Charter Schools Consolidate Into School System

ROGERS — A new era will begin for two Rogers charter schools at midnight June 30.

At that time and date the school boards for the elementary Benton County School of the Arts and the Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts high school will dissolve and the Founding Board of both schools will become the school board. It will be a new school system known as Benton County School of the Arts K-12, said Paul Hines, superintendent of the Benton County School of the Arts.

The Benton County School of the Arts school board met for the last time Thursday to approve a technology bid to rework the technology infrastructure at the school and to approve a motion to dissolve the board one second before midnight June 30. At the stroke of midnight the Founding Board will become the school board for the consolidated school systems known as the Benton County School of the Arts under a single charter.

The Northwest Arkansas Academy of Fine Arts will surrender it's charter to the state and will become the Benton County School of the Arts High School, Hines said.

The state Board Of Education approved the consolidation of the two charter schools and a refinancing plan earlier this month. This is the first time two charter schools have consolidated under one charter, according to Julie Johnson Thompson, public relations officer for the Department of Education.

Members of the Founding Board met for four minutes in a special session Thursday to appoint a superintendent for the school system minutes after the Benton County School of the Arts School Board concluded its meeting.The Founding Board appointed Hines to be the superintendent of the consolidated school system.

The refinancing plan extends the length of repayment of the $3.8 million in current debt between the two schools. Pinnacle Hills Bank agreed to extend two loans, one for $900,000 and one for $2.9 million from the original payoff date in 2012 to 2037, according to the board.

The idea for the merger of the charter school surfaced in April, said Craig Brown, president of the Founding Board.

"With two different charters operating under one founding board it got pretty muddy," Brown said. "If the elementary school wanted to use the performing art theater at the high school they had to rent it."

Howard Alsdorf, founding board member added it was hard for the two schools to work together.

"A lot of options were considered," Brown said, "and this was the best. Now the finances can be co-mingled benefiting both schools."


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