BOARD AUTHORIZES STIMULUS FUNDS APPLICATIONS
By Larry Fugate/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
The Pine Bluff School Board formally authorized applications for $10.96 million in federal stimulus funds Tuesday evening, one of the last official recommendations from retiring Superintendent Frank Anthony.
The grant money will help pay for a comprehensive literacy program for all district elementary schools with the start of the 2009-10 school year, part of an ongoing program to improve academics in all classrooms. A literacy lab will be established in each school with students in kindergarten through the fifth grade, in addition to a centralized literacy lab for teachers to help them become familiar with the new program.
The called board meeting came at the conclusion of an open house from 5-6:30 p.m. at the district's new Frank Anthony Administrative Center, 512 S. Pine St.
Scores of district patrons toured the building, formerly the headquarters for the Arkansas Power and Light utility.
“It's just outstanding,” said Calvin Matlock, manager of the credit union University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, after a tour. “I used to come here to pay my utility bill.
“It is remarkable what they (district employees) have done,” Matlock added. “It's an asset to the city.”
Anthony said district employees worked “night and day and weekends” to finish the application paperwork. Directors gave tentative approval to the district's stimulus program in May.
In addition to the literacy and math program, a large percentage of the stimulus dollars will be spent on technological hardware and software, including a center for students and parents.
The district will also use the money to contract with a consulting firm to provide academic support for the six elementary schools and two middle schools, purchase surveillance cameras for each school building and school buses, a computerized bus routing system and more than $2 million to fund classrooms through instructional technology.
Almost $1.5 million will be utilized to provide one-time bonuses for district employees during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years.
In the only other action during Tuesday's board meeting, directors accepted Anthony's recommendation to not renew the contract of a classified employee, a clerk in food services.
In mid-June the board voted to hire Dr. Robert Handley, a retired educator, as interim superintendent. The board plans to continue its search for a permanent replacement for Anthony, superintendent for the past decade. His retirement was effective Tuesday. By Amy Riggin
OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
The Pine Bluff area saw a 0.7 percent increase in unemployment from April to May, representing an increase for the first time so far this year, according to data made available Tuesday from the state Department of Workforce Services.
The metropolitan statistical area’s unemployment rate for May was 8.6 percent — lower than the national rate of 9.4 percent but higher than the state’s 7 percent rate. While MSA rates are not seasonally adjusted, the national rate was adjusted from 9.1 percent and the state’s from 6.9 percent.
Local highs
The local area has had a higher rate than the rest of the state all year. But for the last two months it has been lower than the national rate. Only one other month this year, February, showed a higher national rate of 8.9 percent. The Pine Bluff area’s rate in February was 8.8 percent. However, when the national rate was seasonally adjusted the rate fell below Pine Bluff’s again to 8.1 percent.
Kimberly Friedman, DWS communications director, said the rates for metropolitan areas are not seasonally adjusted to account for certain factors or conditions, like when schools close down for the summer. If the rate is seasonally adjusted, those things are factored out because it could cause the rate to sharply rise or become exceptionally low.
Pine Bluff
The Pine Bluff MSA remains higher than others in the state. The following is a breakdown of rates by MSA:
Of the Pine Bluff area’s 44,500 in the workforce, 3,800 were unemployed in May.
The city of Pine Bluff alone had a higher unemployment rate of 10.1 percent, and Jefferson County also had a slightly higher rate of 8.7 percent.
John Shelnutt, administrator for economic analysis and tax research at the state Department of Finance and Administration, said earlier this week that he thinks there is a technical problem with the indicator for Arkansas.
“That problem is causing (the reported unemployment rate) to be low compared to the nation and most of the region.”
Shelnutt said he does not have enough information to pinpoint the problem, but he said something does not add up. He said Arkansas’ insured unemployment rate, or the rate at which unemployment insurance claims are filed, logically should have been lower in May than the national rate, but instead it was higher.
U.S. Department of Labor statistics show Arkansas’ insured unemployment rate was 5.4 percent for the week ending May 30, while the national rate for the same week was 4.5 percent.
Could Arkansas’ jobless rate in fact be no better than the national rate, or worse?
“That’s my guess, but it’s purely speculation without more information,” Shelnutt said.
There are two Arkansas Workforce Center locations in Pine Bluff, one at 3135 W. 28th Ave. in Regency Square and another at 2003 N. University, Suite 2. The centers provide assistance in the form of training and/or job placement to those seeking employment.
For more information, call one of the centers at 575-9797 (Regency Square) or 534-7700 (North University).
Job services also are available to the general public at the Pine Bluff DWS office. For more information, call 534-1920.
More statistics on unemployment in Arkansas are available at www.discoverarkansas.net.
— John Lyon of the Arkansas News Bureau contributed to this report.