Twin Rivers School District

Last updated
Twin Rivers School District
Location
Lawrence, Randolph, and Sharp counties, Arkansas
United States
District information
Grades K-12
EstablishedJuly 1, 2004 (2004-07-01)
ClosedJuly 1, 2010 (2010-07-01)
Schools2
Other information
Website Official website (archive)

Twin Rivers School District was a school district in Lawrence, Randolph, and Sharp counties in Arkansas. [1] It was headquartered in the Oak Ridge Central Campus in unincorporated Randolph County, near Ravenden Springs. [2] It served various communities, including Ravenden Springs. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

History

It was established on July 1, 2004 by the merger of the Randolph County School District and the Williford School District. [1] The two districts merged because of a law enacted in 2004 requiring smaller school districts to consolidate into larger ones. The Rural School and Community Trust stated that "Twin Rivers supporters say that the district has struggled" from the beginning. [6]

Beginning in the 2007-2008 school year, the district was on academic probation from the Arkansas authorities. [7] The school district was in violation of accreditation standards. [8] On February 5, 2010 the superintendent, David Gilliland, resigned from his position. [7] Harvison failed to inform the school board of the fact that the Arkansas state government was considering closing the school district, [8] and this made parents upset when they discovered the lack of informing. [9]

In February 2010, [6] the Arkansas Board of Education (ADE) voted to take control of the district and dissolve it, giving sections of the district to neighboring districts. [7] The rationale was the lack of accreditation, and this was the first school district in Arkansas to be closed for that reason. [6] A group of parents sued the ADE; the group " Save Our Twin Rivers School District", made up of about 900 people, held fundraisers for the lawsuit. [8] A group of parents leading the Ozark Band of Cherokees Inc. emphasized their Native American heritage in an effort to prevent the state from closing the district. Leslie Newell Peacock of the Arkansas Times wrote that "The closing has been traumatic to parents in the district, many of whom have deep roots in the communities served by the schools and once attended the schools themselves." [9] Supporters lobbied the Arkansas Supreme Court in an attempt to stop the closure. [6]

On July 1, 2010, the district was dissolved. Portions were given to the following school districts: Highland, Hillcrest, Mammoth Spring, Maynard, Pocahontas, and Sloan-Hendrix. [1] Both of the district's schools were closed at the time of the dissolution. [10]

Schools

It operated two schools serving grades K-12: Oak Ridge Central Campus in Randolph County and Williford Campus in Williford. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Randolph County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Randolph County is located between the Ozark Mountains and Arkansas Delta in the U.S. state of Arkansas. The county is named for John Randolph, a U.S. senator from Virginia influential in obtaining congressional approval of the Louisiana Purchase, which includes today's Randolph County. Created as Arkansas's 32nd county on October 29, 1835, Randolph County has two incorporated cities, including Pocahontas, the county seat and most populous city. The county is also the site of numerous unincorporated communities and ghost towns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence County, Arkansas</span> County in Arkansas, United States

Lawrence County is a county located in the U.S. state of Arkansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,216. The county seat is Walnut Ridge. Lawrence County is Arkansas's second county, formed on January 15, 1815, and named for Captain James Lawrence who fought in the War of 1812. It is an alcohol prohibition or dry county.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ravenden Springs, Arkansas</span> Town in Arkansas, United States

Ravenden Springs is a town in Randolph County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 119 at the 2020 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williford, Arkansas</span> Small town in Northeastern Arkansas

Williford is a town in Sharp County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 70 in 2020

DeWitt School District No. 1 is a school district based in the town of DeWitt, Arkansas, United States. The DeWitt School District is geographically the state's largest school district with 872.29 square miles (2,259.2 km2) of land and 46.18 square miles (119.6 km2) of water, encompassing portions of Arkansas and Jefferson, and Desha counties.

Pulaski County Special School District No. 1 (PCSSD) is one of four public school districts in Pulaski County, Arkansas—along with the Little Rock School District, the North Little Rock School District, and the Jacksonville North Pulaski School District—accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education. PCSSD has its headquarters in Sweet Home, an unincorporated area near southeastern Little Rock; the headquarters has a Little Rock postal address.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paragould School District</span> School district in Arkansas, United States

Paragould School District is a public school district headquartered in Paragould, Arkansas. It serves the northern portion of Paragould and Oak Grove Heights.

McGehee School District is a public school district headquartered in McGehee, Arkansas. The school district encompasses 499.14 square miles (1,292.8 km2) of land, in Drew and Desha counties.

