The Siloam Springs High School may have a manufacturing-focused charter school in it's future.
The district is considering applying to the Arkansas Department of Education for a conversion charter school that would teach manufacturing trade skills, assistant superintendent Jody Wiggins reported at Thursday's school board meeting.
The proposed school would be a vocational school that would operate inside the high school and would teach topics such as industrial maintenance, welding, hydraulics and electronics.
Two other districts, Pea Ridge and West Memphis, have approval for charter schools that have components similar to what Siloam Springs proposes, said Kimberly Friedman, director of the Department of Education. Both are set to open this fall.
State law allows the Arkansas Department of Education to approve two types of charter schools -- conversion and open enrollment, Wiggins said.
A conversion charter school is a public school converted to a public charter school. It can only draw students from inside the school district's boundaries. Conversion charter schools allow districts more freedom to try innovative ideas that don't quite fit within state regulations, Wiggins explained.
Open-enrollment charter schools are public schools run by government organizations, institutions of higher learning and non-sectarian tax-exempt organizations. They can draw students from across district boundaries.
There are 18 conversion charter schools and 17 open-enrollment charter schools in the state, according to the ADE website, www.arkansased.org.
The district has reached out to multiple manufacturers in the area and there has been a lot of interest in the proposed school, Wiggins said. A group of approximately 10 manufacturers in Siloam Springs and the surrounding area have come on board with the idea, he said. The school would meet with manufacturers to get a list of their needs.
"The manufacturers are pretty excited," he said.
The proposed charter school would prepare students to go directly into the workforce or to pursue a two-year degree at Northwest Technology Institute or Northwest Arkansas Community College, Wiggins said. It could possibly lead into a four-year college degree as well, he said.
The district hopes to offer students the opportunity to earn some college credits during the program, Wiggins said. Students would also earn national certifications that would prepare them for the workforce in any region of the country.
The district is considering setting a maximum enrollment of 200 students -- 50 per grade -- for the proposed charter school, Wiggins said. They hope to start with at least 20 students per grade.
The high school already has a strong vocational staff and program in place, Wiggins said.
The proposed school would need some additional space for a manufacturing lab. The district could receive grant money to lease a building or space could be donated by a local manufacturer. Wiggins said he envisions students spending half their day attending classes at the high school and half their day attending classes at an industrial center.
A more detailed proposal for the conversion charter school is expected to be presented to the School Board for approval in August. TheDepartment of Education's deadline to submit an application for a conversion charter school is Sept. 9.
The district should hear whether the Department of Education has approved the application sometime in late fall or winter, Wiggins said.
If the charter application is approved, the school could be opened as soon as August 2015, he said.
General News on 07/20/2014