Enhancing Little Rock Schools: My Experience on the Capital Improvement Task Force
Enhancing Little Rock Schools: My Experience on the Capital Improvement Task Force
By Walter Washington, MPA, REALTOR®, ABR®, AHWD®, C2EX®
I am proud to share an ongoing account of my involvement in the Capital Improvement Task Force formed by the Little Rock School District (LRSD) Board of Education. As a task force member, I have had the opportunity to contribute to conversations and initiatives aimed at improving the educational environment for students across our community. This post has been updated to reflect the full arc of our work through the spring of 2024, including community survey results, the framework we developed, a look at the district's financial capacity, and the student recruitment campaign running alongside our efforts.
How It Started: February 20, 2024
Our first meeting was held on February 20, 2024, at the LRSD Board Room, 810 West Markham in Little Rock. Co-Chairs Vicki Hatter, Kelsey Bailey, and Mike Ellis welcomed the group. Task force members in attendance included Joe Eick, Kim Holland, Kandi Hughes, Stephanie Walker-Hynes, Jim Ross, Nancy Rousseau, and myself. Several members participated via Zoom.
The LRSD Administration gave us our charge: to identify a dedicated funding source and create a capital improvement plan for existing LRSD schools. Our recommendations would go to the LRSD Administration first, and then to the LRSD Board of Education for final approval.
The task force is made up of 5 to 10 members representing LRSD employees, board members, parents, and community members. We agreed to meet on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month at 11:00 a.m. Our final recommendations were due to the superintendent by May 1, 2024.
Open committee discussion during this first meeting covered many needed improvements across LRSD campuses. The group talked about developing a Capital Improvement Framework to guide project decisions, CTE program offerings, campus aesthetics, and declining enrollment, including the possibility that outdated athletic facilities might be a factor in families choosing to leave the district.
Reaching the Community: The Survey
Shortly after my appointment to the task force, I launched a community feedback survey for stakeholders connected to Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School and Horace Mann Arts and Science Magnet Middle School. While the survey was not officially sanctioned by LRSD, it was conducted in my capacity as a task force member to gather input that I could bring into our discussions.
I reached out directly to teachers, staff, and parents at both schools, asking them to complete and share the survey. The response was encouraging. Below is a summary of what our community told us.
What the Community Said: Survey Results
Responses came from parents, teachers, and community members with connections to Parkview High School and Horace Mann Middle School. Here is what they identified as priorities:
Facility Upgrades
The auditorium was the most consistently mentioned concern across both schools:
- At Horace Mann, the auditorium needs new stage lighting, updated sound equipment, a cyclorama, a new ceiling, a dressing room for dance and drama students, backstage door security, and storage for set pieces. One teacher noted that many performing arts students are currently presenting at Southwest or Parkview because the Horace Mann auditorium is not functional enough for performances. The catwalks were described as unsafe even for professionals.
- At Parkview, the auditorium was identified as the building's most urgent need. Respondents also cited outdated portables with no nearby bathrooms, inadequate HVAC, poor interior lighting, old desks and furniture, and outdated science labs.
- Gym facilities, locker rooms, and bathrooms were mentioned as urgent needs at both schools.
- One longtime Parkview community member noted that, since before graduating in 1988, there has been a dream of Parkview having its own football stadium and track with full field event amenities. More than 35 years of academic and athletic achievement at the school have happened without that investment.
Technology Infrastructure
Most respondents rated technology infrastructure as "Fair" or "Poor." The most commonly mentioned needs included:
- Faster and more reliable internet connectivity
- 1:1 devices, specifically iPads or Chromebooks
- Updated intercom systems
- Improved program and system connectivity
Safety and Security
Respondents consistently called for more security personnel. One teacher at Horace Mann noted that two security guards for a campus of 600 students is not adequate. Other concerns included:
- An unsecured back door at the Parkview band room that allows access without any security screening
- Student restrooms used for vaping and class cutting
- Propped-open exterior doors
- The need for video surveillance in uncovered areas of campus
- Entry screening for outside visitors
The Bigger Picture
Multiple respondents made the same point: when students see their school investing in them, they invest back. One community member wrote simply, "Every student takes pride in the infrastructure of their school inside and out." Another noted that a Parkview auditorium renovation would draw more students to the school and raise community pride. These themes ran through nearly every response.
