SCHOOL OFFICIALS TOUR RENOVATIONS

By Erin France/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Five current and former members of the Pine Bluff District School Board took Tuesday morning to tour the $34 million worth of district construction and renovations.

Old, inadequate buildings and a decreasing student population inspired the changes, said Joyce Holloway. She officially left the board at the last meeting because of her household’s move from one ward to another.

Although students continue to leave the district, the state predicts that the population will stabilize, said Frank Anthony, superintendent of the Pine Bluff School District.

“I think we’re still pretty much on target,” Anthony said. “Last year was the first year that we stabilized.”

In 2007, the district did not lose students, a first in 20 years. This year, another 200 students left Pine Bluff schools.

“That bleeding needs to stop,” Anthony said.

Holloway said it could be worse.

“I’m glad our schools are as full as they are,” she said. “I think Mr. Anthony’s been good at sizing down as we go.”

While future restructuring might have to occur if there are further losses, the district’s changes have helped.

Cheryl Hatley, the principal of Southeast Middle School, said her students show pride in their renovated school.

“It’s just like buying a new car,” she said. “Everyone loves riding in a new car.”

Former and current district members visited elementary and middle schools, and either toured the grounds by foot or drove around the premises in a van.

They watched headphone-clad students in the computer lab, peered down brightly lit hallways, and exclaimed over the difference between the old and the new.

“This is my old stomping ground,” said board president Laura Brown at Southwood Elementary School.

She once was a student at the school and her son also attended for a year.

“They have come a long way,” she said. “I’m happy for the kids.”

The group also toured the administrative offices at Pine Bluff High School, walked on the sheltered field in the Pine Bluff Multipurpose Complex, and wandered through the district’s new administrative offices at the renovated Arkansas Power and Light (Entergy) building at Fifth Avenue and Pine Street.

The district was restructured after residents approved in 2006 a property tax for school improvement.

Ten schools remain from the original 15. Two middle schools were torn down and rebuilt using the same blueprints.

This is the second year that students have used the new or renovated facilities.