth grade, such as limited English proficiency students and those with individualized education programs or 504 plans. Other exemptions include students who were previously held back, kids on an intensive literacy intervention program, or those who have received a special education referral. According to the Pew Research Center, roughly 16% of Arkansas public school students, K-12, have a learning disability. Dyslexia is among the most common learning disabilities, and state law requires school districts to screen each student in kindergarten through third grade for dyslexia, then provide appropriate resources for their academic success. The State Board of Education further describes the third grade retention policy in the Right to Read Act, which outlines what public school districts or open enrollment charter schools should provide for students who don't meet the reading standard or are promoted with good-cause exemptions. The literacy improvement plan extends beyond the classroom and into students' homes. According to the rules, schools must provide 90 minutes of evidence-based literacy instruction each school day, assign the students to a high-performing teacher and send legal guardians a 'read-at-home' plan. Students will also be given priority to receive a literacy tutoring grant, and have the option to participate in additional programming. This story was first published by the Arkansas Times and is republished here by permission.
Axios
27-02-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Arkansas picks up school breakfast tabs
The state will pay for breakfast for public school students who don't qualify for federally funded meals, including in districts that already cover such costs, education department spokesperson Kimberly Mundell tells Axios. Why it matters: Arkansas has the highest rate of food insecurity in the nation. Ensuring all children have access to school breakfast improves their nutrition, health, behavior and ability to learn, according to Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families. Driving the news: Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders recently signed SB59 into law guaranteeing breakfast to all students regardless of their families' income starting this fall. By the numbers: Tax revenue from medical marijuana sales will help pay for the meals, which the state expects to cost $14.7 million annually. State of play: About half, or 125, of school districts in Arkansas already guarantee free breakfast to all students, according to state education department data. That includes three of NWA's largest school districts — Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale. About 19% of students at Bentonville Public Schools are enrolled in federally funded free or reduced breakfast, spokesperson Leslee Wright told Axios. Lincoln, Greenland and Decatur school districts also offer free breakfast. What they're saying: Rogers began offering free breakfast to all elementary students in 2012 via a grant from the Arkansas Huger Relief Alliance. "Teachers reported that students were more engaged and alert in the mornings and there was a decrease in trips to the nurse during the morning related to hunger or lethargy," child nutrition director Margie Bowers told Axios in an email. Increased food and labor prices mean that Rogers will welcome the state assistance, Bowers said. Zoom out: Lincoln and Decatur are the only NWA districts to also guarantee free lunch, which is also offered by 101 other districts in the state.