Building the Framework: March 11, 2024
At our March 11 meeting, the task force worked through a Capital Improvement Framework to guide how we would evaluate and prioritize projects. The framework is organized around four areas:
Secure and Safe Environments
- Creating vestibules at school entrances
- Addressing the open-campus vulnerabilities on several properties
- Upgrading security camera systems
Campus Aesthetics
- Exterior: litter control, landscaping, door and window replacements
- Interior: LED lighting, fresh paint, flooring replacements, modernized furniture, cleaner common spaces
Athletic Facilities
- Additional gyms at Parkview and Central, which currently have only one each
- Updates to existing gyms
- Replacement and maintenance of turf fields, including a new field at Parkview
- Additional baseball, softball, and dedicated soccer fields
Fine Arts Spaces
- Auditorium updates at all campuses
- Instrument replacements
- Dance studio rooms
The task force also reviewed eSchool withdrawal data for students who left LRSD. The data does not include a specific category for students who left due to facility dissatisfaction, which makes it difficult to measure that factor directly. The group agreed that implementing regular climate surveys and collecting five years of exit data would help clarify the picture.
The Numbers Behind the Plan: Financial Capacity
One of the most important things the task force reviewed was a financial analysis prepared by Stephens Inc. Public Finance, presented in March 2024. The data shows that LRSD has meaningful capacity to fund capital improvements.
Here is a plain-language summary:
- The 2023 total assessed property value in the district was approximately $4.7 billion.
- At the current 12.40 debt service mill rate with a 95% collection assumption, the district generates roughly $55.4 million per year in debt service revenue.
- The district's existing bond obligations (Series 2021A, which funded $203.5 million in construction projects) require a maximum annual payment of approximately $20.1 million, leaving more than $35 million in annual surplus.
- A proposed Series 2024B bond issuance of $101.9 million in new construction bonds is projected to add approximately $6 million per year in debt service while maintaining a coverage ratio of 2.12 through 2052, meaning the district would still generate more than double what it owes each year.
This financial picture is important context for the task force's work. The district has the structural capacity to fund significant capital improvements without raising the mill rate. The question is how to prioritize and sequence the projects.
The LRSD Capital Improvements Fund balance at the time of our meetings stood at over $41 million, with an operating fund balance of over $34 million. Alongside bond financing, the task force explored public-private partnerships, state and federal grants, impact fees on new developments, and community fundraising as supplemental funding avenues.
Bringing Students Back: The Caissa K12 Partnership
Running parallel to the capital improvement work, LRSD engaged Caissa K12, a national student recruitment firm, to begin a campaign to re-engage families who had left the district. Caissa K12 works exclusively with traditional public schools and operates on a results-based payment model, meaning the district only pays for students who actually enroll and attend.
LRSD Chief of Staff Reginald Ballard reported that as of March 11, 2024, the campaign had produced 212 micro-commitments from families considering returning to LRSD, with 32 families confirmed as having completed enrollment.
The most common reasons families cited for having left the district were a lack of awareness about LRSD's educational offerings and isolated incidents at specific schools involving staff. The most-common response to "why did you leave" was not a reflection of the district broadly, but of specific, addressable experiences.
This is worth noting because it reinforces what the capital improvement survey also showed: perceptions matter as much as reality, and investing visibly in schools sends a message to families about whether the district values the students it serves.
The withdrawal data reviewed by the task force shows that between 2022-23 and 2023-24, enrollment in Arkansas charter schools increased from 344 to 479, while the number of students leaving for other Arkansas public schools declined from 2,771 to 2,133. The data suggests that families are choosing options, not just leaving. Capital improvements alone will not reverse that trend, but a visibly improving physical environment is part of a competitive response.
Moving Forward
The Capital Improvement Task Force submitted its final recommendations to the superintendent in accordance with the May 1, 2024, deadline. The four-pillar framework (safety, aesthetics, athletics, and fine arts) shaped those recommendations, grounded in both community survey input and the district's financial reality.
For Parkview and Horace Mann specifically, the community spoke clearly. The auditorium is not just a room. It is, as one teacher put it, the soul of the school. Investing in it is not an aesthetic preference. It is a statement about whether this district believes its performing arts students deserve the same infrastructure as any other student in any other school.
That same logic extends to every deferred project at every LRSD campus. The financial capacity to act exists. The community has spoken about what matters most. What comes next is the will to follow through.
A Note on This Update
This post was originally written on the day of our first task force meeting in February 2024 to document the beginning of the process. It has since been updated to include community survey results, the Capital Improvement Framework developed by the task force, a summary of the district's bond capacity, and context about the Caissa K12 student recruitment campaign. All information reflects the work done through March 2024.
Walter Washington | MPA, REALTOR® | ABR® | AHWD® | C2EX® Certified United Real Estate Central Arkansas | Little Rock, AR (501) 612-3838 | emailme@walterwashington.realtor Member: LRSD Capital Improvement Task Force (2024) | UA Little Rock Alumni
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