Highland School District is a public school district based in Highland, Arkansas, United States. The school district encompasses 325 square miles (840 km2) of land including portions of Sharp County and Fulton County communities including Hardy, Highland, Ash Flat, Horseshoe Bend, Williford, and Cherokee Village.

Pocahontas School District is a public school district based in Pocahontas, Arkansas, United States. The Pocahontas School District provides early childhood, elementary and secondary education for more than 2,000 pre-kindergarten through grade 12 students. Students are from 165.38 square miles (428.3 km2) of land, encompassing Randolph County communities including all of Pocahontas. Pocahontas School District is accredited by the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE) and by AdvancED since 2009.

Ouachita River School District (ORSD) is a public school district located along the Ouachita River and is headquartered in Acorn, an unincorporated area in Polk County, Arkansas, United States, near Mena.

Cossatot River School District is a public school district located along the Cossatot River and is based in Wickes, Arkansas, United States. The Cossatot River School District provides early childhood, elementary and secondary education for more than 1,150 prekindergarten through grade 12 students at its six facilities.

Corning School District is a public school district based in Corning, Arkansas, United States. The school district encompasses 364.77 square miles (944.7 km2) of land, including portions of Clay County and Randolph County. Clay County communities include Corning, Datto, Knobel, McDougal, and Success. Randolph County communities include Reyno and almost all of Biggers. Peach Orchard is not in the Corning district, but is in an exclave of the Greene County Tech School District, and an enclave of the Corning district.

Greene County Technical School District is a public school district based in Paragould, Arkansas, United States. The school district encompasses 344.38 square miles (891.9 km2) of land, including portions of Greene County, Randolph County, Craighead County, and Clay County.

Carlisle School District is a public school district based in Carlisle, Arkansas, United States. The school district encompasses 233.26 square miles (604.1 km2) of land in Lonoke County and Prairie County including all of the municipalities of Carlisle, Allport, and Humnoke.

Sloan Hendrix School District is a public school district based in Imboden, Arkansas. The district serves more than 700 students in prekindergarten through grade 12 while employing more than 110 educators and staff at its three schools and district offices.

Hillcrest School District is a school district based in Strawberry, Arkansas, United States. The district encompasses 266.08 square miles (689.1 km2) of land in Lawrence, Independence, and Sharp counties, and serves portions of Strawberry, Lynn, Smithville, Poughkeepsie, and Saffell.

Waldo School District was a school district headquartered in Waldo, Arkansas. It operated Waldo Elementary School (K-6) and Waldo High School (7-12). The bulldog was the mascot.

Williford School District was a school district based in Williford, Arkansas. The district had elementary and high school divisions. The mascot was the Williford Indians.

Randolph County School District, also known as Oak Ridge Central Schools (ORC), was a school district based in Randolph County, Arkansas, near Ravenden Springs. The district had elementary and high school divisions.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on October 21, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Contact Us." Twin Rivers School District. Retrieved on October 21, 2017. "Contact Information District Superintendent and Oak Ridge Central Campus 5749 Oak Ridge Road Ravenden Springs, AR 72460 "
  3. ↑ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Lawrence County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 21, 2017. Note that this map reflects the status prior to the 2010 dissolution of the Twin Rivers School District.
  4. ↑ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Randolph County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 21, 2017. Note that this map reflects the status prior to the 2010 dissolution of the Twin Rivers School District.
  5. ↑ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Sharp County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 21, 2017. Note that this map reflects the status prior to the 2010 dissolution of the Twin Rivers School District.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Arkansas Cases Challenge School and District Consolidation". The Rural School and Community Trust. 2010-06-25. Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  7. 1 2 3 Harvison, Josh (2010). "Twin Rivers to be dissolved, names new superintendent". KAIT . Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  8. 1 2 3 Curtis, Tammy (2010-05-21). ""Save Our Twin Rivers School District" files lawsuit against ADE". Area Wide News . Retrieved 2017-10-22.
  9. 1 2 Peacock, Leslie Newell (2010-03-18). "Twin Rivers Indians rise". Arkansas Times . Retrieved 2017-10-21.
  10. ↑ "Minutes State Board of Education Monday, May 10, 2010." Arkansas Board of Education. Retrieved on May 26, 2018. p. 4 (PDF p. 4/10) "Effective July 1, 2010, the Williford and Oak Ridge Central campuses of the Twin Rivers School Districts[ sic ] shall be closed"

Further reading

Maps of the predecessor districts:

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.