Altheimer Unified School District

Altheimer Unified School District No. 22, previously the Altheimer-Sherrill School District, was a school district headquartered in Altheimer, Arkansas. It served Altheimer, Sherrill, Wabbaseka, and other portions of Jefferson County,[1] including the unincorporated areas of Lake Dick, New Gascony,[2] Pastoria, Plum Bayou,[3] Sweden,[2] Tucker,[4] and Wright.[3] The district in the 1993–2006 period had 333 square miles (860 km2) of territory.[5]

In its final years the district operated two schools: Martin Elementary School and Altheimer-Sherrill High School.[6] In the pre-desegregation era white students attended Altheimer High School and black students attended Altheimer Training School.[7] In 2006 it merged into the Dollarway School District, which in turn merged into the Pine Bluff School District in 2021.

History

In the 1960s the Altheimer district began a "school of choice" program where parents could choose which schools their children could attend, in light of educational desegregation of races.[8]

The Altheimer-Sherrill district was created in 1979 when the Altheimer and Sherrill districts merged.[9]

Fred Martin, Jr., formerly the principal of the high school, became the superintendent of the Altheimer-Sherrill School District in 1982.[10] Martin left the district in 1988 and became the mayor of Altheimer.[11]

Altheimer-Sherrill School District annexed the former Wabbaseka-Tucker School District on August 16, 1993.[12] As the Altheimer Unified School District it began operations on September 1, 1993, making Wabbaseka, Tucker, and Plum Bayou a part of the district.[4] Both the Altheimer-Sherrill and Wabbaseka-Tucker districts had debts from overpayment and so the merged district took those debts.[13]

The district received a 12-acre (4.9 ha) school property in Wabbaseka when it annexed the Wabbaseka district;[12] the district ended all use of the property in 1996.[14] Altheimer Unified sold it to the City of Wabbaseka for $674,623 in the 2001 fiscal year. By June 2001 it was not yet used for a new purpose.[12]

The Altheimer Library of the Pine Bluff-Jefferson County Library System was built on land sold by Altheimer Unified to the county government for $3,784.[12]

For a two-year period until 2006 the district ran at a deficit due to enrollment declines.[15] Its final enrollment was about 400. The State of Arkansas required for the Altheimer district to merge with another district, but Altheimer could choose another district that agreed to merge with it. The only district that agreed to do so was the Dollarway School District.[16] The Altheimer Unified School District consolidated into the Dollarway district on July 10, 2006.[4] A majority of board members of each district ultimately agreed to the consolidation.[17]

Effective July 1, 2021, the Dollarway territory became part of the Pine Bluff School District.[18]

Jefferson County, Arkansas school district mergers
Pine BluffLinwoodDollarwayHardinAltheimer-SherrillWabbasekaPlum Bayou-Tucker
Pine BluffDollarwayWabbaseka-Tucker
Altheimer Unified
Dollarway
Pine Bluff

Academic performance

Before the closing of the district, the district was in academic distress according to State of Arkansas measurements.[19]

References

  1. ^ "SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP (2010 CENSUS): Jefferson County, AR." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Note that, while the Altheimer Unified School District's boundaries are indicated, the district had already consolidated into Dollarway School District at the time the map was made.
  2. ^ a b "General Highway Map Jefferson County, Arkansas" (PDF). Arkansas Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2021-03-05. - See Lake Dick, New Gascony, and Sweden on the map.
  3. ^ a b "School closures hit a community". The Pine Bluff Commercial. 2013-04-11. Retrieved 2017-08-04. The former Altheimer district included students from Altheimer, Wabbaseka, Sherrill, Tucker, Pastoria, Wright and the Plum Bayou communities. - Alternate location Archived 2016-12-27 at the Wayback Machine at the Arkansas Department of Education (PDF page 3/13)
  4. ^ a b c "ConsolidationAnnex_from_1983.xls Archived 2015-09-12 at the Wayback Machine." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Note that Plum Bayou consolidated into the Wabbaseka Tucker school district in 1983, then the Altheimer-Sherrill and Wabbaseka Tucker school districts consolidated into Altheimer Unified in 1993, which in turn consolidated into Dollarway in 2006. Therefore this district formerly served Tucker and Plum Bayou.
  5. ^ "AGENDA" (PDF). Arkansas State Board of Education. 2006-07-10. p. 149/269. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  6. ^ "2002-2003 Arkansas Education Directory." Arkansas Department of Education. Retrieved on July 31, 2017. Page 65 (PDF p. 71/157). "K-06 MARTIN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL [...] 102 ORCHARD ST. ALTHEIMER, AR 72004-0640" and "07-12 ALTHEIMER-SHERRILL HIGH SCHOOL [...] 102 ORCHARD ST. ALTHEIMER, AR 72004-0640"
  7. ^ Brown, Jeannette E. (21 August 2009). Gloria L. Anderson, Transcript of Interview Conducted by Jeannette E. Brown at Morris Brown College Atlanta, Georgia on 21 August 2009 (PDF). Philadelphia, PA: Chemical Heritage Foundation. Her high school was called Altheimer Training School; the one for white students was called Altheimer High School.
  8. ^ "Other Days". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. 2018-08-02. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  9. ^ Goatcher, Truett (January 1999). "School District Consolidation Will Save Millions of Dollars: Fact of Myth?" (PDF). Arkansas Association of Educational Administrators. p. 14 (PDF p. 17/27).
  10. ^ "From "Separate but Equal" to "All Deliberate Speed". In: Smith, C. Calvin (editor) and Linda Walls Joshua (contributing editor). Educating the Masses: The Unfolding History of Black School Administrators in Arkansas, 1900-2000. The University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville), 2003. ISBN 1557288062, 9781557288066. Start: p. 81. CITED: p. 93. (Page presented upside-down).
  11. ^ "From "Separate but Equal" to "All Deliberate Speed". In: Smith, C. Calvin (editor) and Linda Walls Joshua (contributing editor). Educating the Masses: The Unfolding History of Black School Administrators in Arkansas, 1900-2000. The University of Arkansas Press (Fayetteville), 2003. ISBN 1557288062, 9781557288066. Start: p. 81. CITED: p. 94. (Page presented upside-down).
  12. ^ a b c d "Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001." Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Legislature. Retrieved on August 2, 2017. page 3 (PDF p. 5/22).
  13. ^ "Altheimer Unified School District No. 22 Jefferson County, Arkansas General Purpose Financial Statements and Other Reports June 30, 2001." Legislative Joint Auditing Committee, Arkansas Legislature. Retrieved on February 27, 2021. page 16 (PDF p. 18/22).
  14. ^ "EPA Removes Chemicals from Former Wabbaseka School ." Environmental Protection Agency. May 25, 2011. Retrieved on August 2, 2017.
  15. ^ "AGENDA" (PDF). Arkansas State Board of Education. 2006-07-10. p. 4 (14/269). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  16. ^ "School Case Studies Wonder Elementary School Osceola Middle School Dollarway High School". State of Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research. November 2011. p. 29 (PDF p. 31/50). Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  17. ^ "AGENDA" (PDF). Arkansas State Board of Education. 2006-07-10. pp. 1–2/269. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-27. Retrieved 2021-02-26.
  18. ^ Howell, Cynthia (2020-12-11). "State votes to combine Dollarway, Pine Bluff schools". Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Retrieved 2021-02-23.
  19. ^ "School Case Studies Wonder Elementary School Osceola Middle School Dollarway High School". State of Arkansas Bureau of Legislative Research. November 2011. Retrieved 2021-02-26. - CITED: p. 30 (PDF p. 32/50).

Further reading

Maps of the former district